Small plane taken from Camarillo; no link to terrorism seen

The disappearance of a small airplane from a local airfield was under investigation by the FBI and Federal Aviation Administration, but authorities did not link the theft to terrorism.

The Cessna 182 was stolen from Camarillo Airport between Monday and Wednesday afternoon.

I'm just thinking out loud here...

Multiple reports stating that small aircraft have gone 'missing' in the last weeks, reports of airline pilot uniforms, identification tags and cockpit keys that can't be found, FBI noticing sports' stadium layouts were specifically looked at via the WWW by terrorists...

I can't be alone in putting these pieces all together am I??

Nah...They must ALL be isolated incidents, not related in any way.

Of course, of course. How could people possibly link this to terrorist activity. Why airplanes are stolen all the time and probably just taken to chop shops. Nothing to be alarmed about here folks! And as for those stadium layouts, maybe they are just doing research for their ticket scalping business. Yeah, ticket scalping. That's the ticket!

That Cessna 172 stolen from a small airport near Augusta GA in mid June is apparently still missing too.

Last weekend, one of the several incursions in the Washington DC airspace was a "small plane" that disappeared before it could be identified and investigated.

Little dots. Many little dots. May be just a case of measles. May be some trying to create a hugh smiley face, like the pipe-bomber guy a few months ago. Lotsadots. Wonder what connecting the dots might reveal?

How would you connect missing airline pilot uniforms and cockpit keys with stolen general aviation aircraft? People who fly general aviation aircraft wear normal civilian clothes. The atmosphere around modest aircraft (such as the two stolen Cessnas) is extremely informal; that's one of the pleasures of travelling privately.

General aviation aircraft normally do not even fly in the same airports as commercial aircraft. There are no commercial flights out of Van Nuys Airport (VNY), but it actually has more takeoffs and landings than Los Angeles International (LAX). Most general aviation airports don't even have air traffic control, so you can slip in and out of them without being noticed. This, of course, is why it's very difficult to recapture stolen planes.

I could certainly connect missing general aviation aircraft and terrorists looking at sports stadium layouts, but I can't hook that up with the uniforms.

David Dennis has a good friend who flys a Mooney; he's flown in it many times and knows how to change radio frequencies and VOR coordinates with the self-assurance of a pro. Actually flying the plane, though, is a non-starter.

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