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View Full Version : Self taught pilot, steals and crashes C182 (allegedly)


Mail-man
7th Oct 2009, 18:12
Cessna 182 Found Crashed Near Granite Falls, Washington

State and federal authorities say a Cessna 182 stolen from a cattle farm in Boundary County, Idaho may be the work of a teenager believed to have taught himself to fly.

The possible suspect is Colton Harris-Moore, an 18-year-old serial burglar who escaped from a juvenile facility in April 2008. He has allegedly stolen aircraft twice before, according to police. The Seattle Times said one was a similar Cessna 182, taken from an Orcas Island, Washington, the other an unnamed experimental aircraft that Harris-Moore allegedly flew to Orcas Island. He reportedly made "hard landings" in both incidents.
The Spokane, Washington Spokesman-Review reports that, in this most recent incident, a construction crew reported seeing the 182 flying south or southwest early Tuesday morning last week. It went down in a clearing near Granite Falls, Washington, and was declared a total loss. The pilot apparently walked away. Authorities described the incident as "survivable."
Apparantly he taught himself to fly by buying flight manuals with stolen credit cards and using flight sim.

das Uber Soldat
7th Oct 2009, 20:50
well thats easy to fix, we should just ban flight manuals.

powerstall
8th Oct 2009, 00:38
Microsoft Flight Sim? :E

TheOptimist
8th Oct 2009, 00:50
His self-preservation instinct must not be very accute.

Anyway, if he had no quarms stealing money, then why not just take lessons?

I'm not sure whether I'm glad this guy walked away from the crash.

Edit: Video of the story; YouTube - Plane stolen from Idaho found in Wash. clearcut (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xwaGZfzieAU&feature=player_embedded)

Fingerprints in the plane so hopefully it won't be long until they know whether it's him or not. As for a punishment, I might suggest taking him up to FL100 in a difficult little pitts, over a forrest, with a fuel dump system, then the pilot bailing and letting him see exactly how good flight simulators are.

lpokijuhyt
8th Oct 2009, 18:44
Apparently this kid has stole planes in the past. On one of his flights he took it from Western Washington state to Eastern Washington. He also stole boats in the San Juan Islands area of the state. Impressive CV for only 18 years of age. He should learn to hack computers and then he can apply for a job with the CIA?:uhoh:

MungoP
15th Oct 2009, 09:11
So... what sort of response will he get if he walks into a flying club and tells them that he just wants to learn to 'land' an aircraft :suspect: