2 Fighter Jets Are Pursuing a Stolen Plane Headed for Salem, Mo.

[steven johnson]

Source: ABC News

Over the skies of the Midwest, two F-16 fighter jets are escorting a private Cessna 172 aircraft stolen from a flight school in Ontario, Canada, whose pilot has been unresponsive to multiple requests that he establish communications with ground controllers.
Authorities says two F-16 fighters were dispatched to track a single-engine plane over Wisconsin that was believed stolen in Canada by a student pilot.(ABC News Photo Illustration)
A Customs and Border Protection aircraft was also closely monitoring the Cessna.
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.


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

[Duer 157099]

1. I thought it had already been landed

or is this another?

[CreekDog]

same one

[CreekDog]

2. he landed on highway 60 in Missouri and took off on foot

waiting for more news.

[Trajan]

7. I know that area ....

Springfield to Willow Springs ....

Farms, farms, and more farms, sprinkled with tiny hamlets struggling to exist beyond subsistence ...

I had to run away, fast, to find a job that paid enough to live ....

I cannot imagine anyone running TO the Ozarks ....

[CreekDog]

18. you would think they could catch a guy on foot on a highway

but we just aren't as good at things as we used to be. :rofl:

[Regret My New Name]

39. woooah... I find that sort of amusing to think about..

[ardvark]

41. not to condone crime or anything

but I think in generations prior to mine, a guy in a cessna 172 who escapes from 2 F16s and gets away, they'd have say 'that guy has style'

[MADem]

3. It landed and the suicidal pilot is on the run right now.

This is a flight student with some "issues" apparently....

[Schema Thing]

5. would he have landed if he was suicidal?

[MADem]

17. I think he wimped out.

"Suicide by Intercepting Aircraft" is one thing, but "suicide by flying a plane into the ground" requires a lot more active participation...

[CreekDog]

20. i don't think we call aborting a suicidal action "wimping out"

:eyes:

[MADem]

25. Well, in the context of his alleged mission, he wimped out.

I think it's an appropriate descriptor, given the context.

[Posteritatis]

45. And what was that mission, exactly? I've seen no references to it (nt)

[MADem]

53. His "mission" was plainly articulated in the suicide note he left in his car.

His "mission" was to KILL HIMSELF, by letting US intercepting pilots blow him out of the sky--it's like "Suicide by cop" only in the air.

Pilot of Stolen Cessna Wanted U.S. Fighter Jets to Shoot Him Down

http://www.abcnews.go.com/Technology/story?id=7275586&page=1

The Canadian man who led fighter jets on a chase across six states Monday flew his stolen plane into the United States. in hopes the military would shoot him down and kill him, according to a Missouri state trooper who apprehended the rogue pilot.

Missouri state trooper Justin Watson told "Good Morning America" today that 31-year-old Yavuz Berke, formerly known as Adam Leon, wanted to commit suicide, but didn't have the courage to do it himself.

"His idea was to fly the aircraft into the United States where he would be shot down," Watson said. "He stated several times that at any time he thought he was going to be shot down."

And he came close several times, Watson said. ....

[aviationpm]

47. I hope you're not one of those people...

I don't think you'd yell "JUMP" to somebody standing on the ledge, would you? Wimped out?

[MADem]

54. Look, follow the frigging story, why don't you? In context the term is entirely APPROPRIATE.

Don't ascribe "motive" to me and invent stupid (and wrong) scenarios about what you "think" I might do or say.

Follow along, now, slowpoke:

1. The guy left a suicide note in his car. He said he wanted the USAF to shoot him out of the sky.

2. He stole a plane and headed for the US.

3. The USAF planes came as he crossed the border, and commenced to follow him.

4. He waited and waited and waited for them to kill him. He flew for hours.

5. They didn't oblige him, and his fuel started getting low.

6. He had a choice at this stage:

---a. Let the plane run out of gas and crash.

---b. Deliberately crash the plane into the ground.

---c. WIMP OUT--land safely instead of accomplishing the goal he, himself, set out to achieve.

See the news story I posted elsewhere on this thread for detail.

[jus_the_facts]

12. Canadian officials have received some information that the pilot is "not a happy individual"

http://edition.cnn.com/2009/US/04/06/stolen.plane/

A federal law enforcement official told CNN the pilot is a naturalized Canadian citizen, but declined to give his name or country of origin. The source said the pilot was a flight school student for a "brief" period and only clocked a few hours of flight time.

[virgogal]

13. At first I thought it might be a Payne Stewart situation.

[MADem]

16. He was apparently reacting to the intercepting a/c, looking at them, then looking away.

Initially, that was my thought, too, though...that Otto Pilot was driving, and the guy who swiped the plane was snoozing...

[markbark]

4. Hurm....

Escorting? How about orbiting? Isn't a 172's V_ne right around the stall speed of a F-16?

--MAB

[Alamuti Lotus]

6. Everything I see and hear about these Canadians makes me wanna puke!

[LakeSamish706]

10. Now why would you post a thing like that? n/t

[Alamuti Lotus]

11. On the rare occasion I see Canadians running amok,

I think of Canadian Bacon. How can you not get the reference?

[sailor65]

Yeah!

:rofl:

Please remember to post this in French as well, or that'll be $10 US.......

[sailor65]

26. Yeah!

:rofl:

Please remember to post this in French as well, or that'll be $10 US.......

[Occulus]

43. Blame Canada! Blame Canada!

With their beady little eyes and flappin' heads so full of lies
Blame Canada! Blame Canada!
We need to form a full assault CUZ IT'S CANADA'S FAULT!

:D

[steven johnson]

8. Authorities: Pilot of stolen plane lands, now on run

The pilot of a stolen Cessna has landed off Highway 60 in Missouri and is on the run, NORAD said.
A small Cessna aircraft was stolen from a flight school in Thunder Bay, Canada.
The small Cessna 172 aircraft was reported stolen from a Canadian flight school and intercepted by U.S. military aircraft Monday as it was tracked across the Midwest.
A spokesman for the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) said that about 9:20 p.m. ET, the Cessna was flying over southern Missouri, some 20 miles from the Arkansas border, "holding steady" at 3,000 feet -- down from the earlier altitude of 14,000 feet.
The NORAD spokesman, Mike Kucharek, said military pilots who intercepted the Cessna had tried repeatedly to get the pilot's attention and at one point, the pilot appeared to acknowledge that he saw the other aircraft.



http://www.cnn.com/2009/US/04/06/stolen.plane/

[baldguy]

9. Did our national airspace defense system just stop working from 2001-2008?

Just before Bush was appointed, we could track & intercept Payne Stewart's airplane with no problems, and now 2.5 months after he's gone we can do the same with this guy. Did we have absolutely no fighter protection for all those eight years, or was it just for that one day?

[jus_the_facts]

14. Yeah...amazing isn't it?! n/t

[MadMaddie]

29. Honestly I think it was intentional that day and for the

remaining years....who knows.

[TexasProgresive]

33. That has been my thought ever since Sept 11, 2001

I served in the Air defense Command in the 70's and am sad that my former command no longer exists. Yet I can't imagine that TAC or whatever command has the mission of air defense now would have any other standing orders than in the past. All aircraft that are not following their flight plan are to be intercepted and if they are proving a danger to the security of the U.S. and refuses to follow orders to land-shot down.

So how did 4 commercial airliners not get intercepted - for sure the last 2. I don't but any crap about a norad exercise. Normal protocols are not superseded by exercises.

[hack89]

52. NORAD was set up to intercept unidentified planes

flying towards US airspace. There were no ADIZs overland - if you research the issue you will find no evidence that the Air Force routinely intercept planes that originated in conus.

[TexasProgresive]

55. Not NORAD but TAC who as the mission of air defense

It has been standard protocol to intercept and identify any commercial airliner that goes out of route. This was not done and I want to know why.

[hack89]

57. You might think so

yet when you try to find actual evidence that it was routine to intercept and id aircraft over land, you can't. There are plenty of accounts of aircraft approaching US airspace and being intercepted over water in international airspace, but not for flights that originated in the US and flying in US airspace.

[TexasProgresive]

58. Not even Payne Stewart's jet?

Civilian and military regulations and longstanding working procedures for commercial passenger planes and other aircraft under Instrument Flight Rules ("IFR") call upon air traffic controllers under the Federal Aviation Administration ("FAA") to alert NORAD upon determining that a flight has veered significantly from the route assigned to it by controllers; has ceased responding to ground control; or is an "unknown." NORAD's role in that case is to issue "scramble orders" for interception of the errant flight by jet fighters from U.S. Air Force Bases ("AFBs"). Interception of an errant flight allows for visual reconnaissance of the situation and a graduated menu of possible further actions (these might include attempts at radio contact, looking into the cockpit of the errant aircraft, visual signals such as tipping wings, attempts to force a landing, etc.).

2. These standard procedures were activated on 67 occasions in the period from September 2000 to June 2001 (see, FAA news release, 8/9/02; AP, 8/13/02); and in 129 cases in the year 2000 (see, Calgary Herald, 10/13/01). These figures were released by FAA and NORAD officials to the press in 2002, but go completely unmentioned in The 9/11 Commission Report.

http://justicefor911.org/iiA1_AirDefense_111904.php

[hack89]

59. Payne Stewart undermines your case

It was an ad hoc affair using unarmed planes already flying on routine training missions. It also took over an hour from first sign of trouble to intercept.

At 0927:10 EDT, N47BA called the Jacksonville ARTCC controller and stated that the flight was climbing through an altitude of FL 230. At 0927:13 EDT, the controller instructed N47BA to climb and maintain FL 390. At 0927:18 EDT, N47BA acknowledged the clearance by stating, "three nine zero bravo alpha." This was the last known radio transmission from the airplane.4 The sound of the cabin altitude aural warning5 was not heard on the ATC recording of this transmission.6

At 0933:38 EDT (6 minutes and 20 seconds after N47BA acknowledged the previous clearance), the controller instructed N47BA to change radio frequencies and contact another Jacksonville ARTCC controller. The controller received no response from N47BA. The controller called the flight five more times over the next 4 1/2 minutes but received no response.

About 0952 CDT <1052 EDT>,7 a USAF F-16 test pilot from the 40th Flight Test Squadron at Eglin Air Force Base (AFB), Florida, was vectored to within 8 nm of N47BA.8 About 0954 CDT, at a range of 2,000 feet from the accident airplane and an altitude of about 46,400 feet,9 the test pilot made two radio calls to N47BA but did not receive a response. About 1000 CDT, the test pilot began a visual inspection of N47BA.

http://www.ntsb.gov/Publictn/2000/AAB0001.htm


There is no question that planes approaching America from international airspace were routinely intercepted - there is simply no evidence that it routinely happened over land with flights originating in America. There was no ADIZ over the continental US until post-911.

[hack89]

51. We have always been good at intercepting airplanes approaching US airspace

from foreign countries - happened all the time as part of our "war on drugs."

Pre-911 we never routinely intercepted planes that originated in America and were flying over land. Payne Stewart is actually proof of that - it was an ad hoc affair using unarmed planes already flying on routine training missions. It also took over an hour from first sign of trouble to intercept.

At 0927:10 EDT, N47BA called the Jacksonville ARTCC controller and stated that the flight was climbing through an altitude of FL 230. At 0927:13 EDT, the controller instructed N47BA to climb and maintain FL 390. At 0927:18 EDT, N47BA acknowledged the clearance by stating, "three nine zero bravo alpha." This was the last known radio transmission from the airplane.4 The sound of the cabin altitude aural warning5 was not heard on the ATC recording of this transmission.6

At 0933:38 EDT (6 minutes and 20 seconds after N47BA acknowledged the previous clearance), the controller instructed N47BA to change radio frequencies and contact another Jacksonville ARTCC controller. The controller received no response from N47BA. The controller called the flight five more times over the next 4 1/2 minutes but received no response.

About 0952 CDT <1052 EDT>,7 a USAF F-16 test pilot from the 40th Flight Test Squadron at Eglin Air Force Base (AFB), Florida, was vectored to within 8 nm of N47BA.8 About 0954 CDT, at a range of 2,000 feet from the accident airplane and an altitude of about 46,400 feet,9 the test pilot made two radio calls to N47BA but did not receive a response. About 1000 CDT, the test pilot began a visual inspection of N47BA.

http://www.ntsb.gov/Publictn/2000/AAB0001.htm

[Aqaba]

15. Canadian Bacon 2.0 here we come!

[Alamuti Lotus]

19. GOD BLESS BUD BOOMER!

[rocktivity]

21. HE GOT AWAY???

The plane, intercepted and tracked by U.S. military aircraft as it flew across the Midwest, landed on a dirt road off Highway 60, a Department of Homeland Security spokesman said. The pilot then fled on foot.

...A federal law enforcement official told CNN the pilot is a naturalized Canadian citizen, but declined to give his name or country of origin. The source said the pilot was a flight school student for a "brief" period and only clocked a few hours of flight time. Canadian officials have received some information that the pilot is "not a happy individual," the official said.

And now he's running around loose--lovely!!!

x(
rocktivity

[CreekDog]

23. i like how we can catch an airplane using an F-16 but can't catch a guy on foot on a flat highway

in the middle of nowhere. :eyes:

[Aqaba]

24. It's OK. We've got wild boars and bigfeets on standby in those parts...

[Norrin Radd]

44. He'll bribe bigfoot with a strawberry Kit Kat bar and some Ketchup Chips.

[MADem]

32. He's in custody. He was born in Turkey....how coincidental.

Some Syrian guy tried to kill Obama in Turkey today, too.

[MilesColtrane]

42. F-16s get shitty highway mileage.

And, off road?

Forget about it.

[debunkthelies]

46. ho ho hee hee ha ha ho ho hee hee haa...

:rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :woohoo: :applause: Way to go Air America. Aaa ground control we lost him, aaaah yeah us too.:yourock: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

[Duer 157099]

28. Sky Patrol! (Sky King?) what was it called?

This reminds me of a part of a book I read recently by Bill Bryson, he was talking about growing up in Iowa, and how he used to watch a TV program called Sky Patrol (or something like that) about a law enforcement guy who used an airplane for patrol -- and how silly it was that he could actually land the plane and wrestle the bad guys to the ground - like the guys didn't see him coming or something.

That's exactly what I was thinking of when I read about this story.

LOL

edit to add: ahah! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sky_King

[MADem]

35. Out of the blue of the Western SKY...comes SKY KING!!!

A news report on the death of Kirby Grant, Sky King!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e7W1_8ozEiE

[jberryhill]

38. A "not happy" person, running loose in Missouri

He'll be easy to find. Just look for the unhappy person in Missouri.

[rocktivity]

22. Dupe, sorry

rocktivity

[Politicalboi]

27. How will we recognize him?

He's Canadian so he probably won't have a long beard or wearing a turban. :sarcasm:

[Aqaba]

30. I'm gonna guess he will stand out quite a bit from those Ozarkers...

...plus I read somewhere he is a nationalized Canadian, could mean anything.

[MADem]

31. The pilot was born in Turkey--his name is Yavez Burke, formerly known as

Adam Leon or something like that. Born in 1970.

He's been captured.

Wonder if one of his parents served at one of our military bases in Turkey?

[krispos42]

34. I think the USAF needs to maintain a couple of wings of A-1 Skyraiders or something

For cases like this. Something piston-engined that can comfortably fly slower and at lower altitudes for longer periods of time


Blackwater flies one of these:



An Embraer EMB 314 Super Tucano. The design is less than a decade old, and it carries a couple of machine guns and a couple of short-range air-to-air missiles.

Perfect for this kind of stuff. Maybe 96 of them assigned in groups of four to 24 airbases around the country. Always have two of them on alert, cross-train the Air Force or Navy pilots on them. If something like this happens, scramble them up to intercept.

Or have the initial intercept done by the fast jets until the prop jobs can catch up.

[BrightKnight]

48. $500K for a full fighter escort was high but

but it would probably cost more in the long run to buy and maintain turbo prop fighters. I would rather see the Air Force respond with full force even if it is just a little Cessna.

[ConcernedCanuk]

36. INVASION USA!! Canuks run amok with Cessnas

.
.
.

Heck, with a little more fuel, he coulda reached Crawford.

But now we know

Send a thousand Cessnas across the border with student pilots

That's doable!

:rofl:

Kid invades USA airspace for 6 hours, lands a thousand clicks away, then runs away!

LOL!

Sad part is,

he's probably gonna end up beaten badly or shot . .

Invading the USA is NOT appreciated very much down there.

[Trocadero]

37. Blame Canada!

[HooptieWagon]

40. A Cessna 172 has that kind of range?

Wow, I would have guessed only about 300 miles or so, sounds like the guy flew about 800+ miles.

[Arrowhead2k1]

49. The Cessna 172 has a range of 710 miles (sm) according to the books.

Usually that's if you cruise with optimal mixture and power settings. You'd still have some reserve fuel after that. The prevailing winds can extend or shorten range dramatically aswell.

[Old and In the Way]

50. A 172's total capacity is 52 gallons, 26 in each wing tank.

Cruising at 110 KIAS at altitude, that should give him about 8 hrs of flytime. Actual ground distance is harder to calculate as it depends a lot on the wind speed/direction. 800 miles sounds doable. I've got 6 hours of time on the 172 now...no way would I consider taking a cross continent solo at this point.

[Thor_MN]

56. And this is why we NEED the F22.

No other existing airframe could possibly keep up with a Canadian Cessna!!!.1!!1. We have to keep our nation safe from invasion by student pilots high on teh back bacon!!1!!111!