(Charlotte, NC) Sept. 10, 2002 - The Federal Bureau of Investigation expects to file no charges after a twin-engine jet from Columbia was escorted to Charlotte-Douglas International Airport by two F-16 fighter jets on Tuesday.
The Federal Aviation Administration says the plane was forced to land, because it was unclear whether the pilots provided authorities with adequate flight information.
Chris Swecker, who heads the FBI in North Carolina, says the Cessna took off from West Columbia on Tuesday morning bound for Colorado Springs with three pilots from Bell Aviation to show the aircraft to a potential buyer. Swecker says the aircraft's registration was to expire at midnight Wednesday. He says the pilots had filed the appropriate flight plans.
Federal Aviation Administration spokeswoman Kathleen Bergen, speaking from the FAA regional office in Atlanta, said the plane had an Egyptian registration and because of the foreign registration it was required to file "appropriate paperwork" before taking off. Air traffic controllers raised questions about the flight and requested it land at the closest international airport, she said.
Dwain Wilkins, spokesman for the federal Transportation Security Administration, said authorities were satisfied that the plane, which landed without incident, was not a risk.
The names people aboard were not released. All three were questioned by federal authorities and released.
Bell Aviation chief financial officer Roy Simmons says this shows, "Authorities are doing everything they can to make sure our skies are safe."
The plane was grounded pending possible action by the FAA.
Jets force plane to land after Columbia takeoff
Fighters from Shaw intercept Egyptian plane, order landing
By CLIF LeBLANC
Staff Writer
A paperwork problem with a luxury jet caused an air-safety scare in S.C. skies on the eve of the 9/11 anniversary and might have cost a Columbia company a big sale.
Shaw Air Force Base fighter jets intercepted a private Egyptian jet Tuesday morning and made the pilots land in Charlotte.
A former S.C. National Guard chief of staff and a Columbia air traffic controller were flying the jet on a sales mission for Bell Aviation.
The Cessna Citation V left Columbia Metropolitan Airport at 10:35 a.m. headed for Colorado Springs, Colo., FAA spokesman Kathleen Bergen said.
The plane has been at the Columbia airport for six months in a Bell Aviation hangar. Bell has been trying to sell it for an Egyptian company, a Bell executive said.
A Colorado buyer wanted to see the $4 million plane, and Tuesday was the only day open on his calendar, said Roy Simmons, Bell's chief financial officer.
A few minutes into the flight, two F-16s summoned by national air defense officials directed the Citation to land at Charlotte-Douglas International Airport, aviation officials said.
Federal Aviation Administration officials at a regional traffic control center in Hilliard, Fla., had become concerned that the foreign-based plane did not have proper authorization, Bergen said.
The North American Aerospace Defense command near Colorado Springs could not stop the plane before it took off and scrambled the jets.
The F-16s -- which have 20mm cannons, air-to-air missiles and laser-guided weapons -- escorted the jet to the tarmac at 11:22.
"If NORAD requires that we fly a CAP (combat air patrol) mission, we fly a CAP mission," Shaw's Lt. Allison Farabaugh said.
After FBI agents questioned the pilots and a Bell salesman, they were sent home without charges, said Jim Schweitzer, FBI chief in South Carolina.
The plane never posed a security threat, Schweitzer said.
But pilots Phil Latham and Lou Ridley face possible FAA sanctions, Schweitzer said.
In the early 1990s, Latham was chief of staff for the Air National Guard under then-S.C. Adjutant General T. Eston Marchant. Latham is an experienced F-16 pilot.
Ridley works at Columbia Metropolitan, Bergen said. She had no immediate details about his work history.
Simmons said Bell hires Latham and Ridley as independent contractors. Latham is a former full-time Bell employee.
Bell is trying to sell the plane for a Cairo company that Simmons would not identify. The Citation carries 10 people, including the crew. He could not recall whether Egyptian pilots flew it here.
He said the company might have a difficult time selling the jet to the Colorado buyer after today's incident.
The FAA questioned the plane's airworthiness certificate, its registration and a waiver that allows foreign-based aircraft to fly in U.S. airspace, Bergen said.
The waiver caused Tuesday's problem, Simmons said.
The FAA required waivers on foreign planes after last year's terrorist attacks in New York and Washington, Simmons said. They must be renewed after six months, but Simmons said his company did not know that until Tuesday.
"We did not have an updated document in the airplane and were not aware it was necessary," he said. "I mean, we were trying to sell an airplane. This was our shot at making this happen."
Simmons holds no grudges. "If this is what occurs with a heightened sense of security, then I think our country's in pretty good shape."
Staff writer Jeff Wilkinson contributed to this article.