Posted on 04/30/2008 7:04:41 AM PDT by LA Woman3
Officials said they have detained a British man after he flew near President Bush’s Crawford ranch, later taking him to Austin for a mental evaluation.
McLennan County sheriff’s deputies were called by the U.S. Secret Service on Friday evening to a pasture five to seven miles from the president’s ranch about a possibly intoxicated pilot, Chief Deputy Randy Plemons said. Bush was not at the ranch when the incident happened.
At the time of the call, a heavy thunderstorm was passing through the Crawford area, but Plemons said he wasn’t sure what factors caused the pilot to land in the field.
The pilot was taken into custody, Plemons said. An evaluation indicated the man wasn’t intoxicated, but Plemons said the evaluation led officers to believe the man needed a mental evaluation.
Plemons would not confirm international news and blog reports that the 62-year-old pilot was Maurice Kirk, a Welsh pilot known as the Flying Vet.
The deputy said he could not identify the pilot because he was detained for a mental health issue.
Plemons said despite media and blog reports, the pilot was never arrested in the incident.
The man was taken to Austin State Hospital where he remained Tuesday under medical evaluation, Plemons said.
Newspaper stories throughout the United Kingdom reported that Kirk was piloting his World War II-era small plane when he landed near the ranch.
(Excerpt) Read more at wacotrib.com ...
Welshland is a pretty harsh place to live. He was probably just looking for political asylum, but gets mental asylum now instead.
Apparently he was trying to leave a thank-you note for the President.
“Apparently he was trying to leave a thank-you note for the President.”
Well then...he MUST BE CRAZY!!
(eye roll)
How crazy can he be? Made it down with no reports of injury or damage.
Appears to be this guy: http://kirkflyingvet.com/default.aspx
Looks like he’s a Brit flying around the world in a Piper Cub. Seems like an interesting fellow.
He seems harmless enough. A bit eccentric perhaps, but his blog (my post above) has some interesting stuff. He’s a an accomplished pilot and has flown that little Cub all over the place.
From the look of it he’s already been most of the way around the world. He’s on his way back to Wales now.
Looks like he’s also met a number of famous people along the way.
Thank you for providing that link. It does explain a lot. I hope this guy gets back home OK.
The pilot was taken into custody, Plemons said. An evaluation indicated the man wasn’t intoxicated, but Plemons said the evaluation led officers to believe the man needed a mental evaluation.
I would be a gibbering mental wreck if forced down by a Thunderstorm.
Pilot stuff ping. See link above.
If you go to the President George Bush page at your link, it says he was actually intending to meet President Bush, so he did mean to land there. Just not a wise thing to do without proper notice, LOL!
It looks from his other videos that landing in various unimproved fields is something he does all the time. It said that he never actually violated the restricted airspace and he landed only a few miles away, so... he could have landed on the ranch but didn’t. It would suggest he knew what he was doing.
I hope they cut the guy some slack, and send him on his way. It would be a hoot if he really could meet the President, somehow... LOL.
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