Article published Jun 16, 2005
Alabama boy accused of taking stolen airplane on joy ride

The Associated Press

A 14-year-old boy allegedly found a key inside an unlocked plane and
took the aircraft on a late-night joy ride, buzzing an Alabama town for
nearly 30 minutes as he took off and landed twice.

The youth suffered minor cuts and bruises Wednesday night in his second
landing, which was rough, but authorities still took him to a juvenile
lockup after charging him with theft of a Cessna 152 worth $35,000.

Police said the boy, who wasn't identified because of his age, had no
flying experience. He allegedly took his mother's van from their home
in Rainsville and drove to the airport in Fort Payne, about five miles
away.

Police Chief David Walker said the teen told officers he unhooked the
plane's tie-downs, started the engine and began "driving the plane
around, and the next thing he knew he was in the air."

He said the boy flew for about five minutes before landing on the
runway and taking off again, flying for a longer period over several
areas of town before returning to the airport.

Walker said the plane apparently came in too hard during the boy's
second landing, making him loose control.

"The plane left the runway and the juvenile stated he gave it more
throttle to try to get back in the air and avoid the fence," Walker
said.

The plane cleared the fence, but the engine died and it came down hard
on a road beside the airport. The landing gear collapsed and the
propeller dug into the road.

Walker said officers were notified of the crash around 11:20 p.m. CDT.
Instruments indicated the plane was in the air for 26 minutes in all,
he said.

Mayor Bill Jordan said the airport was secure except for one open gate.

"It's a miracle the boy wasn't killed or someone else wasn't hurt or
killed or that we didn't have significant property damage from the
plane crashing somewhere else," Jordan told the Times-Journal of Fort
Payne. The last thing you think about is a 14-year-old stealing a plane
from the airport."

Authorities said the incident raised questions about homeland security
measures in Fort Payne, a textile town of 13,000 located about 80 miles
northeast of Birmingham. The airport manager acknowledged the issue
hadn't gotten much consideration in the past.

"We've never had a problem before with planes being stolen, so I guess
we have been a little lax in our security," said Larry Noble Cowart,
who owns Valley Aviation, which runs the airport and owns the airplane
that was taken late Wednesday.

Cowart said the boy could have climbed a fence or simply entered
through a gate that typically is left unlocked.

"He could have just walked in. There's no evidence of forced entry. The
plane was tied down with chains, but the planes aren't typically
locked," said Cowart.

The police chief said the boy found the ignition key on a clipboard in
the plane.


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