Mississippi authorities said on Saturday that a man who stole and flew a plane and threatened to crash it into a Walmart store is now facing charges of theft and making terrorist threats.
The Associated Press quoted John Kwaka, the Tupelo police chief, the city where the accident occurred, at a press conference that Corey Wayne Patterson, who stole a Beechcraft King Air from Tupelo Regional Airport, took off early Saturday, and called the number 911 threatens to destroy it.
Patterson did not have a pilot’s license but had a little knowledge of how planes took off, as he worked for the Tupelo Aircraft Refueling Company, which gave him access.
Negotiators spoke to Patterson and persuaded him not to carry out the threat and land at the airport, but Patterson had no landing experience, so another pilot tried to help him from a distance, and the plane eventually landed safely.
Tupelo Mayor Todd Jordan said he hoped Patterson “gets the help he needs”, as it appears he had no intention of harming himself or others, in the hours after the initial threat.
Corey Wayne Patterson wrote on his Facebook page, a farewell message at about 9:30 am, in which he said, “I apologize to everyone, I did not want to hurt anyone, I love my father and my sister, this is not your fault, bye.”
Commenting on this, Michael Kanders, director of the Aviation Center at Farmingdale State College in New York, described the incident as a “wake-up call” for general aviation airports and their staff.
BREAKING: A pilot flying a small plane over Tupelo, MS threatened to intentionally crash into a local Walmart on Saturday. This is a developing story. https://t.co/VaGjDFwHBl pic.twitter.com/Q3yOM5Av6p
— CBS News (@CBSNews) September 3, 2022
Kanders said the Transportation Security Administration requires annual training to prevent a similar scenario from occurring.
“These particular things are studied during training sessions, we usually talk about the possibility of someone getting access to planes and harming people and property,” he said.
He then went on to stress that airport security depends on who works there. “If you see someone you don’t know or some unusual activity, you’re supposed to report it.”
An online flight tracking service showed the plane was meandering in the sky early Saturday.
Leslie Kress, a local magazine editor who lives in Tupelo, woke up early to those scenes on TV and social media.
Meanwhile, several of her friends outside were watching the plane hovering in the sky.
“It’s a scary way to wake up on a Saturday morning,” Chris told The Associated Press. I’ve never seen anything like this in this city before adding.