[Larry - Moe and Curly]

“...was the pilot even aware of what was going on/ why the tower shut him down?”

I don’t have that information, but I doubt the pilot had any foreknowledge. I don’t know if the Tower told him what was going on, other than maybe the plane would be boarded by SWAT. The Tower just denied him permission to taxi/take off and to shut the plane down.

[little jeremiah]

Thanks for additional.