Posted on 02/13/2003 4:15:31 PM PST by NotJustAnotherPrettyFace
BEVERLY -- Two men tried to buy a crop-dusting airplane at Beverly Airport Tuesday night and when questioned, jumped into a pickup truck and left the area, prompting a tight-lipped anti-terrorism investigation by state police and the FBI.
State police confirmed they are investigating an incident that occurred at the airport at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, but wouldn't provide further details.
Airport sources said the men, who appeared to be of Middle Eastern descent, went to Aviators of New England, a flight school at the airport on LP Henderson Road, and asked the owner if they could buy a crop-duster.
"They had thick accents," said Victor Capozzi, owner of General Aviation Services, another airport business. "He just thought it was kind of weird they'd come in asking about an (agricultural) plane."
He said the request was particularly unusual because crop-dusters are rarely used in the Northeast anymore.
"To ask for one of those planes is totally off the wall," Capozzi said.
Crop-dusters have been linked to terrorism because they can be used to spread germ and chemical warfare. And the incident comes at a particularly vulnerable time, as the nation remains on orange, high-alert terrorist status.
When questioned by Aviators of New England owner Richard Little, the men jumped in a pickup truck with Massachusetts plates and left the airport. Little then called the police, according to airport sources.
"Word spread right through the airport the minute it happened," Capozzi said.
The men apparently inquired about using an old crop-dusting plane that had been converted to tow banner advertisements across the skyline.
Steve LeBel of Rowley, the owner of the small plane, wasn't at the airport at the time of the incident. But he said the plane isn't even set up for crop-dusting.
"A lot of banner towers use former spray planes, but they take all the spray equipment off it," said LeBel, who runs Ads In Flight, a banner towing business. "It wouldn't even serve the purpose they're claiming to want to do."
The lack of information from police officials left some wondering whether the visit from the two men was a hoax, or a simple misunderstanding.
LeBel said he doubts the two men planned on doing anything. "They just have the intention of making everybody nervous," he said.
Paul Vitale, the former chairman of the Airport Commission, said it has been years since a working crop-duster was kept at Beverly Airport.
Employees at Aviators of New England were told not to discuss the matter.
"We are not at liberty to speak about it all," said a woman, who identified herself as Richard Little's wife, in a brief telephone interview last night. "We were advised by the authorities to keep it quiet."
Beverly Mayor Thomas Crean said he knew of the incident, but offered little public comment.
"It's ongoing and there's nothing I can tell you right now," he said. "I've been advised of that. It's extremely sensitive."
Beverly Police records indicate there was a "suspicious activity" call from Little's business at 5:42 p.m. Tuesday. Beverly police initially investigated, but then turned the matter over to Massachusetts State Police, Beverly Lt. William Terry said yesterday.
Sgt. Edward Principe, a spokesman for the state police, said the "matter remained under investigation," and declined further comment.
State Police Lt. Michael Cronin, who heads the state police anti-terrorism unit, could not be reached for comment for this story yesterday.
Sources yesterday also said the FBI was brought in to investigate, however, the federal agency does not comment on pending investigations.
BTW, I live not all that far from the Beverly airport.
I'm wondering the same thing myself. Two middle-eastern men march into a flight school and ask to buy a crop-duster? After 9-11? Either they are the two stupidest would-be terrorists on the face of the earth or it's a hoax, or else maybe their accents were so thick nobody really knew what they were saying.
Yup, I heard about this on WRKO (news/talk) while driving home from work today. I expect it was probably on the local teevee news as well.
Forum: Scale Aircraft
Thread: crop duster plans or kit
doodlebug
I'm looking for plans or I'd rather like to know if there are any good kits for a crop duster type model. I don't care what type or style it is as long as it has the look of a crop duster. I want it to be a 120 size or 1/4 scale. Thanks for any info.
jmulder Yes there are.
jmulder LOL.....Im just funnin with ya little brother!!!!
doodlebug thanks that is all I needed to know. seriously, have you found out anything?
doodlebug Thanks for the help. How does anyone feel about kit bashing a four star 120 or something like that. I don't need it to be perfect, I just want it to have the crop duster look so I can play around with a smoke system setup. Does anyone have any Idea of a 120 or 1/4 size plane to turn into a crop duster?
Terror from the sky
The seeds of a tragedy
The concept of hijacking and employing passenger airliners in a suicide role can be traced back to the Middle East. The idea developed in two phases. In the first phase, the terrorists attempted to develop an air capability. Middle Eastern terrorist groups acquired and deployed light air vehicles in transport roles, primarily to gain access from Lebanon into Israel. Towards this goal, terrorists experimented, trained, rehearsed and deployed a variety of air vehicles ranging from weather balloons to microlights and remotely guided aircraft
. . . Several Palestinian terrorist groups based in Lebanon planned, prepared and launched air vehicles to gain access into Israel by air throughout the 1980s. Largely due to the alertness of the Israelis and the unreliability of light air vehicles, their cross-border operations were failures. However, throughout the 1990s, the technology of light air vehicles and the quality of training of the terrorist pilots improved.
Increasing sophistication, but tighter security Terrorist groups with access to resources from state sponsors continued to experiment with a new generation of air vehicles. Israeli intelligence reported that the Palestinian Liberation Front (PLF) procured about 100 light aircraft and gliders from Europe with Libyan financing. The aircraft were adapted to be able to carry two men and 180kg of explosives. The Libyan-trained pilots in Lebanon were expected to fly explosives-laden aircraft against targets in Israel.
Although the terrorist capability improved with experience, better technology and training, two factors disrupted the terrorists’ airborne infiltration: tight Israeli security cordons and the lack of aerodynamic stability of the light aircraft. After realising that it was not a cost-effective tactic, both Lebanese Hizbullah and Palestinian groups abandoned the concept. However, other terrorist groups procured private aircraft for travel and experimented with light aircraft for offensive operations. For instance, the Al-Qaeda network led by Osama bin Laden purchased a military training aircraft (T-39) from the USA. After it was converted to a civilian aircraft, Bin Laden’s personal pilot, Essam al-Ridi, flew it through Canada and Europe to Sudan. Al-Ridi, a former flight instructor at the Ed Boardman School of Aviation in Texas, was also a procurement officer for Al-Qaeda. Al-Ridi crashed the aircraft at Khartoum International Airport less than a year after it was purchased.
Nahhh, THE best thing is to urge them to stay the course in the strongest possible terms, not to wimp out, not to cave in to Bush.
Then call Telemundo and Univision and ask them to give 24/7 coverage of the debate...
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