Associated Press
TAMPA, Fla. – A 15-year-old student pilot took off in a small plane without permission Saturday and crashed into a skyscraper after ignoring a Coast Guard helicopter’s signals to land, authorities said.
The crash occurred after Charles Bishop’s grandmother brought him to the National Aviation flight school for a 5 p.m. flying lesson, said Marianne Pasha, a Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office spokeswoman. She said an instructor told Bishop to check the plane’s equipment before the lesson.
“The next thing the instructor knew, he was gone,” Pasha said.
Although terrorism was quickly discounted, the televised image of a plane blasting a hole in the side of a skyscraper was a chilling reminder of the World Trade Center attacks. The plane’s tail dangled near the 20th floor of the 42-story Bank of America building.
One person was killed, but officials would not immediately confirm whether it was Bishop. It was unknown whether anyone in the building was injured.
Bishop, of nearby of Palm Harbor, had been taking lessons for two years, Pasha said.
Air traffic controllers at the St. Petersburg-Clearwater Airport notified the Coast Guard that the four-seat 2000 Cessna 172R had taken off without clearance, said Coast Guard Lt. j.g. Charlotte Pittman.
A Coast Guard helicopter intercepted the plane and attempted to give the pilot visual signals to land at a small airport, but the pilot did not respond, Pittman said.
Copyright ©2002 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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