Air Chase! Grand Theft Cessna Ends Safely In Missouri with One Arrest

April 7, 2009 at 10:45 AM | by egw | 0 Comments

This is why we don't leave our keys in parked planes: A Cessna stolen from a Canadian flight school last night landed safely on a Missouri back road last night after a six-hour flight over four states. Canadian citizen Adam Leon was arrested on the ground after fleeing the plane on foot.

Leon took off from Ontario's Thunder Bay Airport around 3PM and crossed into Michigan's Upper Peninsula. F-16 fighter jets met him when he crossed into Wisconsin, where his flightpath caused the evacuation of the state capitol building in Madison. Suspected to be low on fuel, the pilot, a flight student who later told state troopers he was hoping to be shot down, was able to land the plane on Missouri Highway FF around 9PM, where he was apprehended after hitching a ride to a convenience store. That's right, Midwesterners are so nice they will give you a ride even after you put the scare into Homeland Security.

Missouri news channel KFVS followed the plane on Twitter amid coverage of the St. Louis Cardinals' home opener and a visit from Senator Roland Burris. When @kfvsnews declared "We are still on top of the stolen plane story" this morning, it wasn't just an empty boast.

So what happens to commercial flights when a plane goes rogue, so to speak? The North American Aerospace Defense Command (or NORAD), known in peace time as the Santa tracker to the world, can direct local airports to make room on their runways for an unscheduled landing, which is what happened at Rhinelander-Oneida County Airport.

Another airport Leon flew over, Central Wisconsin Airport, actually closed its airspace to all incoming or outgoing flights as F-16s attempted to direct the Cessna to a landing. There were no major delays at either airport, but NORAD would have had the authority to shut down larger nearby airports in Milwaukee or St. Louis if they had judged it to be necessary.

Related Stories:
· Authorities: Pilot of stolen plane captured after fleeing on foot [CNN]
· LinkTitle2 [UW-Madison Badger Herald]
· Suspect in plane theft arrested, wanted to be shot down [Wausau Daily Herald]
· Super World Traveler Santa Impresses Even Us [Jaunted]
· Stolen plane lands on US highway [BBC News]

[Screenshot: KFVS News]

Jaunted

Select a Destination:

Tags: Airplanes / Crime / Twitter / Homeland Security / Cessnas / → All Tags