September 3, 20223 yr TUPELO, Miss. (AP) — A stolen airplane circled over north Mississippi on Saturday morning, and police said they evacuated a Walmart store after the pilot threatened to crash into it. The Tupelo Police Department said in a Facebook post that the Walmart and a nearby convenience store had been evacuated. The plane started circling over Tupelo, Mississippi, about 5 a.m.. It was still in the air about four hours later, but had flown away from Tupelo and was circling over another community nearby. Police said they have made contact with the pilot directly. “Citizens are asked to avoid that area until an all clear is given,” the police wrote. “With the mobility of an airplane of that type the danger zone is much larger than even Tupelo.” Authorities believe the aircraft was stolen and are working to determine whether the pilot threatening to crash the plane is an employee of a local airport, two people briefed on the matter told The Associated Press. Multiple federal agencies, including the Department of Homeland Security, are now involved in the investigation and are working to discern a motive, the people said. Investigators were continuing to monitor the flight’s path and have been in communication with the pilot, the people said. https://flightaware.com/live/flight/N342ER Live coverage
September 3, 20223 yr It is a King Air 90, registration N342ER, currently visible on FlightRadar24 (at 11:03 AM EDT) flying circles northwest of Ripley, MS at about 1000 feet Update: at 11:12 it is no longer visible on FR24. It may have gone down. Reports are this started over 6 hours ago. I would think fuel exhaustion would be an issue after this much time. Edited September 3, 20223 yr by JRBarrett Jim BarrettLicensed Airframe & Powerplant Mechanic, Avionics, Electrical & Air Data Systems Specialist. Qualified on: Falcon 900, CRJ-200, Dornier 328-100, Hawker 850XP and 1000, Lear 35, 45, 55 and 60, Gulfstream IV and 550, Embraer 135, Beech Premiere and 400A, MD-80.
September 3, 20223 yr An F-15 could have solved the problem hours ago. Intel 10700K @ 5.1Ghz, Asus Hero Maximus motherboard, Noctua NH-U12A cooler, Corsair Vengeance Pro 32GB 3200 MHz RAM, RTX 2060 Super GPU, Cooler Master HAF 932 Tower, Thermaltake 1000W Toughpower PSU, Windows 10 Professional 64-Bit, 100TB of disk storage. Klaatu barada nickto.
September 3, 20223 yr Administrators 21 minutes ago, W2DR said: An F-15 could have solved the problem hours ago. Probably a single-shot .22 rifle! 🤔 Charlie AronAVSIM Board of Directors-ADMIN/Moderator-RegistrarJust going to run a Chromebook and not upgrade to a Windows computer. Too many problems with the new Sims! 😱Trying to keep peace and harmony and the will of Landru on the site seems to be a full time job!
September 3, 20223 yr Moderator I heard that he landed and was taken into custody. No further info than that. RIG#1 - I9 14900K MSI Pro z790 RTX 5070Ti 40" 4K Monitor 3840x2160
September 3, 20223 yr Administrators 25 minutes ago, vgbaron said: I heard that he landed and was taken into custody. No further info than that. I was watching a news report on that. Could not believe the news commentator said "I'm not sure if he had the flying skills to take off"! Uhm....wasn't he flying around for 5 hours or so?? Must have had the skill to take off! (looking for the head-smack emoji)! Charlie AronAVSIM Board of Directors-ADMIN/Moderator-RegistrarJust going to run a Chromebook and not upgrade to a Windows computer. Too many problems with the new Sims! 😱Trying to keep peace and harmony and the will of Landru on the site seems to be a full time job!
September 3, 20223 yr 1 hour ago, charliearon said: I was watching a news report on that. Could not believe the news commentator said "I'm not sure if he had the flying skills to take off"! Uhm....wasn't he flying around for 5 hours or so?? Must have had the skill to take off! (looking for the head-smack emoji)! Edit: apparently the pilot was NOT licensed, but was a lineman who worked at the FBO in Tupelo. I have a bad feeling that the individual was involved in flight simulation which will probably come out in the news sooner or later if so. Edited September 3, 20223 yr by JRBarrett Jim BarrettLicensed Airframe & Powerplant Mechanic, Avionics, Electrical & Air Data Systems Specialist. Qualified on: Falcon 900, CRJ-200, Dornier 328-100, Hawker 850XP and 1000, Lear 35, 45, 55 and 60, Gulfstream IV and 550, Embraer 135, Beech Premiere and 400A, MD-80.
September 3, 20223 yr Moderator 3 hours ago, charliearon said: (looking for the head-smack emoji)! Here you go, Charlie! Fr. Bill AOPA Member: 07141481 AARP Member: 3209010556 Avsim Board of Directors | Avsim Forums Moderator
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