For some people, the requisite 15 minutes of fame seems like
14:59 too much. Such is the case for Charles McKinley (25, of New
York City), who came to national attention when he
air-mailed himself from his workplace in Newark, NJ, to his parents
house in TX.
This little stunt created quite a furor in the air security
community who immediately popped up with all kinds of excuses for
how this happened and the obligatory mega-buck bureaucratic funding
requests to make sure that nothing like this could ever happen
again.
The stunt inspired Pilot Air Freight Chairman, President and CEO
Richard G. Phillips (right), to issue the following official
statement:
"The recent incident of a man shipping himself from New York to
Dallas via air freight highlights the effectiveness of the TSA
Known Shipper Program and how it is safeguarding American skies.
The shipment in question was originated by UPS and consigned to
Pilot Air Freight, which rigidly complied with the Known Shipper
Program and routed the shipment to an all-cargo transport, Kitty
Hawk Cargo. The end result is that through Pilot Air Freight's
diligence no passengers were placed at risk.
"It is unfortunate that one individual would choose to flaunt
air regulations. However, Pilot Air Freight's strict adherence to
TSA regulations establishes that commerce and safety are not
mutually exclusive, and that the government's procedures are
effective."
In the McKinley case, the story was made all the more bizarre in
that McKinley was wanted by TX authorities... so when the cops
were informed as to his presence in the Desoto, TX area, as
well as the means by which he arrived; they showed up and threw his
butt in the slammer. Soon after shaking the hand of a very
surprised delivery driver, he was arrested there on outstanding
Texas warrants. And then the Feds starting making noises about the
stowaway caper and subsequently charged him with the misdemeanor
offense of stowaway on an aircraft. This was turning out to NOT be
McKinley's best idea....
US Magistrate Judge Charles Bleil of Fort Worth released
McKinley pending trial, Monday, setting a hearing date of Nov. 10th
for the stowaway charges. For McKinley, it was his first free
moments in some three weeks... a pretty tough price to pay for what
he called a "prank." His freedom, though, is conditional. McKinley
must stay within Dallas and Tarrant counties, and obey a curfew at
his parent's home... as well as seek employment (having lost his
job in NYC... no doubt when his employers got that air freight
bill...). Bleil has also forbidden McKinley from seeking a
passport.
McKinley's family has reportedly paid UPS some $6,800 in
restitution to compensate them for their "troubles," though a
bargain airfare would have cost him all of $200-$300.