CNN: Man Held in Custody at Frederick, MD Airport, Re: D.C. Plane Scare

Wednesday, May 11, 2005 | Kristinn

[kristinn]

CNN's Kelly Arena reports that one man is being held by Maryland State Police at an airport in Frederick, MD. The police are waiting for federal authorities to arrive on the scene.

The man is said to be the pilot of the small aircraft that triggered an evacuation of government buildings in downtown Washington when he reportedly violated restricted airspace.

Frederick, MD. is located about an hour northwest of Washington, D.C. along the I-270 corridor.

[timtoews5292004]

maybe they should call them footlocker nukes or something like that. I'd hate to have to carry around a suitcase big enough to hold 500 pounds of stuff.

[Mr Ramsbotham]

Chuckle. Reported "warning shots" from the F 18's. I'd need new shorts, pants, shoes, socks and a new seat for the aircraft....

You're not just kidding. When I was young my Dad was stationed at an Air Force base where they used to test-fire the 22 mm cannons on F-100 jets, right in the vicinity of the base football field. The guns would go off without warning, and everybody; literally everybody, would jump. It's a sound such as you'd never hear in the nethermost reaches of hell.

[RSmithOpt]

Good analogy: If a Cessna 150 is a weapon, a 1969 Olds 88 is a WMD. Never plan on taking a lot of luggage with 3 people in a 150.

[flashbunny]

Which would far exceed the load a cessna 150/152 can carry.

Well, maybe a cessna could carry it, if it didn't have a pilot or any fuel on board.

[Howlin]

kristinn, have you heard these "rumors" CNN is now openly talking about -- that others have been taken into custody?

[Armedanddangerous]

Demkicker

Maybe the pilot was too stupid to work the radio? Hey there are a lot od Democrats in that area so you never know....

[Spktyr]

Three radio warnings, maybe a flyby (to see if the pilot's not dead in the cockpit or the plane's not screwed - completely optional), then just light up his world. Something like that would stop the leftwing "demonstrator" nutcases really fast and would send the appropriate message around the world - violate a no-fly zone or ignore your ground controller and get blown out of the sky.


"Sorry bout your luck there, hoss, but we did give you fair warning."

[Armedanddangerous]

The U.S. Capitol Police say the plane was stolen.

It keeps getting more interesting..

[Squawk 8888]

If it was a test by the good guys they'd qualify for a Darwin. Deliberately attracting fighters with live ammo is something one would expect from those groups that use "disposable" operatives.

[sarasota]

Bet there are now some caucasians willing to do a probe for the "cause".

[MJemison]

Three radio warnings, maybe a flyby (to see if the pilot's not dead in the cockpit or the plane's not screwed - completely optional), then just light up his world. Something like that would stop the leftwing "demonstrator" nutcases really fast and would send the appropriate message around the world - violate a no-fly zone or ignore your ground controller and get blown out of the sky.

Ah! Suicide by F16!

[Spktyr]

If so, he's looking at getting thrown in a Fed prison and having the key tossed.

[Squawk 8888]

IIRC it has a useful load of about 500lb, including ~150lb of fuel. With pilot, full fuel and no pax you could have a payload of 100lb or so.

[kristinn]

No. I took a break for a few minutes. CNN's been reporting rumors about our security contingencies all afternoon, but I missed that.

The Washington Post reported Nancy Reagan was at the White House visiting Laura Bush at the time if the alert.

[Rocky Mountain Mama]

Pa Mom: "I don't know, this could be trouble. Those Amish can get pretty wacky."

Hummm, Amish flying a plane ... something doesn't compute, LOL.

[Spktyr]

And then have the bill for the expended munitions sent to your estate.

[brothers4thID]

Don't know what you were watching or who you work for, but there was very little "panic" going on where I was. The only people panicking were tourists and journalists trying to make a story out of this.

[Armedanddangerous]

It seems as though there were two people on the plane, an instructor and a student pilot. You would think an instructor would know better than to perpetrate such a boneheaded stunt.

Unless he was in on it, or was held at gunpoint.

[Howlin]

She's staying there for a few days, according to Ron. They were both moved to a secure location.

[AmericanInTokyo]

It mighta' been a leftnut wingjob!