Pilot Who Jumped Faced NASA Probe
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Filed at 9:40 a.m. ET
HOUSTON (AP) -- A man who apparently jumped to his death from a single-engine plane at 9,000 feet was the target of a federal investigation involving the theft of NASA technology, authorities said.
Russell Edward Filler, a 47-year-old engineer for a NASA contractor, became a suspect when federal authorities traced a NASA laptop computer to his home. The computer disappeared Oct. 25.
He was contacted by federal authorities Thursday.
On Sunday, Filler went to Hooks Airport because he needed more hours to renew his pilot's license.
Filler turned the controls of the single-engine Cessna 152 over to his flight instructor, then asked him to turn the plane sharply so he could get a better look at the ground, Waller County Sheriff Randy Smith said.
Smith said Filler then opened the cockpit door and unfastened his seat belt as the plane flew over a rural area about 45 miles northwest of Houston. The instructor looked away for a moment, and when he looked back he saw Filler's feet going out the door. Filler's body has not been found.
Filler told authorities last week that he bought the computer for $500 through an ad posted in a grocery store, said Harris County sheriff's Capt. Robert Van Pelt.
Van Pelt said Filler turned on the computer and saw that it had some non-sensitive NASA software on it, but he kept the computer. Filler admitted he knew the computer was stolen, Van Pelt said.
Filler worked for United Space Alliance since 1996 in the contractor's integrated test and verification group, which does ground testing for the international space station.
Waller County Sheriff's Lt. John Kremmer said officials are not officially calling the fall a suicide, but "there was no accidental exit from the aircraft.'' There was no indication he had a parachute, he said.
Federal officials inspected the Cessna, but found nothing wrong with its cockpit door latch or with the seat belt, Smith said. The investigation and the search for the body were continuing, authorities said.