Student pilot celebrates 4th by water balloning car show !

[Mojo Risen]

A local Utah student pilot was cited on July 4th along with his passenger for flying 300agl, at night with their nav lights off, over a annual car show and dropping water ballons on the crowd and vehicals. Local county sheriffs contacted the pilot and passenger, which both denied the incident until the rental shop provided slips of the aircraft rental. The sheriff said he would turn the matter over to the FAA. Ouch !

Can we attribute this to Bipolar?

 

[UnAnswerd]

Student pilots can carry passengers???

 

[CFIcare]

Wow...I'm a car show junkie and if someone did that to my car that I spent all day shining...well let's just say that nothing incites the "wrath of Towanda" like someone messing with my car!!

Sure you can drop objects as long as they don't harm people or property, but i can tell you that a nice original unrestored 1959 Corvette convertible's interior would not handle a splattered water balloon well. Nor would my suede lambskin seats in my 83 TA...

 

[joe_pilot]

You know, as IDIOTIC as those 2 were to do that in today's climate, don't you miss the good old days when something like that was just a prank? No harm, no foul?

Please no flamers about being lower than 500' agl and how GA gets a black eye from this. I know that and don't condone it. But if Chuck Yeager had done 1/10th the stuff he did in his biography today, the FAA would put him in gitmo.

Man, too bad M-80's are outlawed too. There's just no more fun to be had.

 

[joe_pilot]

Wow...I'm a car show junkie and if someone did that to my car that I spent all day shining...well let's just say that nothing incites the "wrath of Towanda" like someone messing with my car!!

Sure you can drop objects as long as they don't harm people or property, but i can tell you that a nice original unrestored 1959 Corvette convertible's interior would not handle a splattered water balloon well. Nor would my suede lambskin seats in my 83 TA...

If they damaged a car, then yes back in the day they would have gotten their a$$es beat. Deservedly.

 

[UnAnswerd]

You know, as IDIOTIC as those 2 were to do that in today's climate, don't you miss the good old days when something like that was just a prank? No harm, no foul?

That prank itself is the least of thier problems, and will likely go unnoticed anyway. The issue is that they broke about 4 FARS. They should've just done a drive-by instead.

 

[SammyG]

Rats. They changed the rules and allow student to carry passengers now, eh. Figures after I already have my licesne they change things

Wouldn't this be the most obvious of the student pilots violations? Any chance he can still complete his training?

 

[joe_pilot]

That prank itself is the least of thier problems, and will likely go unnoticed anyway. The issue is that they broke about 4 FARS. They should've just done a drive-by instead.

I know, I know. An instrument student of mine was involved in something similar about a year before we started flying together. He dropped water baloons on a friend's yard, but at no point broke any FAR, altitude, etc. He was very careful to not do that. His mistake (pretty dumb by his own admission) was doing it about a month after 9/11. He was driving home 4 hours after and heard the story on the radio. He pulled over immediately and called the sheriff and turned himself in. People all over the town were making up stories of how a cropduster (he was in a 172) was flying 50' agl over main street and terrorizing people. I know the guy, he broke no FAR, the worst he did from a LEGAL standpoint was litter. The FBI and the FAA got involved. Got a suspension for either 30 or 90 days, I forget. He's a good guy. Had a great idea. Just really, really bad timing on his part.

 

[jetexas]

I've seen a water baloon smash a car windshield. It's lucky no one got hurt!

 

[Immelman]

I had a water balloon tossed at me from an airplane once before... was at a small flyin at a podunk strip.... I got out of the way but the damn thing hit dirt, splattering it all over my pants. The balloon was dropped from approx 20' agl.... yes, twenty...

that was a fun flyin!