Seized Skyraider Update

[mustangdriver]

I feel bad for the owner. It sounds like he was just trying to do something good

[cooper9411]

Just to put a rest to the government is stealing it thing, their import paperwork was denied, and they tried to bring it anyway. Oh yeah with operating cannons. I'd rather see it go to NMNA then cut up

As I just read some reports online about this....they were told it was approved to bring it in. Some of the paperwork may have been filled out incorrectly causing a problem. That needs to be confirmed though.

Operating cannons?? Say what?? When I was checking it out in Iceland during the hop, there were no cannons or guns on it. The ports had 100mph tape on them. You can see it in the pic above. The pilot said they had to be shipped back seperately as it was illegal to bring them into the states installed.

Yes it is illegal to bring them into the country, and ATF needs to approve of it as well

[CoastieJohn]

Just to put a rest to the government is stealing it thing, their import paperwork was denied, and they tried to bring it anyway. Oh yeah with operating cannons. I'd rather see it go to NMNA then cut up

As I just read some reports online about this....they were told it was approved to bring it in. Some of the paperwork may have been filled out incorrectly causing a problem. That needs to be confirmed though.

Operating cannons?? Say what?? When I was checking it out in Iceland during the hop, there were no cannons or guns on it. The ports had 100mph tape on them. You can see it in the pic above. The pilot said they had to be shipped back seperately as it was illegal to bring them into the states installed.

Yes it is illegal to bring them into the country, and ATF needs to approve of it as well

As I understood the post, the question was were they installed on the aircraft at time of transport. They weren't. You can see pics of them removed on the owners blog above.

[The Inspector]

Never let the true parts of a story interupt the Governments version,

[cooper9411]

I can see in the photo they are removed, all I was saying is that they would have to be cleared through ATF as well before being brought in to the country

[CoastieJohn]

I can see in the photo they are removed, all I was saying is that they would have to be cleared through ATF as well before being brought in to the country

I wouldn't argue that. Your post was written giving the impression they were installed. I read another story the weaps were brought in to the country inside a shipping container with other parts undeclared. Likely a no-no!

After reading more stories, the question asked is why is this unarmed plane treated any different that any other unarmed plane entering the U.S.?

[cooper9411]

I can see in the photo they are removed, all I was saying is that they would have to be cleared through ATF as well before being brought in to the country

I wouldn't argue that. Your post was written giving the impression they were installed. I read another story the weaps were brought in to the country inside a shipping container with other parts undeclared. Likely a no-no!

After reading more stories, the question asked is why is this unarmed plane treated any different that any other unarmed plane entering the U.S.?

Sorry. I didn't intentionally try to mislead anyone, I'll buy the next round cheers

[Nathan]

Never let the true parts of a story interupt the Governments version,

Honest mistakes and still getting the shaft by our wonderful gov'ment.

[gary1954]

back a couple of decades ago, I was looking into bringing a T-6 up from south of the border, so, not knowing the rules (void where prohibited by mood of the day) I contacted customs and was told that it could be brought into the country...wouldn't be a problem as long as it was originally from the US in origin/manufacture.....if that was or is the case, does this SkyRaider not have a dataplate that indicates that it was made in the US?....or is an airframe manufactured under license requiring a whole different set of papers
Govrnment ......sign de papers old mannnnnn.....
Old man ..........I can't, I cannot sign the papers....
Govenment......AND WHY NOT OLDDDDD MANNNNN.......
Old Man..........Because you have broken all of my fingers...

[mh53eflyguy]

I'm sorry, this is making no sense. If I was ferrying an aircraft into this country, say a Cessna 172, it would not get this sort of "interception" with bad documents for a sale. There has got to be more to this story than we are privy to.

[airnutz]

I'm sorry, this is making no sense. If I was ferrying an aircraft into this country, say a Cessna 172, it would not get this sort of "interception" with bad documents for a sale. There has got to be more to this story than we are privy to.

The Skyraider without the guns, can still be viewed as a weapon system(remember the Spitfire being shipped to Australia from U.S. a few years back which had trouble at customs)....more's the pity for Mr. Hendrickson. Sounds like he screwed up and picked the wrong broker...tho, you never know what you'll draw in the bureaucrat/enforcer lottery.

[Iclo]

From an "out of USA" point of view, this whole story looks far stupid: a 50+ plane, with weapons removed before crossing the border is still considered like a war machine ? (no sense when we know the type of war weapons who is legal in some of your States...)

Sorry, to remember that but in recent history a couple of airliners had performed terrorism attack in more efficient way that this poor Skyraider could never done.

If the separate weapons were imported illegally, in what the plane itself is implicated ?
Keep the weapons, and the owner could remplace them by accurate replica.

It's a shame to see a flying (and well maintained when it was in France) plane grounded.

Expulse the plane back to France, we will found peoples to take care of it...

[mustangdriver]

Here's the thing. The import permit was denied. So why are we even having this conversation? Because they tried to just do it anyway. We may not like certain laws or rules, but we still have to follow them. It also sounds like there is more to the story than we are hearing.

[CoastieJohn]

A June 2009 article in the B-Ham News. I read a good point at another site. If all that was required was to fill out the ATF form....why didn't the ATF just hold the plane till the required form was filed out? Maybe even slap a fine on him...but to take the plane??? The plane was properly registered with the FAA after it came into the country. An example of an overzealous ATF who could not back off later out of fear of embarrassment? I see on his blog there are links to contacting Congress.

Collector puzzled over seizure of his vintage war plane by customs agents

Published: Wednesday, June 03, 2009, 5:45 AM Updated: Wednesday, June 03, 2009, 5:47 AM

By Anita Debro -- The Birmingham News The Birmingham News

A vintage airplane collector said Tuesday that government agents have impounded his rare 1952 military aircraft he imported from France last fall and are threatening to destroy the plane because of a missed step in bringing it into the country.
Claude Hendrickson III said U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents seized his Douglas AD-4N Skyraider about six weeks ago at the Bessemer Municipal Airport hangar he leases.

"(ICE) basically said we smuggled the plane into the country. My question is how do you smuggle this into the country," Hendrickson asked pointing to the single-engine aircraft that was commonly used as an attack bomber during the Vietnam War.

Hendrickson's Skyraider is believed to be one of only four of its kind that remain in the U.S.

The airplane, which Hendrickson bought for $100,000 last May, since its seizure has been moved to another hangar at the Bessemer Airport.

Hendrickson said he is not allowed to fly the plane or perform any work on it until ICE agents release it.

ICE spokesman Temple Black on Tuesday declined comment on the case and forwarded questions to the U.S. Attorney's Office in Birmingham.

Officials in the U.S. Attorney's Office declined specifics on the matter, but said "ICE continues to investigate the case."

Hendrickson said he was not trying to bring the plane into the country illegally. He said he believed he followed all steps to import the plane.

The 48-year-old businessman hired attorneys Joe Lassiter and Anthony Johnson. Hendrickson said his attorneys on Tuesday met with lawyers in the U.S. Attorneys in Birmingham regarding the plane.

Hendrickson said he has been advised that ICE had 60 days to file any criminal charges against him. He said the plane has already been impounded for about 45 days.

MISSED PAPERWORK:

Hendrickson, who lives in Shelby County, said he was in Texas on business when federal agents seized the plane at the Bessemer Airport in May.

He flew into the airport as soon as he heard about the seizure and briefly met with ICE agents.

Hendrickson said ICE agents told him then that he had failed to fill out a form required by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco Firearms and Explosives when he imported the plane into the states from France.

Hendrickson said he was unaware he had to register the plane with ATF since he removed the aircraft's artillery while it was still in France.

Hendrickson did register the plane with the FAA.

The FAA issued a certificate of registration on the airplane in September 2008, according to the agency's Web site. The registered owner of the aircraft, according to the FAA, is Dixie Equipment LLC, the business Hendrickson owns.

IN HONOR OF FATHER:

Hendrickson's father, Claude F. Hendrickson Jr., is a retired captain in the Navy. The elder Hendrickson flew planes like a Skyraider during his service.

It was his father's service as a Naval pilot that sparked the younger Hendrickson's fascination with airplanes. The younger Hendrickson owns several vintage military aircraft that he houses in Bessemer including the exact SNJ-4 warbird his father flew during his time in the military.

He and his father made the trip to France last year for the Skyraider. After inspecting the aircraft, the two men hired a pilot to fly a 15-day trip to get the plane from Europe to Buffalo, N.Y.

The Hendricksons planned to enter the plane in air shows across the country. Hendrickson already flies several of his military planes in air shows.

The younger Hendrickson said once the Skyraider had made a successful run in air shows, he planned to donate the aircraft in his father's honor.

"Ultimately, my intentions from the beginning have been to fly this plane for five to 10 years in air shows and then donate it to the Southern Museum of Flight in my father's name."

Now, Hendrickson worries that the government will destroy the vintage aircraft.

"I just don't get it," Hendrickson said. "This is a part of American history. It is of no danger to the government."

[mustangdriver]

The 20mm cannons arrived at the Port of Savannah, Ga., on Oct. 8, 2008, inside two 40-foot shipping containers being imported by Dixie Equipment. CBP officers discovered the cannons concealed in a wooden box, hidden under aircraft parts in the nose of one of the containers, although the cannons were not listed on the entry form, bill of lading, invoice or any other documentation submitted by Dixie Equipment.

CBP officers seized the cannons and aircraft parts on Oct. 15, 2008. The ICE HSI investigation following that seizure revealed the Skyraider aircraft had entered the United States illegally. ICE HSI agents seized the plane pursuant to a court order on April 24, 2009, at the Bessemer Airport, where it had been delivered to Hendrickson in August 2008.

Neither the State Department nor the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) had granted a permit, license or other written authorization for the importation of the Skyraider, the cannons or the aircraft parts at the time they entered the United States

The pilot, who was hired by Hendrickson to fly the plane from France into the United States, provided false information to U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers at the Port of Buffalo, N.Y., to gain admittance into the country.



This is from the US Immigration and Customs website