He Hijacked the Plane and Threatened to Crash Into…

Walmart

Cory Wayne Patterson planned on crashing into the local Walmart. He may not have a license to fly a plane and had no intention of landing but he is now officially a “pilot.” Police talked him into sparing the retail outlet but weren’t able to talk him down for a landing. As the twin-engine, Beechcraft ran out of fuel, Patterson learned he was better at landing than he thought. The plane came down with a “thud” in a farmer’s field. Patterson was out with his hands up when police took him into custody.

Walmart spared death from above

The sleepy little town of Tupelo, Mississippi woke up to fear, chaos and confusion as reports were all over the media about a guy planning to crash a plane into the local Walmart.

Thankfully the domestic terrorist announced his plan ahead of time, giving lots of opportunity to safely close and evacuate the retail store. The retailer announced they were “working closely with local investigators and are referring questions to law enforcement.

All anyone knew was that some guy in a plane was circling the Walmart like a vulture and threatening to go Kamikaze. The first thing officials were sure to point out is that “with the mobility of an airplane of that type the danger zone is much larger than even Tupelo.

Police first found out about the threat “around 5 a.m. CT when the pilot made contact with 911.” Nobody is talking about his motivation but the plan was “to intentionally crash.” The FBI was quickly on the scene, hoping it was a Republican behind the controls.

Transportation Security Administration popped some popcorn and watched the drama unfold. “The TSA has been following this situation with our law enforcement and intelligence partners. At this time we would refer questions to local law enforcement and the FAA,” They announced during a commercial.

As soon as they realized the pilot was willing to talk, they tried to talk him out of crashing into the Walmart. FAA was happy to let local law enforcement call the shots. Patterson knew his plane had a full tank of gas, because that was his job. He proceeded to spend hours joyriding through the skies over Mississippi.

Worked at the airport

Eventually, authorities revealed that the twin-engine, Beechcraft C90A turboprop had been reported stolen and that the person flying did not have a license or training. He had access to the plane because he worked for Tupelo Aviation.

They aren’t sure why he picked Walmart as his final destination. The resident of Shannon, Mississippi worked “for 10 years as a lineman fueling aircraft. We do know that that aircraft was fully fueled the night before.

While negotiators were able to convince Patterson not to crash into Walmart, “he decided not to land during what was supposed to be the final approach back into the Tupelo Regional Airport.” Negotiators “from Tupelo Police Department made contact with the pilot and were able to convince him to not carry out this deed and to land the aircraft at Tupelo airport.” There was one small problem with that.

Walmart

The pilot did not have experience to land an aircraft. A private pilot assisted us in helping this pilot complete this. However, it was not completed. Upon final approach, the pilot aborted the landing and traveled in a northwest direction away from Tupelo.” That’s about when he texted a “goodbye” message on his Facebook page from the aircraft at 9:32 a.m. “Sorry everyone. Never actually wanted to hurt anyone. I love my parents and sister this isn’t your fault. Goodbye.” At 10:08 a.m., “FAA lost radar contact with the aircraft.

At 10:12 a.m., “our negotiator re-established contact with the pilot. The pilot confirmed he had landed in a field, and he was uninjured.” Not landing on the Walmart will go in his favor when he appears in federal court. Roxanne Ward, 42, told reporters, “he landed pretty hard.

She heard the plane coming and “ran over to her father-in-law’s house to hide in the basement. That’s when we heard the thud. We did see the suspect with his hands up and we saw police detain him without any incident. Police were there immediately, which led me to believe that they were following him.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Related Posts