This should get pretty interesting, kind of a death wish if you ask me! Stolen plane headed for St. Louis By Journal Sentinel, Associated Press Updated: Apr. 6, 2009 7:10 p.m. A stolen aircraft being pursued by F-16 fighters, which forced the evacuation of the state Capitol building in Madison, is now over southern Illinois, a spokesman for the North American Aerospace Defense Command said. Mike Kucharek, spokesman for the North American Aerospace Defense Command in Colorado, said that by 6:25 p.m., the Cessna 172 had a "glide path" headed toward St. Louis with the pilot continuing to refuse to communicate with any authorities. "We don't know what the motive is. I wouldn't want to speculate on that. We are treating this with the most utmost seriousness," Kucharek said. The fighters continue to pursue the Cessna 172, reported stolen from Thunder Bay in Ontario, said Lt. Commander Gary Ross, another spokesman for NORAD at Peterson Air Force Base in Colorado Springs, Colo. The Capitol was evacuated for about 35 minutes as a precaution after the two Wisconsin Air National Guard fighters were dispatched to track a single-engine plane. Kucharek said the plane was stolen, apparently by a student pilot, about 2:30 p.m. and the pilot has been flying erratically and has not communicated with the fighter pilots. Ross said the fighters intercepted the aircraft at 3:43 p.m. near the Wisconsin-Upper Peninsula border, and that its pilot ignored non-verbal commands from the fighter pilots. The fighter pilots are attempting make the Cessna's pilot contact local Federal Aviation Administration air traffic controllers who can direct a safe landing. In Madison, Department of Justice spokesman Bill Cosh said "several precautions" were taken at the state Capitol after the report of the plane. The Capitol was evacuated at about 5:10 p.m. and Capitol Police officers circled the building, telling state workers and visitors to "get as far away as possible." It was unknown how much fuel was in the plane or how much training the student pilot has acquired, Kucharek said. In Madison, Department of Justice spokesman Bill Cosh said the state Capitol building was evacuated shortly after 5 p.m. Monday as a precaution. Many workers had already left for the day. Gov. Jim Doyle was not in the building. He had been in Chicago Monday. Capitol police ordered everyone out of the building and told them to go at least a block away from the building. Police cars with sirens drove on the sidewalks by the doors of the Capitol. Others drove on the streets of the Capitol square, telling people to move away.
Updated: Apr. 6, 2009 8:05 p.m. A stolen aircraft being pursued by F-16 fighters, which forced the evacuation of the state Capitol building in Madison, is now near Monroe, Mo., northwest of St. Louis, a Federal Aviation Administration official says. Laura Brown, an FAA spokeswoman in Washington, D.C., said the pilot of the Cessna 172, stolen from Thunder Bay, Canada, has still not responded to communications from the fighters and that the aircraft was flying at about 14,500 feet. The aircraft was stolen from the Confederated College Flight School at Thunder Bay International Airport and the male pilot is a student at the school, Brown said.
Difference between stealing a car and stealing a plane, when the law gets on to in a plane, its not like you can just jump out and take off running. Well, I guess you can run but just as far as the impact zone.
(in my best Ron White voice) Ya'll know where he is headed?....All the way to the scene of the crash. I bet he beats the paramedics there by a half hour!
Well it seems he did run from the plane.............. right after it landed on a highway! There chasing him now!
Update, they did catch him, he wanted to commit suicide but was to scared, said he wanted the fighter jets to shoot him down... Anywho, after landed he hitched a ride to a nearby restaurant and waited for the police to arrest him....
Sounds like he flew in the general area of my house. I'm glad they didn't shoot him down over my turkey hunting spot. FAA agents, TV crews....that would have sucked. :D
