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Gyrocopter Pilot Appears In Court; Judge Bans Him From D.C.
mpicpp writes The Florida mail carrier accused of landing a gyrocopter outside the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday was charged in federal court Thursday and has been barred from returning to the District of Columbia or flying any aircraft, officials said. Douglas Hughes, 61, was charged with violating aircraft registration requirements, a felony, and violating national defense airspace, a misdemeanor. If convicted, he could be sentenced to up to three years in prison for the felony and one year in prison for the airspace violation. U.S. Magistrate Judge Deborah A. Robinson also barred Hughes from the District of Columbia, except for court appearances, and said he must stay away from the Capitol, White House and nearby areas while he is there. He will also have to hand over his passport.
Lockin up the postman to save the mothafuckin day Nyah!
It is only a Misdemeanor to violate National Defense Air Space??? Why do I get 5 stars on GTA then??
Can you really ban someone from a federal district? What about a state?
Knowledge Brings Fear
because the law stating he couldn't fly an aircraft through DC and land it on the lawn wasn't enough, we will make a decree that he's also not allowed to fly an aircraft OR be in DC.
THAT will stop this ruffian.
captcha: illusory
Do judges have the power to ostracize American citizens from their own country's capital city?!??
This sounds like the kind of reaction our glorious overlords were having to people landing on the Capitol lawn on September 10th, 2001.
A little miffed, patronizing, an official "We have our eye on you", but not guns drawn, no disappearances into Cuban prison camps, no insane over-reactions.
You are not alone. This is not normal. None of this is normal.
While it may be true that this guy was "literally flying under the radar", that phrase gives a very misleading impression: the impression that he was trying to sneak up on them.
Quite the contrary. He sent them a message a full hour in advance, saying that they should expect him.
So while it might have been "literally" under the radar, it wasn't figuratively under the radar. The White House knew he was coming and expected him. That being the case, they don't get to say they were surprised by his arrival, or imply that he was any kind of serious threat. If they were surprised at all, it was nobody's fault but their own.
Someone should tag this story Only-in-America
No matter how hard they throw the book at this guy, he proved his point the current government is a complete joke and vulnerable.
It was abundantly clear that this guy did this act as a political protest and informed people in the press a YEAR in advance that this was his plan. Secret service officials were informed about it and determined the guy wasn't a psycho or had a criminal background or anything else alarming, so they basically ignored it as a non-concern. Then, days before he did it, he let people know he was about to do it, too!
If you wanted to give him a slap on the wrist... say, a fine for violating the rules on airspace? Sure, I think he even fully expected as much. Perhaps confiscate his gyro-copter too. Whatever.... But banning him from setting foot in the District of Columbia and talking about YEARS of prison time? That's outrageous.
Just last week I read about a psycho woman in Oregon who bashed a guy's skull in with an aluminum baseball bat on their first date, when he went out there to finally visit her in person after a 2 year long online relationship. They only gave her a sentence of a few MONTHS in jail for the incident, despite her planning the whole thing and getting another woman to assist her with it - AND saying she got the idea from something she read or saw that said it only takes 7 pounds of pressure to snap someone's neck. Which person are you more concerned will do people physical harm in the future??
if you're going to break national airspace, buy one of those automated preprogrammable copters to fly around for you. just like the do for drugs flying over the border :)
Flying an unregistered ultralight vehicle isn't illegal in the US (eCFR.gov).
This should be amusing to watch.
He flew into the Red Square, was arrested, but released after two months. This case seems very similar, and I wonder how much slack they will cut this guy.
Crazy but well-intended American nuttiness at its finest. I wanna give him a Freedom medal. He had an honest populist message, he didn't set out to hurt anybody, he DIDN'T ACTUALLY hurt anybody (including himself), did it in a wacky, even laughable goof-ball way using his own ingenuity, and most important, told lots of people what he was going to do before he did it (and nobody stopped him).
He gave us all a laugh, and at the same time harmlessly informed us that Washington's airspace is completely vulnerable to low-flying cruise missiles. Your welcome!
I know shit has gotten so hot over the years. They used to set themselves on fire to get a message across. Now they blow themselves up to take other people with them, or blow people up after running away (looking at YOU, Boston Bomber). But whereas the Soviets were the bad guys for shooting people for looking funny at the Kremlin, the U.S. used to be the place you could take LSD on the White House lawn and get nothing more than a night in jail (all he needs is a good haircut).
I never want to live in a USA where wacky shit like this Postman ain't funny anymore. We're supposed to know the difference between a good-hearted eccentric and the truly malicious. Give him a dirty look and a "don't do that again" thing. And maybe actually do something about campaign finance reform.
He should be given a hero's medal for exposing glaring weakness(es) in D.C. security.
You lose GG ((=^_^=))
This guy flew his aircraft into the DC ADIZ.
http://www.aerolegalservices.c...
He did not land on national property or attempt to deliver mail, but other than heinous
things, it's pretty much the same.
He was given a 30 day suspension of pilot privileges.
E
This is a huge over-reaction.
I think that - excessive penalty - is a chronic problem in the US. Sentences are just too harsh, and it's counter-productive, not to mention unethical. When the punishment is disproportionate, it becomes an injustice - a crime - in and of itself.
I don't believe you actually need a pilot's license to fly anything characterized as an "ultralight" aircraft, as these tape-and-balsawood gyrocopters appear to be. Doesn't mean the FAA can't fine your ass, of course, when you do dumb crap like flying a possibly deadly set of large rotors right past crowds of tourists at low altitudes in an urban area like DC.
Don't disappoint your bird dog. Go to the range.
Watching the video of this guy flying in to land shows what a cool machine the gyrocopter is...simple, cheap, easy to fly, and with a small take-off and landing footprint. Am I the only one who wants one of these now? Did the media ever identify what make and model of gyrocopter he owned? I want to get a kit and start building.
Unregistered Aircraft... Felony
Violate National Defense Airspace... Misdemeanor?!
WTF?!
The felony wasn't.
It's my understanding that the gyrocopter in question was actually under the 250 pound limit that would require FAA registration.
This would mean the felony charge is bogus.
Can anyone confirm the vehicle total unladen weight?
You don't need a license to fly nor do you need to register aircraft under a certain size and weight (and that cannot go above a certain height.)
Capitol Hill is no place for fellons.
I knew things were bad in the USA nowadays.
I never imagined Americans needed a passport to enter D.C.
Best of luck to you. It seems you may need it.
Ultralight rules (which this is not actually an ultralight, but anyway) do not allow flying over populated areas at all - not even small cities.
What if he wants to contact his representative or Senator? What if he wants to petition his government for redress of grievances?
Here it is. Looks pretty dangerous if you ask me!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cvbbQaIoaSM
Somehow, I had a brain fart and thought this guy landed at the White House.
s/Secret Service/Capital Police/
Imagine all the people...
Every thing's a felony. Long prison terms for everything, just like the USSR. Fuck you America. USSA
There's only one solution.
Handing over a passport is like they do in Japan to Foreign Nationals, i.e. Gaigen, in order to work in Japan.
So me thinks a Civil Rights Challenge is justified against the DC Judge on USA Constitutional grounds and civil liberties.
Let's pray the DC Judge just falls dead in his tracks on K Street before he enters the "Male" massage parlor.
Ja Ja
He is a flight risk.
You are dumb and should feel dumb for being dumb. No one ever goes on vacations, nope, not ever. Oh lemme guess, going to Cancun is "invading a less awesome country" right?
It's Mr.Smartypants, Mr. Grammar Nazi.
Doesn't matter at all. Not in the least. Not one iota. Doesn't mean jack. Makes not a hill of beans difference. I could go on. The cops can charge you and arrest you for murder even if you were locked up in a foreign country even if it is a total lie. The point of this exercise is to assert their authority and make his life miserable. Now since he was charged, even if the charges are false, he STILL has to go to court and waste his time and money proving his innocence.
Is it just my perception, or is the whole system somehow getting out of hand?
I have the impression that these days, you get more and more of your life destroyed by just playing a harmless prank.
I mean this guy landed with his Cessna in the Red Square, in the middle of Moscow, coming from abroad, no less -- during the Cold War. He was sentenced to four years of which he effectively served one. Harsh, yes, but we're speaking of the Soviet Union in the late eighties. Are we reaching *that* level?
For fuck's sake.
http://thedemocracyclub.org/?page_id=134
The original story I read was the one shared by KPLR TV (channel 11) in St. Louis:
http://kplr11.com/2015/04/14/p...
But this story has been edited since I first read it last week, as far as her punishment for the offense. (I even shared it on Facebook last week and it received comments from people who read the link and were outraged that she received such a light sentence for the crime.)
Perhaps it was in error, since they now give a date she's supposed to return to court and only speak of her being released on bail in the meantime.
is this one of those times where 100000 signatures to get a reply from the whitehouse might actually help?
...charged with violating aircraft registration requirements, a felony, and violating national defense airspace, a misdemeanor.
The latter seems the more felonious of the two!!