http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1501628/posts
Passengers tattle on pilot after ride in stolen jet
Atlanta Journal-Constitution (excerpt) ^ | October 13, 2005
Posted on 10/13/2005 2:12:10 AM PDT by HAL9000
Excerpt -
Imagine taking a joyride with five friends — a fine trip,
covering 400 or so miles, the sort of nighttime jaunt where the
lights of towns and cities below twinkle like diamonds tossed
across black velvet.
Then imagine that trip coming to a rude conclusion when your
five fellow travelers finger you as the guy who stole that ride,
a $7 million Cessna Citation VII.
That's the situation facing Daniel Andrew Wolcott of Buford.
Police arrested him Wednesday and charged him with taking
the airplane, boosted from St. Augustine, Fla., last weekend
and flown to Gwinnett County Airport/Briscoe Field.
Wolcott, 22, is facing five misdemeanor counts and one felony
charge in Gwinnett for the alleged theft. He may face more,
too: Federal officials and Florida authorities are considering
filing charges.
Police said Wolcott has a commercial-rated pilot's license, but
is not licensed to fly the Cessna, a sophisticated machine that
can climb eight miles into the sky and exceed 500 mph.
Wolcott, said police spokesman Darren Moloney, "apparently is
a talented and gifted pilot."
[snip]
Wolcott had been known to hang out at Briscoe Field, where he worked odd jobs or part-time, Moloney said. His father also worked at the airfield in some capacity.
Wolcott has a commercial pilot's license but not to fly that type of plane.
Attaining the training needed to fly the seven-passenger Cessna business jet would have cost thousands of dollars, according to Rick Sanborn of Pinnacle Air Services.
"You don't just jump into one of those planes and fly away," Sanborn said. "It's a jet ... He had to spend a lot of time and a lot of money to get there. That was a waste, because I doubt he'll ever fly again."
Wolcott also was arrested in 2003, on a charge of battery, Moloney said.
Kathleen Bergen, a Federal Aviation Administration spokeswoman, said federal authorities are researching radar data to determine if there are any signs of the plane's flight. The research could take a few days, she said There is no evidence the plane had turned on its transponder, a piece of equipment that would have automatically identified an aircraft on radar, she said. The aircraft could have appeared as an unidentified blip, also known as a primary target.
Officials withheld information about the passengers and how the aircraft was stolen because of the federal investigation, Moloney said. They were apparently unaware the plane had been stolen.
The Cessna was left unlocked on a ramp in St. Augustine and didn't need a key to start, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported.
"I heard he said he regularly flew through here, but we didn't have any record of it," said Bryan Cooper, assistant manager of the St. Augustine Airport. "The fixed-base operator doesn't have any record of it."
Both the St. Augustine Airport and Briscoe Field lack security guards, authorities said. Both are surrounded by fences. The Sheriff's Office randomly patrols the St. Augustine airport, Cooper said.
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So here we have another article on this 22 year-old....and still not one peep about the identities of the 5 passengers. This just must be a case of "Grand Theft Jet".....similar to the popular video game Grand Theft Auto but just bumped up to the next level by some 22 year old "gifted pilot" looking to have some fun. Move along folks nothing to see here...happens all the time....