mjarosz

Sounds like a winner to me.
http://www.theindychannel.com/news/1...s=ind&psp=news

LaPORTE, Ind. -- A man accused of stealing a twin-engine plane and driving it down the taxiway staged the stunt while he was drunk to impress his girlfriend, police said.

Michael Santos, 38, was charged Friday with theft, criminal mischief and operating a vehicle after his driving privileges had previously been forfeited for life.

Santos, who is being held in the LaPorte County Jail on $2,000 bond, is accused of driving to the LaPorte Municipal Airport despite a lifetime ban on his driving privileges.
According to police reports, Santos was drunk when he took his girlfriend to the airport Sept. 9 to show her that he could fly a plane. They climbed into the plane and were heading down the taxiway when, Santos told police, flames began shooting from the left engine.

He said he turned off all the switches and veered into a soybean field.

Damage to the aircraft was estimated at $160,000.

Police said the plane traveled a half mile along a taxiway before it missed the curve leading to the runway, chopping up soybeans with the propeller before getting stuck in the field.

LaPorte Police Detective Tom Thate said an anonymous tip from someone who overheard a man claiming he tried taking a plane for a ride led police to Santos.

Cubdriver

I actually had one friend in south Atlanta with a small airplane that he said was regularly stolen for joyrides and safely returned. He said he couldn't afford to do anything about it, but he was sure he knew who it was and the plane was always returned in good condition, minus a little gas. When I heard this story I thought he must be kidding, but when you think about it most small airplanes are secured by a prop lock or nothing at all.

Navajo31

Even if you lock most Pipers or Cessnas, anyone with a key to any other Piper or Cessna can get in without any effort. I even got into my Piper with my GM car key once!

pete2800

An instructor at the FBO I used to work at once took the wrong airplane by accident. That was a funny conversation with dispatch.....

mjarosz

I discovered that during college. A key for one Cessna would work in any other one. Almost took the wrong plane once.

snippercr

I was actually just about to post this story. I read another story on the same topic and apparently "fog concealed the theif's identity."

I would be scared if that person somehow managed to get their aircraft airborne... If the worst CFIT accidents are for private pilots w/o IFR rating into IMC... I would hate to see what this person would have done.

Interestingly enough the report said that flames began shooting out of the engines. I wonder what he could have done that would have caused the engine to spontaneously erupt like that. Maybe it was done for maintenance and had no oil or broken oil pump?

ERJ135

I knew a cfi whose filing cabinet key would open his filing cabinet, and fit in the ignition of a couple piper warriors

Ewfflyer

The only thing I'm thinking is it was a twin, maybe a twin-cessna, with Continentals'. Had the boost pumps been in the low/high position, they dump a boat-load of fuel out. It could actually dumped some out the exhaust, I could see how it could cause flames. Low power and high boost will kill the engine, even low boost and idle can kill the engine with flooding, so I'm not sure or if he was so drunk he thought he saw flames, when it could've been the strobes or something else???

And the talk about key's, it was a twin, so there wasn't an ignition key, and I really don't know of hardly anyone that locks' their doors on twins either.

Bug Smasher

Aero-news reported it was a King Air. So, I'm really trying to figure out how to make one of those shoot flames. I've seen one shoot flames at startup (guy said he dumped the fuel to it a little early, temps still didn't spike anywhere near the limit...) But to have it shooting flames after starting, while taxiing?

Zach

I read a little snippet in a Professional Pilot magazine a couple years ago about a 23yr old commercial pilot with 250hrs and no jet experience, stealing a Citation VII and successfully taking off and landing the airplane at another airport.