A deranged man was arrested at LaGuardia Airport this afternoon after he was spotted walking on the tarmac near a US Airways jet minutes away from taking off for Charlotte, sources said.

The startling occurrence occurred just before flight 1909 was due to take off at 1:05 p.m., the sources said.

The pilot spotted Andre Reid walking by the Airbus 321 “like he was taking a stroll in his backyard,” said one police official.

“That in iteself is very scary – that he was able to get within feet of an airplane that was due to take off,” said the official.

The incident follows a series of other security breaches at area airports in recent months, including passengers bringing razors and steak knives aboard planes and an unauthorized traveler nearly sneaking aboard a fligth to San Francicso at JFK Airport.

In today’s incident, after seeing the man, the pilot became “spooked” by what he had witnessed and opted to “dump” the flight, meaing that his passengers’ luggage had to be removed from the aircraft and rescreened, as were all the passengers, as well.

The incident delayed the passengers’ departure at least 90 minutes, a source said.

Cops took suspect, Reid, 21, of Mount Vernon, into custody.

Reid at first said that he had lawfully purchased a commercial ticket to fly to West Palm Beach, Fl., and had given it to a friend – but his story didn’t add up and soon crumbled.

Cops say the suspect, who was charged with trespass, lives with his mother and step-father, had a fight with his stepdad – and he tried to get to the residence of his grandmother, who lives in West Palm Beach.

Detectives were probing how Reid was apparently able to walk through an unopen door without being challenged and obain access to the tarmac.

(Source: NY Post)