another Ho Lee Crap moment

[ONETINSOLDIER]

http://www.cnn.com/2009/US/04/07/pilot.stolen.plane/index.html?eref=rss_topstories&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+rss%2Fcnn_topstories+%28RSS%3A+Top+Stories%29

 

Did they miss?

[+JediMaster]

No, I think they were watching his course and behavior and took a wait-and-see attitude. If he was shot down in the wrong place it could cause MORE damage than any he might have hoped to make in a kamikaze crash.

Instead they watched him like a hawk and pounced after he was down.

[+FastCargo]

Holy crap moment??

 

You are kidding, right?

 

A full weight 172 might weigh as much as a small sedan and is basically a crushable beer can. I could do more damage in a minivan.

 

Also, a Cessna doesn't do anything quickly. JM's assessment is correct...they shadowed him and let him land. Why waste the ammo.

 

People crack me up.

 

FC

[+JediMaster]

After all, they didn't shoot down that old puke in his Cessna when he flew right past Bush's re-election rally here in 2004. His plane was no more than a mile from the stadium and all he got was a buzzed by F-16s popping flares.

He was of course following I-95 as he flew, and shooting him down could've caused a massive wreck and who knows how many deaths on the road. If he'd turned toward the stadium, I think they would've, but his VFR "follow the I-95" behavior led to him just getting herded to Merritt Island airport and a serious chewing out by DHS, FBI, and who knows who else. The FAA might've said a couple of words, too!

[+MigBuster]

Shooting down would surely be a last resort - the implications of cannon shell or failed missile landing in a civilian area wouldn't look too good surely.

 

Maybe they could have flown past him very quickly making the Cessna spin very quickly - you know like in cartoons

[ezlead]

You wouldn't need to shoot.

A F-anything going by a C-172 at warp 9 about 50 ft or less would probably cause it to go into uncontrolled flight.

Better off to just flight follow and herd him away from anything that he might hurt.

Which sounds like what they did.