2 teens arrested after stealing plane

J

JeppUpdater

Well-Known Member
...and managing to land it in one piece thanks to their serious Microsoft flight simming experience.

2 teens arrested after stealing a plane, landing it at Vernal airport, authorities say


VERNAL — Two teens were arrested near an airport after investigators say they stole a small plane from a private airstrip in Uintah County and landed it at Vernal Regional Airport Thursday, authorities said.
Uintah County Sheriff's officials said the teen boys, a 14-year-old and 15-year-old, had left a group home somewhere in the Wasatch Front area earlier this week and had been staying with friends in the Jensen area.
The boys apparently drove a tractor to an airstrip in Jensen and then took a single-engine fixed-wing plane on Thursday, officials said. They apparently attempted to fly back toward the Wasatch Front, but eventually flew back toward Vernal, which is located roughly 12 miles northwest of Jensen, according to the sheriff's office.
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mrivc211 said:
If I got a dollar for every time a owner solo’d Without CfI permission...

We had one do it today. Gave him the boot.
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Is this a flight school/leaseback situation? Sounds like you might need tighter control for access to your planes.
 
No it’s owners hiring independent CFIs to teach them in their new shiny plane and deciding they know enough to solo whenever they feel like. Caught one doing it a few years back and I dumped him immediately. He played dumb like he didn’t know he wasn’t supposed too but I was buying it. I specifically mentioned he wasn’t allowed to fly without my verbal ok. So after I dumped him he called me 2 months later asking if I wanted to buy the plane from him because he took out a loan on it and he couldn’t pay back the loan
 
mrivc211 said:
No it’s owners hiring independent CFIs to teach them in their new shiny plane and deciding they know enough to solo whenever they feel like. Caught one doing it a few years back and I dumped him immediately. He played dumb like he didn’t know he wasn’t supposed too but I was buying it. I specifically mentioned he wasn’t allowed to fly without my verbal ok. So after I dumped him he called me 2 months later asking if I wanted to buy the plane from him because he took out a loan on it and he couldn’t pay back the loan
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Gotcha, yeah that’s a tougher situation for sure. Definitely no sympathy for dumb owners doing dumb things like that. In the eternal words of Great Lakes...seeeeeeya!
 
mrivc211 said:
No it’s owners hiring independent CFIs to teach them in their new shiny plane and deciding they know enough to solo whenever they feel like. Caught one doing it a few years back and I dumped him immediately. He played dumb like he didn’t know he wasn’t supposed too but I was buying it. I specifically mentioned he wasn’t allowed to fly without my verbal ok. So after I dumped him he called me 2 months later asking if I wanted to buy the plane from him because he took out a loan on it and he couldn’t pay back the loan
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So, did you buy the plane?
 
We had a lawyer buy a C-150 sight-unseen and had it ferried to KPWA in Oklahoma City. Prompt CFI huddle in the conference room, adjourning to announce, “Barrister, we’ll teach you to fly when the FAA declares it airworthy. Sat on the mechanic’s ramp for years.
 

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I have mentioned this before but it's still a great story.......There was a kid that did this out of Tamiami Executive (KTMB) a few years ago. He failed his pre-solo evaluation with his CFI so after the debrief and the CFI left, the student went back and checked out the plane. Took off and turned north along the shoreline. Busted right into the Presidential TFR! First solo ended with an escort and an arrest......moron!!
 
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