Authorities: Pilot of Stolen Canadian Plane Captured After Entering U.S. Airspace

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The pilot of a small Cessna 172 aircraft reported stolen from a Canadian flight school has been captured, authorities said. The pilot reportedly stole a small Cessna 172 aircraft from a Canadian flight school, flew hundreds of miles across the Midwest, landed on a dirt road in Missouri late Monday and took off on foot, federal officials said. Federal, state and local authorities launched a manhunt for the pilot, who was identified by the FBI as Adam Leon, 31, a native of Turkey who became a Canadian citizen last year, according to FBI spokesman Richard Kolko. He was formerly known as Yavuz Berke, though officials did not indicate a reason for the name change.

He was taken into custody at an Ellsinore grocery story after a brief manhunt, according to Missouri state police and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. A federal law enforcement source said the pilot parked the plane under what appeared to be a bridge or culvert, apparently in an attempt to hide it. The plane had been intercepted and tracked by U.S. military aircraft as it flew from Canada into U.S. airspace and meandered southward for several hours before landing, a Department of Homeland Security spokesman said.

http://edition.cnn.com/2009/US/04/06/stole...

{ What was this fool thinking? }