Posted on 11/19/2002 6:10:07 AM PST by Dog Gone
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By the end of the day he was in the spotlight as the focus of a federal investigation into a space program technology theft.
And he also was dead, although authorities had no body to prove it.
The strange story of Filler, a 47-year-old engineer for a NASA contractor in the Clear Lake area, continued to unfold Monday as Waller County deputies and other law enforcement officers searched unsuccessfully for his remains.
"He either fell out or jumped out" of the cockpit of the Cessna 152 he was co-piloting on Sunday afternoon at 9,000 feet above Waller County, Sheriff Randy Smith said.
The sheriff said a daylong search of pastures and ponds and rice fields turned up no body, and as evening approached he wasn't sure how much longer or farther to extend the effort today.
"It's like looking for a needle in a haystack, although I hate to use that expression," he said. "We've got at least 20 square miles to cover."
He said the initial search area was bounded by U.S. 290 Business on the north, Brumlow Road on the south, FM 362 on the east and FM 359 on the west. A state police helicopter and searchers using all-terrain vehicles scouted the countryside to no avail from dawn to dusk on Monday.
Smith reported that federal officials who inspected the Cessna found nothing wrong with its cockpit door-latch mechanism or with the seat belt that Filler apparently had disengaged just before the incident.
Meanwhile, other federal officials were providing a glimpse into their own review of Filler's recent past.
Filler, who celebrated a birthday last week, was under suspicion in connection with the theft of a NASA-owned laptop computer containing possibly sensitive space program data. The laptop disappeared Oct. 25, and officials traced it to Filler's home earlier this month when he made a connection through the computer's modem.
Last Thursday, representatives of NASA, the Johnson Space Center, the U.S. Inspector-General's Office and the Harris County Sheriff's Department talked with him about the theft.
Harris County sheriff's Capt. Robert Van Pelt said Filler told them he bought the computer from an individual who had posted an ad on a bulletin board at a grocery store. He claimed he bought it for $500 in a parking-lot transaction.
When Filler got to his Clear Lake area home and turned on the computer, he saw that it had some non-sensitive NASA software on it, Van Pelt said.
"It piqued his curiosity, but he kept the computer," he said, adding that Filler knew the computer was stolen. "He made that oral admission to them."
The computer was retrieved from Filler's home, and a deputy was completing a report required to charge Filler with theft, Van Pelt said.
Smith said he wasn't sure whether Filler's trouble with the law had any bearing on what happened Sunday: "We're still investigating, as are others."
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.
Mike Curie, a spokesman for the firm, described the workplace reaction as "shock" but declined to say more, partly because no confirmation of Filler's death was yet forthcoming
"We're going under the assumption that it is Russ Filler. He was not at work today," Curie said.
Filler was unmarried and lived in the 14600 block of Graywood Grove in the Clear Lake area. He added that Filler reportedly had confided to a friend that he was worried about the theft case.
Smith said the prelude to Sunday's incident was unremarkable.
Filler, who needed more hours in the cockpit to renew his pilot's license, went aloft with instructor Benito Frank Munoz, 23, for a routine outing to get time at the controls and renew flying skills.
Munoz told deputies that Filler took the plane to a relatively high altitude -- about 9,000 feet -- and, once there, turned control of the single-engine plane back over to him. They had been flying about 45 minutes.
Filler asked Munoz to bank the plane in a steep turn and, as Munoz complied, the startled instructor heard a bump and glanced over to "see Filler's feet going out the door," Smith said.
Munoz said Filler had buckled up and donned his radio-intercom headset when they left Hooks, but at the time of the incident apparently had disconnected both. He said nothing beforehand and left no note, Smith said.
Munoz flew back to Hooks to meet with Federal Aviation Administration officials, who were notified immediately.
A woman who answered the phone Monday at Munoz's northwest Houston home said he had no comment regarding the incident.
I wasn't quite so stuck on myself when we headed back to the field and found that the wind had shifted round to the east and I had to do a crosswind landing . . . fortunately, the examiner was a hefty soul, and the wind was blowing from HIS side of the runway . . . hey, I passed, that's what counts! :-D
I don't recall the noise being THAT much worse when the door was cracked . . . but by golly there was a draft!
Since they've found the deceased, that scotches the fake suicide theory, but still, as Topsy said, "Somebody ain't tellin' all they knows." I wonder if the late lamented threatened the pilot & he's ashamed to admit it . . . he may have been afraid that a struggle in the cockpit would have planted 'em both . . . although a 150 will pretty much fly itself if you leave it alone.
Dang it.
Pilot licenses do not "lapse", at least not in the US.
For him to act as pilot-in-command, he must have had a biennial flight review in the past 24 months. Perhaps he was doing a flight review, but that's a lot more than a "spin". Also, "spin" means something entirely different to a pilot, and it is a bad thing unless you are practicing aerobatics.
Aircraft rental generally requires that you have flown in the past 60-90 days. If you haven't done so, a quick trip with an instructor is usually sufficient. But, a climb to 9,000 feet would be pointless.
An instrument-rated pilot may go for an "ICC" (instrument competency check) if they haven't met the requirement of "6 hours in IFR and 6 instrument approaches" in the past 6 months.
In addition, a private pilot must have obtained a medical certificate in the past 24 months (for most people).
Yes, it's semantics. But, when the reporter can't even get that right, you have to wonder what else he got wrong.
One thing interesting to note: Russell Filler does not show up in the U.S. Certificated Airman Database. However, I believe you can request to be left out of the public database.
If I remember right, after Richard Burton told him of the long painful drop to the end of the rope, the traitor was given the "alternative," and he took it.
Unless Rosie or Oprah wanted to join the "Mile High Club".
Eaker
On windy days I sometimes see birds do this. They'll be flapping their little brains out trying to get somewhere with a headwind, and they'll just be parked in midair. Looks really funny.
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