A man who threatened to circle a stolen plane over the U.S. city of Tupelo for hours and crash into a Walmart store has been charged with grand theft and terrorism threats, police said Saturday.
The Tupelo Police Department was notified around 5 a.m. Saturday that a pilot flying a “King Air type” plane (a small utility plane) was considering crashing into a Walmart on West Main Street. said.
The Benton County Sheriff’s Office later confirmed that the plane landed in a field in Ashland, about 60 miles northeast of Tupelo, Mississippi, USA.
The man successfully landed the plane after deliberating with the police.
Mississippi Governor Reeves said on Twitter that the situation had been resolved and that no one was injured.
Planes over North MS are down. We are grateful that the situation has been resolved and no one was injured. In a tweet, Reeves thanked above all local, state and federal law enforcement agencies for managing this situation with extreme professionalism.
Authorities said the pilot, identified as Cory Patterson, was detained by police.
Patterson did not have a pilot’s license, Tupelo Police Chief John Cuaka said at a news conference, adding that the stolen plane was a Beechcraft King Air 90.
Patterson has been charged with grand theft and terrorism threats, Jackson’s TV station WAPT quoted Quaka as saying.
Additional charges may apply under federal investigation.
“The pilot had no experience landing an aircraft,” the police chief said.
According to Quaka, Patterson had been a lineman for Tupelo Aviation, which fuels the plane’s tanks, for 10 years and had some flying experience. Officers brought in a pilot and contacted Patterson on how to land the aircraft at Tupelo Airport.
Around 9:30 a.m., Patterson posted a message on Facebook, according to Quaka.
“After the initial threat, I believe he didn’t want to hurt himself or anyone else, and I believe there was a best-case scenario you could think of,” Tupelo Mayor Todd Jordan said at a news conference. ” he said.
According to CNN, when the pilot made contact with the 911, the nine-passenger plane began circling over Tupelo and issued a threat.
It was in the air for over five hours, and police described it as a dangerous situation.
Walmart and another nearby store were previously evacuated, and citizens were asked to avoid the area.
An online flight-tracking service showed the plane following a looping path, meandering through the sky for hours.
Details of the conversation between the pilot and police while he was in the air were not immediately released.
Dear Reader,
Business Standard has always strived to provide up-to-date information and commentary on developments that are of interest to you and that have wide-ranging political and economic impact on the nation and the world. Your encouragement and constant feedback on how to improve our services only makes our determination and commitment to these ideals stronger.Even in these difficult times caused by Covid-19. , we remain committed to providing you with authoritative news, authoritative views, and incisive commentary on relevant topical issues to keep you informed.
However, I have a request.
We need your help even more so that we can continue to deliver quality content as we battle the economic impact of the pandemic. We have seen encouraging responses from many users who have subscribed to Increasing subscriptions to online content helps us achieve our goal of providing more relevant and relevant content. We believe in free, fair and responsible journalism. Your support through more subscriptions will help us live the journalism we are committed to.
Supporting high-quality journalism, Subscribe to Business Standard.
digital editor
