Glider pilot illegally arrested for flying over nuke plant

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Gotta love it....instead of acting like a grown up they just took down all of their FB pages. Way to lead by example...
 
I can see it now................

As we type this the DCSO is having high level meetings,,, donuts are being eaten, secretaries a$$es are being pinched, the lawyers for the city are still trying to graduate from elementary school...... It must be chaos in that" Good ol bubba" town this morning...:rofl::lol::D....

The only thing they have decided on so far is........ where to go for lunch.
 
My post on the Hartsville Police Dept. FB page hasn't been deleted, YET,
 
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Thank you; and appropriately edit in the post. I'd been working from the tiny print on my iPhone.
 
Lawreston said:
My post on the Hartsville Police Dept. FB page hasn't been deleted, YET,
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I just went there and didn't see your post.......

But,,, I have no idea how this facebook thing works so it could be hidden somewhere.:dunno:
 
N801BH said:
I just went there and didn't see your post.......

But,,, I have no idea how this facebook thing works so it could be hidden somewhere.:dunno:
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Go back to my Post of 11:08 PM Yesterday. That Link just worked for me at 2:51 PM EST. (and scroll down to just below the dogs' picture.)
 
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I get that this incident potentially impacts all pilots. But if I was still flying gliders in the area, I think I would have preferred that people not directly involved keep their powder dry.

The next time I landed on a public highway or private field down there, and I've done plenty of both, I'd sure rather have local law enforcement be friendly instead of hostile. I've never seen law enforcement positively influenced by being publicly attacked. They will respond to the courts and they will respond to other law enforcement agencies but they will defend their own.

Often, they can also be 'managed' by giving them a chance to help, as in, "Officer, I was just talking to farmer Jones over there and I assured him that I'd try to get the plane out of his field with minimal damage to his young corn out there. If you could keep passersby from going out on the field to see the 'plane wreck', I'm sure farmer Jones would appreciate it... thanks so much".

But if things aren't going well, the best advice I've seen here is to "shut up" and say as little as possible. Doing that with a smile while offering him/her your drivers license can only help.
 
murphey said:
And if you scroll down far enough, on the Hartsville PD FB page, you'll see the poster for EAA Young Eagle Day, June 9, 2012.

So, they know about airports and airplanes. Hence there was no valid reason for the arrest and harassment.
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Seeing that neither the airport, nor the generating facility exist within the limits of the city itself, and there is no mention of the police department at all in the linked article - which would make sense because both locations are in the unincorporated portion of the county within the jurisdiction of the sheriff, not the police department - one can safely reason there was no arrest or harassment to even be discussed on their Facebook page.

Or maybe I missed something. How did they even end up in this thread?
 
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Let's hope AOPA steps up and fights this one out.
 
This was kind of my turf when I was getting my PPL out of Monroe, NC (KEQY). Florence was a nice legal XC, and good people there. Good thing I didn't run into Bubba in some of those smaller airports.
 
You'all realize that this started with the good ol' boys at the nuke plant who slept through the DHS security seminar thinking that planes aren't allowed to fly over their bald heads?

Thus Mr. Magoo was calling the airport repeatedly to see who wasn't respecting his authoratah.

He sees dis plane CIRCLING. BLATANTLY CIRCLING, just mocking him, so he calls the ol' sheriff and tells 'im dat flying isn't allowed and we gots ta get dat boy!

Based on that the sheriff's finest are all "HOT DAMN! We gets to be Homeland protectors!" and the farce was on.

The cops had no idea it wasn't illegal. You can bet they were relying on the non-expertise of Mr. Nuke Magoo.

"You mean it isn't a felony? SHERRRRRR RIFF! Whatta we do?"

Now we have the Sheriff saying they learned something - like the nuke plant manager is an more of an idiot than they could hope to be.
 
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well hey mike how have you been? was wondering how you've been doing
 
mikea said:
You'all realize that this started with the good ol' boys at the nuke plant who slept through the DHS security seminar thinking that planes aren't allowed to fly over their bald heads?

Thus Mr. Magoo was calling the airport repeatedly to see who wasn't respecting his authoratah.

He sees dis plane CIRCLING. BLATENTLY CIRCLING, just mocking him, so he calls the ol' sheriff and tells 'im dat flying isn't allowed and we ta get dat boy!

Base don that the sherrif's finest are all "HOT DAMN! We gets to be Homeland protectors!" and the farce was on.

The cops had no idea it wasn't illegal. You can bet they were relying on the non-expertise of Mr. Nuke Magoo.

"You mean it isn't a felony? SHERRRRRR RIFF! Whatta we do?"

Now we have the Sheriff saying they learned something - like the nuke plant manager is an more of an idiot than they could hope to be.
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Great post...:yes::thumbsup:
..

Bubba's fiasco really came unraveled when the glider pilot ( Mr Fleming) had a data logger to prove he didn't circle, or even decend too close over the plant.....
 
Back when I had a job at one point I flew security patrols around Cape Kennedy for launches. There were a few occasions where civilian air and surface craft intruded into the sanitary zone, which actually existed and was clearly published. These were usually handled by polite radio contact and a friendly wave. The threat involved was primarily to the safety of the trespasser, and only in the most paranoid minds to the launch vehicle. ( We often laughed at the chances of a jihadii intercepting a shuttle on ascent in a Cherokee 140. Even a shoulder fired SAM would have been outrun in the first few seconds) These Keystone local cops were totally out of line. My wife, who is an attorney, thinks this guy can own the police department and the nuke idiots in short order.
 
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