14 yo goes on joy ride...in an airplane

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/8249917

:shock:

At least he wasn’t drunk.

[size=2]Great. Alabama.[/size]

He made headlines in the Huntsville paper today! Woohoo! That’s probably all he really wanted.

Strange, I don’t get the paper, but it was there this morning…I get my sample and it has the one story from AL that ends up on the boards?

I wonder if he had any prior stick time and/or logged many hours in Flightsimulator before. If he had any dreams of becoming a professional pilot in his lifetime he can pretty much kiss those dreams goodbye forever.

Why? I confess to total ignorance of the requirements of being a professional pilot, but being that he’s 14, wouldn’t this sort of go away for him after 18?

Well I can’t say for certain but I think it’s highly unlikely the FAA will just let it slide because he’s under 18. Given the post 9-11 climate you’ve gotta be out of your fucking mind to do something like. It’ll be interesting to see what kind of charges he’s going to face.

Its preatty clear he is a terroist.

a joyriding terrorist, or as I like to say:

JOYTERRORIST™

Joyeur.

Given the post 9-11 climate? Huh?

How about given the fact that attempting to fly a plane when you’ve never flown a plane before is basically a death wish and the fact that this kid did not Darwinize himself is basically a miracle!

First of all, this kid MUST have some kind of experience with a sim or has read up on flying. There’s probably some pilots here that could set me straight, but from what I’ve seen in small planes and in the sim, it’s not like you just turn the key and the plane starts and off you go. I’m under the impression that depending on the plane there are a couple of things you have to do first…or at least some levers to pull in the right order.

And the idea that this kid managed to actually land the plane once seems amazing to me. I would have expected the result of the second landing (break of gear etc) to have happened the first time around. I mean, landing is the hardest part!

And from what I’ve read over the years it’s really amazing that the kid didn’t do something stupid and stall the plane! There’s quite a few ways to do something dumb and crash even if you’re an experienced and trained pilot! That’s why general aviation is considered risky…there’s a lot of weekend pilots that make boneheaded mistakes like John Jr.

Anyway…it’s an amazing story. The kid is lucky to be alive.

Why? I confess to total ignorance of the requirements of being a professional pilot, but being that he’s 14, wouldn’t this sort of go away for him after 18?[/quote]
Nothing ever, ever goes away as far as the government is concerned, unless you get pardoned. Records might be sealed, convictions might be expunged, the government will always have access to it and the right to consider it against you.

This reminds me of the B plot for the TV movie/pilot in San Francisco International with Pernell Roberts and Clu Gulager (yes the crotchity old father of John, the director in Project Greenlight 3) - and of course immortalized on MST3k.

— Alan