F-16s trail plane taken in Canada and flown south

[TheSarge]

By ROBERT IMRIE | Associated Press Writer
8:20 PM CDT, April 6, 2009

WAUSAU, Wis. - A single-engine airplane flown away from an airport in Canada by a student pilot Monday was intercepted by jet fighters over Wisconsin but kept flying south through Illinois and Missouri. It was still in the air Monday evening.

The pilot hadn't communicated with authorities, and it wasn't known if he might be incapacitated.

The incident caused the Wisconsin Capitol in Madison to be evacuated as a precaution as the plane flew through that section of the state.

Mike Kucharek, spokesman for the North American Aerospace Defense Command in Colorado, said the Cessna 172 was stolen from Thunder Bay, Ontario, about 2:30 p.m. Monday and the pilot had been flying erratically and had not communicated with the fighter pilots, who intercepted the plane at the Michigan-Wisconsin border.

The F-16 jets were from the Wisconsin Air National Guard. Plans were being made to "swap them out" with other aircraft Monday evening as the pursuit continued, Kucharek said.

The pilot had acknowledged seeing the F-16s but he had not obeyed their nonverbal commands to follow them, Kucharek said in a telephone interview from Colorado Springs. He said the plane was being tracked as a "fight safety issue" and the plane was not believed to be a terrorist threat.


http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/chi-ap-wi-stolenplane,0,4366883.story
 

[Chris]

Wow.  Stolen plane and a "student" pilot.  I don't see anything on CNN except for Larry King's emaciated face right now.

[TheSarge]

Wow.  Stolen plane and a "student" pilot.  I don't see anything on CNN except for Larry King's emaciated face right now.

Nothing on Fox News either.  The only reason I even put it up was because it was an AP story.

[DixieBelle]

So it's not been landed yet? Did I miss something in the article?

[TheSarge]

So it's not been landed yet? Did I miss something in the article?

Nope it's still in the air as far as I can tell.

[TheSarge]

The plane entered American airspace over Michigan's Upper Peninsula at 3:25 p.m. today and has been trailed by the military aircraft since 4:43 p.m. as it has flown over Minnesota, south through Wisconsin, Illinois and Missouri.

The aircraft went past St. Louis flew south over eastern Missouri towards Arkansas. At one point, the Wisconsin state capitol building in Madison was evacuated as a precaution as the plane flew over the city.

Confederation College in Thunder Bay, Ontario, confirmed to ABC News that one of its aircraft was stolen today and flown out of Thunder Bay International Airport at 2:55 p.m.

http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/story?id=7273710&page=1

[Chris]

I wonder if he's headed to Mexico?

[TheSarge]

Drudge is reporting that the plane has landed on Hwy 60 in Missouri.

[djones520]

Holy Shit!  I saw this today and didn't even realize it.  I was driving to a store and glanced up and saw 2 F-16's flying.  Confused the hell out of me because we don't get fighters at Scott unless theres an airshow, and with how low they where flying I figured they where doing something more then just flying through the area on a training mission.

[thundley4]

Drudge is reporting that the plane has landed on Hwy 60 in Missouri.

I was wondering how long before he ran out of fuel.

[TheSarge]

I was wondering how long before he ran out of fuel.

Who ever is at the controls is damn lucky they stayed alive long enough to run it out of fuel.

[Chris]

According to the Federal Aviation Administration, the plane was flying for a while at 14,500 feet. Over 10,000 feet the air is quite thin and commercial planes would be pressurized, but the Cessna 172 is not. As a result, the pilot could be suffering from hypoxia, or lack of oxygen, which can lead to confusion.

The plane later dropped its altitude to 3,700 feet, where there is more oxygen.

http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/Story?id=7273710&page=2

okay...

[Crazy Horse]

Who ever is at the controls is damn lucky they stayed alive long enough to run it out of fuel.

All the fuel should have burned the moment the pilot ignored the fighters

[NHSparky]

Hypoxia being what it is, but even at 14K feet you can recognize when 2 F-16's are on your ass.

[TheSarge]

All the fuel should have burned the moment the pilot ignored the fughters

 

[TheSarge]

Hypoxia being what it is, but even at 14K feet you can recognize when 2 F-16's are on your ass.

No to mention the sound of the pilots voice in your headset telling you to identify yourself and to land the aircraft.

[thundley4]

All the fuel should have burned the moment the pilot ignored the fighters

New admisministration, new rules of security, or insecurity as the case may be.

[NHSparky]

What?  Guard frequency doesn't work in this airplane?  WTF?

And yeah, I don't have a pilot's license but 121.5 Mhz....it is your friend when you take off.

[TheSarge]

Laura Brown of the Federal Aviation Administration said the Cessna 172 landed on a dirt road at Ellsinore, Mo., near Poplar Bluff and the pilot ran away.

She said local law enforcement are responding.

The pilot hadn't communicated with authorities through the entire flight.

In Wisconsin, the incident caused the Wisconsin Capitol in Madison to be evacuated as a precaution as the plane flew through that section of the state.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,512837,00.html

This guy is still on the loose.  WTF?

[thundley4]

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,512837,00.html

This guy is still on the loose.  WTF?

There were plenty of open areas that he could have been taken down.

[TheSarge]

There were plenty of open areas that he could have been taken down.

Which begs the question of why the order wasn't given.  The pilot ignored verbal and hand signals to land and made absolutely no attempt to communicate with the pilots on the radio.


Now he's on the loose in Missouri.

[thundley4]

Which begs the question of why the order wasn't given.  The pilot ignored verbal and hand signals to land and made absolutely no attempt to communicate with the pilots on the radio.


Now he's on the loose in Missouri.

As I said, new security rules. He was mostly over flyover country, so no worry for 0Bama.  I wonder if he was even alerted.

[TheSarge]

As I said, new security rules. He was mostly over flyover country, so no worry for 0Bama.  I wonder if he was even alerted.

He's still out of the country in Turkey.  Best guess is that he was told of a "developing situation"...something akin to the first whispered message Andrew Card gave President Bush.

[Chris]

CNN finally stopped kissing Hussein's ass and televising Larry King's enormous head long enough to report on the story.

http://www.cnn.com/audio/radio/cnntv.html

[TheSarge]

CNN finally stopped kissing Hussein's ass and televising Larry King's enormous head long enough to report on the story.

http://www.cnn.com/audio/radio/cnntv.html

If the MSM's blatant disregard for reporting real news was still in doubt...the fact it's taken CNN this long to mention it should quell any further doubt.