Note to Self: Do Not Fly Stolen Foreign Plane Into US Airspace

[The Overlord]

Even if it's a Canuck plane...they WILL get you. 


http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090407/ap_on_re_us/stolen_plane

WAUSAU, Wis. – The suspected pilot of a plane stolen from Canada and flown into the U.S. trailed by fighter jets was captured Monday night near the rural stretch of road in Missouri where he landed.

The single-engine, four-seat Cessna was intercepted by U.S. fighter jets over Wisconsin, where it prompted the evacuation of the state capitol, but kept flying south after the pilot failed to respond to radio calls and other signals.

Mike Kucharek, spokesman for the North American Aerospace Defense Command in Colorado, said the Cessna 172 was stolen from Thunder Bay, Ontario, about 2:30 p.m. Monday. The pilot was flying erratically and didn't communicate with the fighter pilots from the Wisconsin Air National Guard who intercepted the plane at the Michigan-Wisconsin border, he said.

The pilot had acknowledged seeing the F-16s but he didn't obey their nonverbal commands to follow them, Kucharek said.

The pilot finally landed the plane on a road at Ellsinore near Poplar Bluff in far southeastern Missouri, said Laura Brown, a spokeswoman for the Federal Aviation Administration.

A man named Adam Dylan Leon, 31, was taken into custody about 9:30 p.m. in the same area, said Sgt. Marty Elmore, a spokesman for the Missouri Highway Patrol.

Brown said the plane came from the Confederation College Flight School at Thunder Bay International Airport.

The plane landed about six hours after the reported theft, and had enough fuel for about eight hours of flight, NAADC officials said.

"We tailed it all the way," Maj. Brian Markin said. "Once it landed our aircraft returned to base."

In Madison, Department of Justice spokesman Bill Cosh said the state Capitol was evacuated shortly after 5 p.m. as a precaution because of the airplane.

Many workers had already left for the day. Gov. Jim Doyle was not in the building. He had been in Chicago Monday.

Capitol police ordered everyone out of the building and told them to go at least a block away. Police cars with sirens on drove on the sidewalks by the doors of the Capitol. Others drove on the streets of the Capitol square, telling people to move away.

People were allowed back in the building about an hour later.

[Oniya]

I like the bit about 'I saw them, but didn't obey their commands'.  It doesn't work as an excuse when you've got a black-and-white tailing you with lights and sirens, why should a fighter jet be any different?

[HairyHeretic]

Black and whites don't carry air to air missiles.

[Oniya]

Which is all the more reason to listen to what the nice F-16 is telling you to do. 

[Teno]

I actually read that he was wanting to commit suicide but was too afraid to do it himself, so wanted to get shot down.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/7987156.stm

[Oniya]

Still, there are easier ways to do 'suicide by cop'.

[HairyHeretic]

That adds a whole new level of WTF? to the story.

[The Overlord]

Still, there are easier ways to do 'suicide by cop'.

I think you hit the nail on the head. Nobody in their right mind (an admittedly relative statement when you're suicidal) pulls something like this without the realization that it's going to be all over the news.

Whatever the guy's issue is, I think sensationalism was the name of game, not practicality. His goal was to go out in a blaze on international news...what a better way for a despondent average Joe to leave his mark?

[Inkidu]

I think you hit the nail on the head. Nobody in their right mind (an admittedly relative statement when you're suicidal) pulls something like this without the realization that it's going to be all over the news.

Whatever the guy's issue is, I think sensationalism was the name of game, not practicality. His goal was to go out in a blaze on international news...what a better way for a despondent average Joe to leave his mark?

Bingo, but it's nice to know our air defense hasn't grown lax.