Flier's body found in South Texas field
Posted on 11/20/2002 4:00:50 AM PST by MeekOneGOP
Flier's body found in South Texas field
Houston man suspected in NASA theft; police say fall looks deliberate
11/20/2002
WALLER, Texas - The body of a Houston man who fell from a single-engine plane at 9,000 feet was found by authorities Tuesday afternoon.
The search for Russell Edward Filler, who was being investigated in the theft of NASA technology, began Sunday when he was reported to have left the plane in midair. Authorities were not calling the fall a suicide, but an investigator said the plunge appeared to be intentional.
"There was no accidental exit from the aircraft," Waller County Sheriff's Lt. John Kremmer said.
Mr. Filler's body was recovered after searchers in a Department of Public Safety helicopter spotted it in a field about five miles southwest of Waller.
Mr. Filler, a 47-year-old engineer for a NASA space station contractor, became a suspect in the theft when federal authorities traced a NASA-owned laptop computer to his home. The computer disappeared Oct. 25.
He was contacted by federal authorities Thursday. The laptop did not contain sensitive information, officials said.
AP Vicki Lambuth and Leonard Borchgardt look at the field near his property where Russell Edward Filler's body was found. |
On Sunday, Mr. Filler went to Hooks Airport in Spring, a Houston suburb. He needed to log more hours to renew his pilot's license.
Waller County Sheriff Randy Smith said Mr. Filler apparently opened the cockpit door and unfastened his seat belt Sunday afternoon when a flight instructor accompanying him looked away.
"We do know the integrity of the aircraft has been approved as functional, and the door was in good repair," Mr. Kremmer said Tuesday. "The aircraft has been checked and returned for service."
The flight instructor, Benito Frank Munoz, said that Mr. Filler expressed interest in buying a small plane and that they flew Saturday at 6,000 feet. Mr. Filler returned Sunday, Mr. Munoz said, and wanted to fly at 9,000 feet.
"I thought nothing was odd the whole time," Mr. Munoz said Tuesday. "I didn't see it coming, honestly."
Mr. Filler's last request was to have Mr. Munoz bank sharply to the left, possibly making it easier to exit the aircraft. "He said that twice, 'Steeper, steeper,' " Mr. Munoz said. "And that was about all he ever said."
The Department of Public Safety and the Coast Guard helped with the aerial search for Mr. Filler's body, while all-terrain vehicles from the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department roamed the ground.
Mr. Kremmer said the search area covered about 20 square miles within Waller County, northwest of Houston, because of the plane's altitude and speed and the flight instructor's inability to pinpoint where he was when Mr. Filler left the Cessna aircraft.
As part of the theft investigation, Mr. Filler had talked to NASA, the U.S. Inspector General's Office and the Harris County Sheriff's Department. He told authorities he bought the computer for $500 through an ad posted in a grocery store, Harris County Sheriff's Capt. Robert Van Pelt said.
Capt. Van Pelt said Mr. Filler turned on the laptop and saw that it had nonsensitive NASA software on it, but he kept the computer knowing it was stolen. The computer was retrieved from Mr. Filler's home, and a deputy was completing a report required to charge Mr. Filler with theft, Capt. Van Pelt said.
Mr. Filler had worked for United Space Alliance since 1996 in the contractor's integrated test and verification group, which does ground testing for the International Space Station.
Buying cars, gambling, prostitutes, Harley's, vacation homes, computers, and even home improvements, are just the tip. I've also noticed that it is a phenomenon that had been obvious for a very long time but nobody wanted to do anything about it, since it made the gubmint look bad. I am so glad adults are in charge now.
I bet there will be an official "Amnesty Program" soon due to the volume of theft. Something like, come clean....partial restitution.....suspension without pay....no prosecution, and you still get to keep your job. The ones I have read about in the news have just gotten probation for stealing $1.7 million! I think they should load them all into a C-130 and push them all out at 9000'. That would really stop gubmint employee theft.
It has to do with the muscle tension just before impact and how it directs the shattering of bone.
I do not know if it could work in 9000' free falls, but it is really amazing science. I've seen the X-Ray comparisons and it is really accurate.
Or maybe the pilot is a Russian spy and he shoved him out! Hmmmm....
LOL !
He knew he was going to be busted, and certainly lose his job. He just couldn't handle the disgrace, and with no family to provide support, he decided to take a spectacular way out.
It was pretty tricky getting out of the airplane so quickly, but since it only took a few seconds, that's all the surprise he needed to pull it off.
I wish it were more complicated than that, but it doesn't appear to be.
It would not be hard at all. Just unbuckle the seat belt. Pull the door handle and slide out.
This plane was in a 60 to 90 degree bank. In such a bank the plane is on its side in relationship to the earth. It would be like putting a car on its side up in the air with the drivers side down. Then have the driver open the door without a seat belt on.
Getting out of a Cessna 152 in a steep bank would be very very quick and take almost no effort.
That may be somewhat true. As one who has flown a number of 152s, I find it not credible that the 23 year-old instructor noticed nothing til the man was out of the plane.
It took some effort to get out of the plane. It wasn't simply like falling out.
OR
It was one hell fart that catipulted him from the plane.
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