Crash threat over Mississippi skies ends with pilot’s arrest
RIPLEY, Miss. — An airport worker with only basic flying skills stole a small airplane and flew it over north Mississippi for five hours Saturday after threatening to crash it into a Walmart, eventually landing in a soybean field where police arrested him.
Cory Wayne Patterson, 29, was uninjured after the rough landing shortly after posting a goodbye message to his parents and sister on Facebook, authorities said at a news conference. The message said he “never actually wanted to hurt anyone.“
After an anxious morning of watching the plane’s meandering path overhead, Tupelo Mayor Todd Jordan called the resolution “the best-case scenario.” No one was injured. Patterson was employed fueling planes at the Tupelo Regional Airport, giving him access to the Beechcraft King Air C90A, police Chief John Quaka said.
It was not immediately known why, shortly after 5 a.m., the 10-year Tupelo Aviation employee took off in the fully fueled plane. Fifteen minutes later, Patterson called a Lee County 911 dispatcher to say he planned to crash the plane into a Tupelo Walmart, Quaka said.
“This is more likely a crime of opportunity,” said Quaka, adding that the airport’s tower is not staffed until 6 a.m.
Police negotiators were able to make contact during the flight and convince Patterson to land, but he didn’t know how. He was coached by a private pilot into nearly landing at the Tupelo airport but he aborted the attempt at the last minute and resumed the flight, authorities said.
A negotiator re-established contact around 10 a.m., and learned Patterson had landed in a field and was uninjured, Quaka said. The plane landed near Ripley, Mississippi, about about 85 miles southeast of Memphis, Tennessee, and about 45 miles northwest of Tupelo.
“There’s damage but believe it or not, the aircraft is intact,” the chief told reporters.
Patterson, whose Facebook page said he is from Shannon, was charged with grand larceny and making terroristic threats. Police said Patterson is not believed to be a licensed pilot but has some flight instruction.
Jordan said Patterson contacted family members during the flight. The mayor said he hopes Patterson “will get the help he needs.”
“Sorry everyone. Never wanted to actually hurt anyone. I love my parents and sister this isn’t your fault. Goodbye,” read Patterson’s Facebook message posted at about 9:30 a.m.
Roxanne Ward said she had been tracking the plane online and went to her father-in-law’s house with plans to go into the basement for safety. She said she heard the thud as the plane hit the ground on her father-inlaw’s property.
She and others got onto fourwheelers to ride over.
“As soon as it crashed, police were there and waiting,” said Ward, who watched from a distance. “Police coaxed him out. They yelled at him, ‘Arms in the air.’ ” She said the pilot got out of the plane without resisting police.
Michael Canders, director of the Aviation Center at Farmingdale State College in New York, called the incident “a wake-up call” for general aviation airports and their staff.
The Transportation Security Administration requires annual training emphasizing a “see something, say something” approach to try and prevent a scenario like what police believe occurred in Tupelo — an employee with access to aircraft, Canders said.