Leafing through
Business & Commercial Aviation's September issue... This is the hottest news from our industry right now, in my opinion:
The light airplane danger issue was elevated on the night of June 22 when a 20-year old part-time airport worker, who had apparently been drinking, allegedly scaled the perimeter fence at Danbury, Conn.'s sleepy minicipal airport (DXR) to give two teenage friends a joy ride in a Cessna 172 which he had been taking instruction. The 172 was discovered just before 5 a.m. by astonished Westchester County, N.Y., sheriff's officers, with the three adventurers still inside, on a darkened taxiway at HPN, some 20 miles south of DXR. The 172 pilot, Phillipe Patricio, was held in New York, incommunicado from Connecticut authorities. The two passengers are juveniles. In any case, few if any, state or local laws apply to this specific instance. All three miscreants are most likely to be charged with evading airport security - a federal law and a felony. Things are still in a state of flux as we go t opress with a volatile mix of Westchester and Connecticut airport NIMBYs, U.S. senators and representatives, local law enforcement and the FAA, so you'll have to read how it all turns out in next month's.