Wed, Aug 29, 2007
Thought He Was About To Land At Lafayette... But Landed At
IND
Well, you know what they say about
men and directions (hey, I resemble that remark! --
Ed.) A brand new pilot making his first solo
flight in Indiana caused a bit of a problem Sunday, when he caused
three aircraft to delay their landings while he tried to figure out
where he was.
Keith J. Sharpe, 69, thought he was inbound to Purdue University
Airport in Lafayette and was trying to contact that tower. However,
he was actually in Indianapolis International Airport's airspace,
and had entered it without permission, reported the Indy Star.
The IND tower began tracking Sharpe when he was three miles
northwest of the airport -- and about 51 nautical miles southeast
of LAF. Controllers directed him to land on any IND runway --
pronto.
"We determined that if he wasn't sure where he was, we wanted to
land him right away," said Federal Aviation Administration
spokesperson Tony Molinaro. "We didn't want to take any chances
with him being up in the air."
According to the FAA, controllers had pilots of three other
incoming aircraft hold until Sharpe's Cessna was safely on the
ground.
Sharpe told airport police he believed he was about to land in
Lafayette and was trying to contact that Lafayette's tower.
The novice pilot was greeted to a swarm of airport police upon
landing, but he was not arrested. However, officers informed him he
could face federal charges for violating FAA airspace regulations,
according to a police report.
The Indy Star said Sharpe could not be reached for comment.
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