LiveATC Discussion Forums
Air Traffic Monitoring => Listener Forum => Topic started by: stealth71 on April 10, 2006, 07:32:14 PM
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We had some scumbag bolt out of town last night with his Cessna 150. He hadn't paid his bill for months, so we put a prop lock on the plane last week. The plane was still there last night (Sunday). Gone this morning. He actually took a pair of bolt cutters and cut the chain and flew the plane out at night. Airport police took a report, and because of the dollar amount, he's looking at a felony charge. Keep in mind he's a student who has not been signed off for night flight, so now the FAA might go after him as well. Anyway, I'm listening to archives to see if I can nail down his audio to get an exact time of departure. If anyone is bored to tears and wants to listen to some middle of the night archives for Missoula from 2AM to 9AM eastern sunday going into monday, and you happen to hear 7190S, let me know.
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No joy on the archives. I downloaded them to a wave editor so I could browse them quicky and easily but I never heard that call sign. I'm guessing he didn't use the CTAF.
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Knowing this guy, that wouldn't surprise me one bit. I appreciate you doing that.
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I am assuming that the aircraft was his 150, despite the face that he is not yet a certificated pilot?
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As far as action by the FAA-- even if he did improperly cut the lock off and take the plane away at night, unless he was dumb enough to log it as such, how would you prove he was the one at the controls?
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Yeah it was his 150. At this point we really couldn't prove he even was the one that flew it. All we can do is report that the lock was cut to the FAA and our local FAA guys can investigate it. Either way, just about every FBO in the area has been faxed a warning about this character, so he might have a hard time making any friends with the owners and instructors around here. What we do have is criminal charges for failure to pay his bill.
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What we do have is criminal charges for failure to pay his bill.
Criminal charges or civil liability? If he passed a bad check, that would be criminal but if he didn't pay his bills, wouldn't that be a civil matter?
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Criminal charges.
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It varies from state-to-state, but generally skipping out on a bill is considered "Defrauding the Innkeeper" (CA terminology). It is tantamount to ordering a nice steak dinner and then bolting for the door without paying the tab.
Skipping out on a bill can be a double-whammy. You can face the criminal charges, plus the "innkeeper" can go after you through the civil court for the money you skipped out on, plus any legal fees, etc.
I hope this guy is caught, arrested, and visited by the FSDO. :) Talk about feeling the pain! (I'm not even a business owner!)
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Yeah, dine and dash, huh? It just makes me laugh that this guy is so stupid. Did he actually think he could hide by going to another airport? It's not like a car where you can hide it anywhere, there are only so many places to put an airplane, so after about 5 phone calls, I knew where he was and warned all the FBO's in the area with just one fax. Good luck finding fuel and instruction now. Makes the day interesting, though.
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Do you need the guys name and address in MT ?? If you need it for the PD let me know.
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Hey, thanks. We've got it from his gate card application.
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It's too bad that people like this have to do things like this... hope everything gets cleared up for you without much more trouble!