North Korean Prisoner Travis King Arrives in San Antonio 71 Days After his Mad Border Dash

Army Pvt. Travis King touched down on American soil early Thursday morning, after 71 days in North Korean custody, reports say. 

King landed at Kelly Field at Joint Base San Antonio-Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio, Texas, CNN reported.

Video from the airport appeard to show King walking alone off a plane. Dressed in what seemed to be dark civilian clothes and white sneakers, he chatted briefly with people waiting on the tarmac, some of them in uniform, and shook hands with one before being led into a building.

He was expected to be taken to Brooke Army Medical Center, AP said Wednesday, citing an unnamed U.S. official. WNBA star Brittney Griner was treated at the same facility in December when she was freed after 10 months in a Russian prison.

The 23-year-old cavalry scout, who had served in South Korea, sprinted across the border while on a civilian tour of the demilitarized zone between the two countries on July 18, sparking a diplomatic crisis. 

On Wednesday, North Korea announced it was expelling King and, hours later, the U.S. officials said he had been handed over to American officials in China, including U.S. Ambassador Nicholas Burns.

King was flown to a military base in South Korea and transferred to a jet for the nearly 16-hour flight to Texas.

A spokesman for Claudine Gates, King's mother, said Wednesday she would “be forever grateful to the United States Army and all its interagency partners for a job well done.”

The army private, who had served time in a South Korean jail for assault before being ordered home, faces possible military jail time, forfeiture of pay or a dishonorable discharge over his flight to the North.