Friday, September 28, 2001
Friday, September 28, 2001 |
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Two arrested for fair fly-by By JOHN
MUNFORD
Despite an attempted cover-up, an instructor at Sierra Flight School in Hampton and a 16-year-old student pilot have been arrested for flying over the Kiwanis Fair Tuesday night, narrowly missing two rides and alarming the crowd. The instructor, Andrew Waites, 22, of Fayetteville, will be charged with two counts of reckless conduct, two counts of contributing to the delinquency of a minor and two counts of conducting an unlawful flight, said State Court Solicitor General Steve Harris. It is not clear yet what charges will be lodged against the 16-year-old, a McDonough resident, who was actually controlling the plane according to a witness who rode in the backseat of the plane, said Maj. Bruce Jordan of the Fayette County Sheriff's Department. The juvenile's name is not being released because Georgia law prohibits doing so except when certain felony charges are filed. Harris confirmed Wednesday evening there are no plans to charge the youth as an adult. Further civil penalties could be lodged against the pilot, instructor and flight school by the Federal Aviation Administration, Jordan added. A third person was a backseat passenger in the plane and was the only person involved who cooperated with detectives, Jordan said. That person is not being charged, principally because he was not in control of the plane and opposed the pilot's actions. "He said it scared him severely," Jordan said. Jordan added that flight school employees "were not at all cooperative," but the decision was made not to file criminal charges such as obstruction of a police officer. Employees of the flight school, located at Tara Field, tried to deceive investigators by showing records of flights from Aug. 25 instead of Sept. 25, the date the incident occurred, Jordan said. Eventually, though, employees cooperated and allowed access to the computer system which showed records that the plane flew that evening during the time frame in question. The aircraft, a single engine plane, flew below 1,000 feet so it wouldn't be detected by radar, Jordan said. Jordan, who was at the fair with his son when the fly-bys occurred, said his son asked him "Are those the terrorists, daddy?" One of the fly-bys just missed the ferris wheel while another missed a pendulum-style ride called Kamikaze. After the second fly-by, many in the crowd began to leave, Jordan noted. Recent media reports of alleged terrorist plans to use cropduster airplanes to spray chemical weapons could have contributed to the crowd's sensitivity about the incident. Jordan said he was absolutely positive the plane found at Tara Field was the one which flew overhead at the fairgrounds. "When I got there (to the airfield), I knew that was the plane I saw," Jordan said. A phone tip Wednesday afternoon led to Tara Field after a witness told authorities he was sure a plane matching the description issued by investigators had taken off Tuesday evening from the facility. The tipster will receive an award of up to $1,000, which was issued by the department for information leading to the identity of individuals involved. The FAA cooperated in the investigation along with a deputy from Spalding County, who originally checked with the flight school but was told no flights departed during the time the fly-bys occurred, Jordan said. "Any mistake would have been disastrous on those fairgrounds," Jordan said. Witnesses are still being sought. Anyone who witnessed the incident and has additional imformation is encouraged to call 770-461-6353.
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