One Man Copter Landed on West Lawn of Capitol Building

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CNN Breaking news

FAA NO FLY ZONE

Pilot arrested. Bomb sniffing robot approaching the gyrocopter on live TV. There are civilian gawkers on the nearby street and traffic is flowing normally.

 

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According to CNN

According to CNN

The Capitol was locked down but not evacuated.

The pilot called the editor of the Tampa Bay Times and claimed to have alerted local authorities prior to his flight.

There appears to be a postal pennant, red, white and blue with postal eagle logo on the copter.

The guy claimed to have registered letters to be delievered to the each congressperson.


They should have shot the bastard out of the sky. Send his sorry ass to Gitmo.

 

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Small copter lands on West Lawn of US Capitol; pilot in custody, says he was 'delivering mail' | Star Tribune

Small copter lands on West Lawn of US Capitol; pilot in custody, says he was 'delivering mail'
Article by: ALAN FRAM , Associated Press Updated: April 15, 2015 - 1:30 PM

WASHINGTON — Police arrested a man who steered his tiny, one-person helicopter onto the West Lawn of the U.S. Capitol Wednesday, astonishing spring tourists and prompting a temporary lockdown of the Capitol Visitor Center.

Capitol Police didn't immediately identify the pilot or comment on his motive, but a Florida postal carrier named Doug Hughes took responsibility for the stunt on a website where he said he was delivering letters to all 535 members of Congress in order to draw attention to campaign finance corruption.

"As I have informed the authorities, I have no violent inclinations or intent," Hughes wrote on his website, thedemocracyclub.org. "An ultralight aircraft poses no major physical threat — it may present a political threat to graft. I hope so. There's no need to worry — I'm just delivering the mail."

Capitol Police identified the aircraft as a "gyro copter with a single occupant."

House Homeland Security panel Chairman Michael McCaul, R-Texas, said the pilot landed on his own, but that had he made it much closer to the Capitol authorities were prepared to shoot him down. "Had it gotten any closer to the speaker's balcony they have long guns to take it down, but it didn't. It landed right in front," McCaul said.

Witnesses said the craft approached the Capitol from the west, flying low over the National Mall and the Capitol reflecting pool across the street from the building. It barely cleared a row of trees and a statue of Gen. Ulysses Grant.

John Jewell, 72, a tourist from Statesville, North Carolina, said the craft landed hard and bounced. An officer was already there with a gun drawn. "He didn't get out until police officers told him to get out. He had his hands up'" and was quickly led away by the police, Jewell said. "They snatched him pretty fast."

Downtown Washington is blanketed by restrictions on air traffic that generally prohibit aircraft from flying over the White House, the Capitol, the national Mall and key buildings without special permission.

The situation was under investigation and streets in the area were shut down. Emergency vehicles were dispatched to the area and a robot bomb detector was sent over to the craft.

Amid the commotion, the small craft presented a strange sight sitting on the green lawn of the Capitol, its rotors slowly spinning.

 

[Riddickulous]

What the hell?

 

[MNIrishman]

Eh, it's not like congress was doing work anyway.

 

[NDRock]

Used to be able to do crazy/fun shit like this, remember the parachute guy crashing the Bowe/Holyfield fight? You'd get Morgana the kissing bandit and the occasional streaker. Now everyone wants to shoot the "bastards" or taze the streakers. Poor Morgana would probably be tackled by five security guards, beaten and tazed. Another way the terrorists have won. I miss the old America.

 

[connor_in]

The Capitol was locked down but not evacuated.

The pilot called the editor of the Tampa Bay Times and claimed to have alerted local authorities prior to his flight.

There appears to be a postal pennant, red, white and blue with postal eagle logo on the copter.

The guy claimed to have registered letters to be delievered to the each congressperson.


They should have shot the bastard out of the sky. Send his sorry ass to Gitmo.

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA...your posted started with According to CNN...

Have they started playing Dire Straits' Money for Nothing era reenactment videoes yet?

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[MNIrishman]

Used to be able to do crazy/fun shit like this, remember the parachute guy crashing the Bowe/Holyfield fight? You'd get Morgana the kissing bandit and the occasional streaker. Now everyone wants to shoot the "bastards" or taze the streakers. Poor Morgana would probably be tackled by five security guards, beaten and tazed. Another way the terrorists have won. I miss the old America.

Yep. The guy did something stupid, but I think all of us are frustrated with the government. Maybe he was just a guy who was frustrated enough to do something about it? It's easy to feel powerless as an individual, with representatives who only care about people and organizations who already have power. Making a scene on national TV is a pretty good way to get attention, even if the repercussions will be severe.

Or maybe he's just a nutcase who needs to spend years behind bars for landing his toy in the wrong place. I dunno.

 

[connor_in]

Wait...is the guy a british spy from the 1960's?

 

[NDokie13]

Used to be able to do crazy/fun shit like this, remember the parachute guy crashing the Bowe/Holyfield fight? You'd get Morgana the kissing bandit and the occasional streaker. Now everyone wants to shoot the "bastards" or taze the streakers. Poor Morgana would probably be tackled by five security guards, beaten and tazed. Another way the terrorists have won. I miss the old America.

That's exactly what I thought of. He did take a pretty good beating from the fans for that stunt, though.

 

[IrishLax]

Small copter lands on West Lawn of US Capitol; pilot in custody, says he was 'delivering mail' | Star Tribune

Small copter lands on West Lawn of US Capitol; pilot in custody, says he was 'delivering mail'
Article by: ALAN FRAM , Associated Press Updated: April 15, 2015 - 1:30 PM

Can't believe I didn't see this happen live. Was out in freaking Leesberg today... any other day of the week I would've been right there. SMH.

 

[MNIrishman]

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