Private plane buzzes shuttle

MSN has a video clip of news footage talking about a guy in a champ flying over the shuttle while it was on the pad. States sherrifs have him in custody.

Now you have to be able to recognize the space shuttle on the pad from the air. I just don't understand why this stuff keeps happening.

I dont understand why they didnt shoot him out of the sky. The only reason I can think of is they were worried about debry hitting the shuttle.

They went on to say that the millitary wasn't called up but apparently there are people positioned around the pad with shoulder launched rockets and they speculated that he probably doesn't know how close he came to losing his life. (I'm not sure who it was that speculated this but I can believe they would have people positioned to defend the shuttle)

Interesting....more stupid pilot tricks that will get all sorts of press, when in actuality, the "beach" is a fair distance from the launch pad.....

Must be a slow news day.

kevinsky18 said:

I dont understand why they didnt shoot him out of the sky. The only reason I can think of is they were worried about debry hitting the shuttle.

Click to expand...

This raises an interesting question regarding the use of deadly force. Obviously I can't kill a kid who's about to key my car, but what about something more expensive? Is there a particular dollar amount at which killing to protect property is justified? I mean the cost of a space shuttle is probably more than the lifetime earnings of the pilot and his entire family tree. I would expect that deadly force is in position to protect the lives of astronauts and workers from an attack on the shuttle, but what about the hardware itself?

deadly force

Steve,

Florida law only authorizes deadly force to prevent the commission of a "forcable felony", all of which are crimes against persons not property and are crimes of violence Ie rape, kidnapping, robbery, assault with a deadly weapon etc.

Federal law would apply to this circumstance, in addition to concurrent Florida law if there was a memo of understanding in place whereby the Feds authorized concurrent jurisdiction.

I worked in a federal facility once where top secret information was kept, about 20 years ago, that had a sign at the entrance which warned that "deadly force is authorized to prevent unauthorized entry of this facility" (paraphrased everything after "deadly force"). I don't know if that was a bluff or had a basis in federal law. The law regarding deadly force has changed since that time I believe.

My gut tells me that there is probably a federal law that would authorize deadly force against someone attempting to fly into the space shuttle, but I am not aware of a specific law on that point.

"Buzz" Now Means "A Safe Distance Away"

The headline screamed "shuttle buzzed by small plane", the reality was far, far different. You gotta love the folks in the press! If their knees aren't jerking, their hearts are bleeding. The "expert" yaking with the pretty talking head, actually said "He was an uneducated, private pilot in a two seat Champ or something". He went on about how hard it is to believe that someone could possibly be so unaware. I don't disagree necessarily, but clearly security established around the shuttle determined that he was indeed not a threat at all. Moreover, the shuttle had not even come close to being "buzzed".

Fly aware or risk being labled "an uneducated, private pilot" . . . no matter your education level or license/rating acheived.

Well...

In 2001 I was down there before the Genesis Launch in August off of Delta pad 17A. I was up on the upper level watching our spacecraft being stacked and mated and checking the shroud joints for debris that had been seen in the earlier Mars spacecraft launch video. One of local Delta ELV guys learned that I was a pilot and mentioned that the previous weekend he and another fellow (the pilot) had flown up the coast past all of the launch pads on the Canaveral Air Force Station and even though he worked there it was very interestring to see it all from that perspective. I was quite surprised to learn that this was permitted. As Paul says, the shuttle pads 39A and 39B are farther inland. We launched successfully on August 8, 2001 I believe and we all know what happened a little over a month later. The world has changed forever I'm afraid and not for the better.

Bob Axsom

flying down the runway

Bob,

In the "old days" the controller would clear you to fly down the runway there, traffic permitting. Those days are of course, gone

Press

Do not: I repeat, DO NOT believe anything you read in a newspaper. I have been involved in a few things reported by the press and the story printed was either wrong or had very little to do with the true story.

Reportedly; Samuel Clemmons in the late 1800's wrote: "If you don't read a newspaper, you are ill informed, if you do, you are miss informed.

Press

In 1999 I had an inflight fire in my Arrow, and ended up doing a belly landing at Joliet airport. The Chicago media, disappointed that I was not injured, reported that I " limped away from the wreckage after putting it down in a cornfield"

Yet another government plot to shut down general aviation with payoffs going to certain pilots to violate some FAA rule or law.

Press

Steve,

I remember that happening over at Joliet. I'm glad to hear you limped away OK.
Are you the RV-10 that flys into Morris every now and then. Last fall we were trying to get a photo to submit to Van's for the callander. We were going to fly the lake front in formation with the "perfect six-pack", a 3, 4, 6, 7, 8, 9, and a 10. I know thats 7 but thats what makes it perfect. We want to try to set it up again this summer if you are interested let me know.

When I used to fly out of SFB, I used to fly to the cape often. Its true that they used to let you fly the entire length of the runway at 500 ft. That was always fun.

If you want to buzz the shuttle, then the Champ is a great choice as would be a Cub. Probably one of the most difficult things to shoot down.

Not enough heat source for a manpad to target. Most bullets would punch through fabric and air. You can jink at that speed like there was no tomorrow.

Jekyll