Shop OBEX P1 Docs P2 Docs Learn Events
Gyrocopter lands on Capitol lawn; pilot in custody — Parallax Forums

Gyrocopter lands on Capitol lawn; pilot in custody

Ron CzapalaRon Czapala Posts: 2,418
edited 2015-04-21 21:21 in General Discussion
...If a landing a drone on the Whitehouse grounds wasn't bad enough!

Video here: http://news.yahoo.com/small-aircraft-lands-capitol-lawn-pilot-custody-174723947--politics.html
Police arrested a man who steered his tiny aircraft onto the West Lawn of the U.S. Capitol after flying through restricted airspace around the National Mall Wednesday.

House Homeland Security panel Chairman Michael McCaul, R-Texas, said the pilot landed on his own, but authorities were prepared to shoot him down if he had made it much closer to the Capitol. "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.

Comments

  • xanaduxanadu Posts: 3,347
    edited 2015-04-15 17:31
    I'm glad they didn't shoot him down! Can't wait to hear the story.
  • W9GFOW9GFO Posts: 4,010
    edited 2015-04-15 17:53
    I would have been listening to Ride of the Valkyries, I'll bet it was quite a rush up until the landing. Then a different kind of rush...
  • ercoerco Posts: 20,256
    edited 2015-04-15 18:38
    Is Mathias Rust at it again?

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mathias_Rust
  • GadgetmanGadgetman Posts: 2,436
    edited 2015-04-15 23:26
    I thought that area was protected with a NASAMS battery?

    What do they mean with 'Long guns'?
  • W9GFOW9GFO Posts: 4,010
    edited 2015-04-16 01:47
    Video here of him announcing his plans to land at the capital and deliver letters;

    http://www.tampabay.com/news/politics/elections/ruskin-mailman-tries-flying-to-capitol-in-gyrocopter-to-deliver-campaign/2225584
  • xanaduxanadu Posts: 3,347
    edited 2015-04-16 20:58
    I knew he was legit. Not anyone lands a USPS schemed gyrocopter on the Capitol lawn. I guess being partial to anything that flies goes a long way. Back to my Night Vapor.
  • CuriousOneCuriousOne Posts: 931
    edited 2015-04-17 05:43
    Mathias Rust was lvl. 80 troll, considering what he done, how, and when :)

    This guy appears to be more patriotic...
  • LoopyBytelooseLoopyByteloose Posts: 12,537
    edited 2015-04-21 10:39
    I can't seem to sort out who is the greater fool... the guy that lands a gyrocopter on the Capitol's west lawn in protest (not the White House lawn), or another guy that publically anounces that he thinks he can hack into computers on today's airliners... and then expects aircarriers to be willing to allow him to board their airplanes to go to conferences to talk about it.

    https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2015/04/united-airlines-stops-researcher-who-tweeted-about-airplane-network-security

    Is a moment of glory worth all the trouble in the future? This seems to be an American quirk.

    I certainly would not desire to fly on the same airplane with someone that is tempted to do a bit of hacking of the airplane's systems for the sake of freelance research.
  • PublisonPublison Posts: 12,366
    edited 2015-04-21 11:00
    Loopy Byteloose wrote: »
    I can't seem to sort out who is the greater fool... the guy that lands a gyrocopter .

    I do give the pilot in the gyrocopter credit for exposing the vulnerability of "Low Tech" flying machine being able to penetrate the air space. He literally flew "Under the Radar".

    Grated, he was not trying to do anything malicious, but it could of had some explosives, but not much based on the payload of the vehicle.
  • LoopyBytelooseLoopyByteloose Posts: 12,537
    edited 2015-04-21 11:11
    Living as an resident alien in a foreign land, I'd never consider doing either of these things. People assume that citizenship allows them to do these things, but there are consequences.... opportunities denied and so on.

    Protesting and whistleblowing are highstakes ventures... everywhere. I do admire the gyrocopter guy's message. And I even sympathize with the concerns about airliner computer security.

    It is just difficult to watch people go out on a limb and find themselves with no way to recover.
  • prof_brainoprof_braino Posts: 4,313
    edited 2015-04-21 18:06
    This is like that show "Connections". Consider that Mathias Rust flew to the Kremlin, and this caused the the dismissal of various high ranking Soviet militiary, the one selected were opposed to Gorbechov's reforms. Two months later the intermediate nukes treaty was signed. This led to the Berlin Wall coming down, which contributed to the ventual collapse of the Soviet Union. This eventually led to Tiananmen Square, and Arab Spring. Much bigger impact than a plane load of C4 could have had.

    I wonder how far reaching impact Doug Hughes, 61-year-old mailman, will have in 10 years time?
  • LoopyBytelooseLoopyByteloose Posts: 12,537
    edited 2015-04-21 21:21
    If you read up on Mathias Rust after his famous flight, he led a rather messed up life -- including an incident where he stabbed a girl friend and supposedly almost killed her.

    I guess it all goes back to Henry David Thoreau's statement that "Most men lead lives of quiet desperation." A few of us try to break out of this as lone protesters. Sometimes, the results are monumental - but it is a high stakes game at best. Most of the protesters of the 1960s ended up in obscurity.

    Just consider John Froines - one of the Chicago Seven. Seems like he put the incident in the past and moved on. http://www.environment.ucla.edu/people/john-froines

    As a single footstep will not make a path on the earth, so a single thought will not make a pathway in the mind. To make a deep physical path, we walk again and again. To make a deep mental path, we must think over and over the kind of thoughts we wish to dominate our lives.


    Read more at http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/h/henrydavid121510.html#KATQAZ3k1UrxOGJy.99
Sign In or Register to comment.