Originally Posted by
wannabepilot
From the link above...
(CNN) -- A pilot who made a distress call to air traffic controllers before his plane crashed in Florida was spotted alive Monday and checked into a hotel under a false name, authorities said.
"All indications now are that he made some type of false emergency call [and] abandoned the plane by parachute," said Sgt. Scott Haines of the Santa Rosa County, Florida, Sheriff's Office.
Haines said the pilot -- who has not been publicly identified -- checked into a hotel in the Harpersville, Alabama, area under a false name. Haines did not know the whereabouts of the pilot.
Earlier Monday, federal investigators said they believed the pilot may have parachuted out of the Piper PA-36 aircraft before it crashed at 9:15 p.m. CT Sunday in a swampy area of Blackwater River in East Milton, Florida.
Looks like a lame attempt at faking his own death.