MS-Pilot threatens to crash plan into Walmart in Tupelo.

[Charlot123]

Still see officers walking around toward the trees behind the plane. News reporter confirmed again, sheriff says he is in custody. FAA takes over the investigation. Pilot is in big trouble now. He'll be facing federal charges and likely won't see the outside of a jail cell for some time.

FACT SHEET: National Strategy for Countering Domestic Terrorism | The White House

On his first full day in office, President Biden directed his national security team to lead a 100-day comprehensive review of U.S. Government efforts to

www.whitehouse.gov

ETA: The reason I'm posting this is because this guy was threatening to fly the plane into a Walmart filled with hundreds of people on a busy Saturday morning. That's not something a suicidal person does. Its the threat of someone who wants to harm large numbers of people while sending a message. He chickened out because he didn't want to kill himself.

Did he threaten, or said he’d be unable to land? It is much easier to take off than to land. What were his exact words?

 

[Betty P]

I understand that it is viewed as domestic terrorism, but I view these situations as true “mental health crisis”. And remembering Richard Russell, too. There is a lot of hopelessness in these cases.

True there is mental illness in these cases, but when the person is threatening to kill hundreds of innocent people, its different. Most people who are simply depressed and want to end their lives don't do it with the deliberate intention of killing others.

This guy wanted to kill people. He also broadcast his intentions to LE and the news media, which means he probably wanted to send a message about why he was doing it. JMO, that's evil. Those people almost lost their lives today.

 

[Betty P]

Did he threaten, or said he’d be unable to land? It is much easier to take off than to land. What were his exact words?

We don't know his words yet, only that he was threatening to crash the plane into the Walmart store in Tupelo, MS. The store was evacuated and closed as a result.

US man charged after threat to fly plane into Walmart

The Mississippi shop was evacuated as police spoke to the pilot, who went on to land in a field.

www.bbc.com

Posting the BBC link to raise awareness among Americans how concerned other countries are about the craziness and mass violence here.

The pilot was said to have made contact with E911 - an emergency number - and proceeded to make their threat to intentionally collide with the Walmart.
Leslie Criss, a local journalist, told The Associated Press news agency she had never seen anything like it in the city, and that it was a "scary way to wake up on a Saturday morning".

 

[PromotedPawn]

Thanks for the update. Didn't sound like the kind of person who would deliberately crash.

Looks like he landed in the middle of a big field of corn or something. Can only get there on foot? He'll probably try to escape and hide. JMO

ETA: Its a soybean field. Someone is plowing a path with an ATV

He actually sounds like the kind of person who would deliberately crash to me. Since he threatened to do it. I'm so glad everyone is safe. This could have ended very bad. MOO

 

[IceIce9]

The plane was referred to in news reports as a “small plane” but it was a twin engine Beechcraft King Air. More of a corporate size plane .

It could have caused devastation on a large scale if crashed into a store or neighborhood.

 

[digiskunk]

This could have resulted in many people being killed or injured. Domestic terrorism for certain.

He should be locked up for a long time.

Yes, for sure. I'm glad nothing happened but it's still a terrifying thought.. It reminds me of some aspects of the movie Turbulence (1997).

 

[IceIce9]

"The pilot did not have the experience to land the aircraft," the police chief said.

According to Quaka, Patterson was a lineman of Tupelo aviation for 10 years fuelling tanks of planes and had some flight experience. Officers brought in a pilot to communicate with Patterson on how to land the aircraft at the Tupelo airport.

walmart: Pilot threatening to crash stolen plane into Walmart store in US city charged - The Economic Times

The Tupelo Police Department said it was notified around 5 am on Saturday that a pilot flying a "King Air type" airplane - a small utility plane - was considering crashing into a Walmart located on West Main street.

m.economictimes.com

 

[TootsieFootsie]

I hope his parents and sister are ok, though I imagined if they weren't it would be known by now.

 

[Curious_in_NC]

I'd think all this would be bigger news, probably got lost in the shuffle with the media versus the big story just a few miles north of here about Eliza Fletcher ibeing kidnapped n Memphis.