An unarmed man gained access to Joint Base Andrews in Maryland on Thursday and boarded a plane typically used by senior government and military leaders, prompting the authorities to order a review of security at Air Force bases worldwide, officials said.

The intrusion happened on Thursday when the civilian, whose name was not released, gained unauthorised access to the flight line — an area at the base that includes the runways and ramps — and boarded a C-40 plane assigned to the 89th Airlift Wing.

The aircraft, which is based on the commercial Boeing 737-700 business jet, was designed to be an “office in the sky” for senior military and government leaders, with an array of communications technology. Joint Base Andrews is also known as the home of Air Force One, the President’s plane.

Security forces at Joint Base Andrews responded, detained and interviewed the man with the help of the Air Force Office of Special Investigations, the base said in a statement. The man was booked by the Office of Special Investigations and given a federal summons for trespassing.

The man did not harm anyone and there was “no indication that the individual has any links to extremist groups”, Joint Base Andrews said. “The security of our installation is paramount,” Colonel Roy Oberhaus, the vice wing commander of the 316th Wing at Joint Base Andrews, said in a statement.

New York Times News Service