Non-warbird Plane Crash (intentional!) in Austin, TX

bluehawk15 · **Posted:** Thu Feb 18, 2010 1:02 pm

News reports are saying that someone from Austin was upset with the IRS, so he set his house on fire, then went to the Georgetown airport and got in his plane and flew to North Austin, where he crashed the plane into an office building containing IRS offices.

http://www.statesman.com/blogs/content/ ... plane.html

The link takes you to an earlier story in the Austin paper, which is updated as more info becomes available. CNN has a good timeline of the incident on their website.

http://www.cnn.com/2010/US/02/18/texas. ... tml?hpt=T1

Sorry about it not being a Warbird topic, but things like this can affect all types of flying.

Note to Mods, if you want to get rid of this post, or move it elsewhere, feel free. I was just upset at this fool's actions and wanted everyone on here to know there is one less stupid person at the controls of a plane. Sorry to have lost a plane though.

richkolasa · **Posted:** Thu Feb 18, 2010 1:08 pm

Well, this should make every pilot's year a nightmare, thank you IRS/TSA, and idiot suicide pilot. Can't wait for the endless idiotic news Media reports on how at risk we all are to crazed general aviation pilots.
Ugh.

Rich

richkolasa · **Posted:** Thu Feb 18, 2010 1:10 pm

Not to be crass, but have all Yankee pitchers been accounted for?

Rich

the330thbg · **Joined:** Wed Nov 14, 2007 3:06 pm **Posts:** 2713

richkolasa wrote:

Not to be crass, but have all Yankee pitchers been accounted for?

Rich

Crass indeed!

bluehawk15 · **Posted:** Thu Feb 18, 2010 1:21 pm

At least maybe it will show once again (remember the teen who flew into an office building shortly after 9/11?) that small planes cannot do a lot of damage to buildings, and are not a big threat to society.

RyanShort1 · **Posted:** Thu Feb 18, 2010 1:28 pm

I dunno. It looks like the plane did a lot more damage than we would like to think it could. It's going to stink for GA - especially for guys like me out doing aerial photography over the city. What an idiot, and how sad that the airport security there couldn't have stopped him. I'd hate to be the owner of that plane that got stolen.

Ryan

bluehawk15 · **Posted:** Thu Feb 18, 2010 1:31 pm

I haven't read or heard that it was a stollen plane. It might have been his, or rented. Regardless, it's not a good thing for us.

This building might have received a little more damage than most as the entire outside face is all made of glass.

Only injury reports are two minor ones, so far, and one dead idiot.

richkolasa · **Posted:** Thu Feb 18, 2010 1:39 pm

bluehawk15 wrote:

At least maybe it will show once again (remember the teen who flew into an office building shortly after 9/11?) that small planes cannot do a lot of damage to buildings, and are not a big threat to society.

Uh, I'm not so optimistic about the idiot newsreaders like Julie Banderas of Foxnews understanding kinetic energy and other principles of physics involved. She's the genius that reported on the terrible Hudson River Saratoga/sightseeing helicopter accident, saying "it seems these things are happening more and more" right after Jon Scott (Foxnews guy and a pilot) said "the reason we're so shocked is because it's so rare, this is the first mid-air over the Hudson in 26 years".

Every nimby will now be "scared" at the sound of a continental or lycoming at 1,000 feet overhead.

Rich

Holedigger · **Posted:** Thu Feb 18, 2010 1:46 pm

The teen that took the plane and crashed it first overflew, MacDill and CentCom, then crashed it into a mostly concrete facade building and it did very little to the building. Could and or Should MacDill have shot him down? There was a lot of speculation,a lot more behind closed doors I am sure. In a free society, can you protect everyone from one person gone over the edge? I think not. The repercussions from this are NOT going to be good for the GA community, but with the Feds involved, there is no telling. Is there an aviation equivalent to "The Club"? Could just have easily been an F-250 PU with a load of gas. Stuff Happens, news media and Governments over-react.

richkolasa · **Posted:** Thu Feb 18, 2010 2:13 pm

With the door lock being busted lately on our 172, we got "written up" by the Feds for not having "double-locks" on the aircraft. It's in a secure area of the airport, only accessable with a shuttle from OPS, so Uncle wasn't concerned, but also we have heavy-duty "club-like" locks on both the throttle and yoke. Airport manager took a look and forwarded that info to the FAA, so we're off the hook. My uncle designed and constructed the locking mechanisms, which are heavy-duty alright!

Rich

Craig59 · **Posted:** Thu Feb 18, 2010 2:15 pm

bluehawk15 wrote:

Sorry about it not being a Warbird topic, but things like this can affect all types of flying. (???)

Note to Mods, if you want to get rid of this post, or move it elsewhere, feel free.

Here's a thought. Rather than relying upon the Mods to make the decision, why don't we as members place our posts under the appropriate category? This one clearly belongs under general aviation.

Bluehawk. It's not my intent to single you out. Perhaps it's just me but, I seem to be seeing more and more where posts are made in the incorrect category. When we come to the Warbirds section, we shouldn't - nor should the Mods - have to cull through non related posts.

bluehawk15 · **Posted:** Thu Feb 18, 2010 2:22 pm

I think it's because most people look at "The WIX Hangar" and not other areas. The Mods have said before that they will usually allow a post on timely events to remain on The WIX Hangar for a while so that more people will see it. Plus, something like this has the potential to affect warbird flying as much as anything else. I can't wait to see if some of the formation fly-overs I've booked get cancelled now. I've got one over Waco, Temple, and Salado, which brings us right up I-35 from San Marcos. If they aren't cancelled, I wonder if ATC will vector us to the outskirts of the city, eating up more gas?

RyanShort1 · **Posted:** Thu Feb 18, 2010 2:32 pm

What needs to happen is that all GA pilots need to talk to their neighbors and friends and educate them on the realities of the situation. There are LOTS of ways that people can do bad things, especially if they are suicidal. This just happens to be a bit more high-profile. It highly doubt that the TSA could have stopped this thing, even with the regulations they are sure to put in place ex post facto. I personally think that the only two groups that could really stop something like this are family intervention and other people (at the airport or not) who knew the guy.

Ryan

bluehawk15 · **Posted:** Thu Feb 18, 2010 2:42 pm

Latest reports are that the guy owned the plane. The house that was burned belonged to one Joseph Andrew Stack, according to news reports. The plane has now been confirmed to have been a Piper PA-28 Cherokee. I checked the FAA registry, doing a search by name, and found one registered to a Joseph A. Stack, in California. Not sure it's the same guy, but he could have moved and not changed the registration address I guess. I didn't find any registered to a Stack in McLennan County, Texas (where Waco is located).

I don't think there is anything any agency could do to stop someone from getting in their own plane and doing something like this. Ryan is right, only family or friends could have prevented this.

I also note that two F-16's were dispatched from Colorado to Austin to fly CAP, just in case. (See? There's a warbird tie-in after all!)

Holedigger · **Posted:** Thu Feb 18, 2010 2:49 pm

As we are all too painfully aware, suicide is a terrible thing. All the finger pointing, chest-beating and door-locking in the world cannot stop it. We can only TRY to be aware of our friends and family, TRY to be loving and supporting, TRY to get help where we can. It is NOT enough sometimes. Hard economic times is a trigger for people on the edge. Be aware. Hold your loved one's close.

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Non-warbird Plane Crash (intentional!) in Austin, TX

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