WASHINGTON — The pilot of a small plane that penetrated the no-fly zone around Kennedy Space Center shortly before the space shuttle’s launch Tuesday disappeared after being forced to land, Air Force officials said.
The Federal Aviation Administration is investigating, the officials said Thursday.
The civilian Piper Cub had gotten within 20 miles of the launch site just three minutes before Discovery’s liftoff before being intercepted by two Air Force F-16s.
That means the small plane had penetrated half of the 40-mile temporary no-fly radius set up by the FAA.
The fighters were flying security patrol and deployed three flares to get the pilot’s attention, the officials said.
The fighters escorted the plane to an airport about 50 miles north of Kennedy Space Center, they said.
When law enforcement officers got to the airport, the aircraft was on the ground, but the pilot was gone, the officials said.
When you figure the Piper’s available speed is anywhere from about +-50 up to +-150, it is quite possible the pilot’s intent was to intercept the launch at liftoff. No doubt the FAA will eventually find the missing pilot. Too bad the F16’s didn’t fly circles and use their cannons to keep him in one spot until the polizi could arrive. With interceptors flying and intending to force-land any intruders, I have to wonder why the local polizi did not have cruisers at each local airport. Of course, that’s a whole ‘nuther subject on police deployment and supervision.
It’s clearly an example of poor securtity execution.
Too much is for obvious reasons in the official articles "not addressed" to put down the need to speculate about how a pilot who was obviously observed inside the cockpit by the USAF pilots just vanished. Did the pilot parachute out and how could that not have been seen? What did the radio traffic/transmissions consist of relative to the pilot in the plane? Additionally, the F16’s would have most certainly reported observing the Piper’s pilot making an escape on foot on the ground in some manner prior to officials on the ground arriving at the plane? So where’s the beef?
Where’s the beef? The beef had fled… (or perhaps the "bird" had fled if it was a female pilot). There was no radio traffic between the warbirds and the trespasser, the warbirds used flares to get the pilot’s attention. The plane was landed by the piper pilot, so there was no ‘chute. The pilot was not present when the ground officers arrived at the plane. Therefore, the pilot did not want to be interviewed. Therefore, in the present social temperature, (s)he is a person of interest. The warbirds did their job, but the police forces on duty were too little too late, inadequately deployed against contingencies, inadequate planning at the command level, or perhaps poor coordination between federal and local entities. So where’s the beef? The beef ran away to avoid questioning.
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