Betchya these guys had to pee real bad when they landed

[R.L.]

http://www.courant.com/news/local/statewire/hc-22143258.apds.m0477.bc-ct--stoljun22,0,255112.story?coll=hc-headlines-local-wire

SUSPECT CHARGED WITH DRUNKEN RIDE RIDE IN STOLEN PLANE

Associated Press
June 22 2005

HARRISON, N.Y. -- An intoxicated 20-year-old man stole a small plane in
Connecticut and took two friends on a three-hour joyride early Wednesday
that somehow ended with a safe landing at a darkened Westchester County
Airport, authorities said.
When an airport security car met the four-seat Cessna at 4:15 a.m. and the
plane doors opened, "a significant number of beer cans" spilled to the
ground, said County Executive Andrew Spano.
The plane's 20-year-old "pilot," Philippe Patricio, of Bethel, Conn., was
arrested with a blood alcohol level of .15 - nearly double the legal limit
for driving in New York state, said county Police Commissioner Thomas
Belfiore. His two 16-year-old passengers were not charged.
The plane was nearly out of gas when it landed, and it appeared that
Patricio became lost during his time in the air, authorities said. It was
unclear how he spotted the Westchester airport, which had closed for
construction work five hours earlier.
Spano was incensed that the post-Sept. 11 security measures in place at the
Westchester airport were not duplicated at the Danbury Municipal Airport,
where the single-engine Cessna 172 Skyhawk departed at about 1:30 a.m.
"We can only make ourselves safe here(Westchester),"Spano said. "It still
leaves us vulnerable to what happened."
A call left for comment at the administration office at Danbury Municipal
Airport was not immediately returned.
Authorities were perplexed at Patricio's ability to land the plane on a
small taxiway without any lights while lost and allegedly drunk. "There has
been some internal talk about that accomplishment," said Belfiore.
Patricio was charged with criminal possession of stolen property, reckless
endangerment, resisting arrest and driving while intoxicated, Belfiore said.
The DWI was the result of Patricio taxiing through the airport while drunk,
since there are no state laws applying to flying while intoxicated, Belfiore
said.
Westchester authorities said it appeared that Patricio may work as a
part-time mechanic at the Danbury airport, and could have used an access
pass to get his hands on the Cessna's keys.
Copyright 2005 Associated Press

[anaconda]

>The DWI was the result of Patricio taxiing through the airport while drunk,
>since there are no state laws applying to flying while intoxicated,
Belfiore
>said.

Interesting. So if Patricio would claim that he pushed the plane to the
runway, and then took off, he could not be charged!? (at least at the state
level, I'm sure there are a few federal charges pending).

Alf

[Gary Drescher]

"anaconda" > wrote in message
...
> >The DWI was the result of Patricio taxiing through the airport while
> >drunk,
>>since there are no state laws applying to flying while intoxicated,
>>Belfiore said.
>
> Interesting. So if Patricio would claim that he pushed the plane to the
> runway, and then took off, he could not be charged!?

There's probably no proof he that he was intoxicated prior to takeoff
anyway. But according to the article, they caught him taxiing after landing
(he landed on a taxiway at an airport that was closed for construction).

> (at least at the state level, I'm sure there are a few federal charges
> pending).

Surprisingly enough, there's no federal law against flying while intoxicated
(though of course there are FAA regulations prohibiting it). That's why the
two airline pilots who were recently convicted in Florida were tried under
state law, rather than under federal law.

--Gary

[John Galban]

anaconda wrote:
> >The DWI was the result of Patricio taxiing through the airport while drunk,
> >since there are no state laws applying to flying while intoxicated,
> Belfiore
> >said.
>
> Interesting. So if Patricio would claim that he pushed the plane to the
> runway, and then took off, he could not be charged!? (at least at the state
> level, I'm sure there are a few federal charges pending).
>

Unless NY has a specific state law related to operating an aircraft
while intoxicated, the DWI charge will probably be dropped. Most
state DWI laws deal with operating a motor vehicle on public roads. A
good lawyer will be able to point out that a taxiway is not a public
road. That's what happened last year in the well publicized case of
the drunk Pennsylvania pilot. Eventually, they cobbled up a charge of
public endangerment or something like that.

There are probably no federal criminal charges pending, although I'm
sure that the FAA will charge him with numerous FAR violations. The
only Federal criminal statutes dealing with drunk flying apply to
commercial ops only.

John Galban=====>N4BQ (PA28-180)

[[email protected]]

So, the county exec was "incensed" that DXR didn't have the same
security in place as HPN has? Not surprising as Danbury isn't a Part
139 certificated airport (no scheduled airline service) as White Plains
is. Busy place - I was a full time CFI at HPN back in '01.
I doubt any security measures could have kept a (drunk) guy that worked
at Danbury as a mechanic from getting on the field and having access to
an airplane.

[[email protected]]

Danbury Airport is not in New York - it's in Connecticut. But the DXR
airport manager was on the news commenting about the incident/airport
security etc.. The Cessna thief worked on the airport as an A&P, so he
had access to the field. It's not as if he was just some random dope
that broke in and swiped an airplane. AOPA's Airport Watch can't guard
against people that work at airports doing incredibly stupid things.
(unfortunately)