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Pilot Missing After Shuttle No-Fly Zone Incursion

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User546

The Ultimate Show Stopper
Joined
Jan 24, 2004
Posts
1,958
Our hero in the Piper Cub! :D

http://www.cnn.com/2005/TECH/space/07/28/shuttle.plane/index.html

Small plane enters shuttle no-fly zone
Pilot disappears after being forced to land

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The pilot of a small plane that penetrated the no-fly zone around Kennedy Space Center shortly before the space shuttle's launch Tuesday disappeared after being forced to land, Air Force officials said.

The Federal Aviation Administration is investigating, the officials said Thursday.

The civilian Piper Cub had gotten within 20 miles of the launch site just three minutes before Discovery's liftoff before being intercepted by two Air Force F-16s.

That means the small plane had penetrated half of the 40-mile temporary no-fly radius set up by the FAA.

The fighters were flying security patrol and deployed three flares to get the pilot's attention, the officials said.

The fighters escorted the plane to an airport about 50 miles north of Kennedy Space Center, they said.

When law enforcement officers got to the airport, the aircraft was on the ground, but the pilot was gone, the officials said.
 
Must be a white guy, they keep calling him/her "pilot" and not "suspect".
 
I thought I noticed an extra 2 hrs on the hobbs, someone must have stole my cub and returned it. I swear it wasn't me.:D
 
TDTURBO said:
I thought I noticed an extra 2 hrs on the hobbs, someone must have stole my cub and returned it. I swear it wasn't me.:D
I think he's going to need one hell of an "alibi" for this one! :)
 
FN FAL said:
I think he's going to need one hell of an "alibi" for this one! :)

I think his best move was to bail and put the burden of proof on the feds, smart move as I see it. Get a good lawyer and admit nothing. Especially since those things are so easy to steal.

What would you have done?

Saying you wouldn't have been there in the first place doesn't count.:)
 
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Many, many years ago, I had a student pilot in a C150 blunder onto a runway in front of a Diamond jet touching down. (The Diamond rolled right past him on the runway, whew!) Student completely freaked, refused to answer any radio calls, taxied at high speed back to ramp, jumped out and hot-footed it to car and home.


I don't think he ever came back to the airport again. Sad really, because back in those days, we'd have just chewed his butt for 10 minutes, made sure his instructor got him some remedial, and probably just let it drop.

That's not likely in this case though.....
 
TDTURBO said:
I think his best move was to bail and put the burden of proof on the feds, smart move as I see it. Get a good lawyer and admit nothing. Especially since those things are so easy to steal.

What would you have done?

Saying you wouldn't have been there in the first place doesn't count.:)
That's a tough question to answer.
 

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