A man who allegedly stole a plane and flew it over the US state of Mississippi after threatening to crash it into a Walmart store faces charges of grand larceny and making terrorist threats, police said.
The man, named as Cory Wayne Patterson by police in Tupelo, did not have a pilot’s licence but had taken some flight instruction, and was an employee of Tupelo Aviation.
Officers added that Patterson stole the plane, took off and then called in the threat to authorities.
Tupelo police chief John Quaka said Patterson could also face federal charges.
No-one was injured in the incident.
The plane over North MS is down. Thankful the situation has been resolved and that no one was injured. Thank you most of all to local, state, and federal law enforcement who managed this situation with extreme professionalism.
— Governor Tate Reeves (@tatereeves) September 3, 2022
The plane circled over north Mississippi on Saturday morning, causing panic on the ground as the pilot allegedly threatened to crash it.
Hours later, the plane landed safely in a field, and police took the pilot into custody.
Mississippi governor Tate Reeves announced on Twitter that the situation had been resolved and no-one was injured. He thanked law enforcement agencies who helped bring the aircraft down.
The Federal Aviation Administration confirmed that the plane landed north-west of Ripley, Mississippi, with only the pilot aboard.
Ripley is about 85 miles south-east of Memphis, Tennessee, and about 45 miles north-west of Tupelo, Mississippi, where the flight originated.
The plane started circling over Tupelo at about 5am local time (11am BST), the Tupelo Police Department said. Officers evacuated a Walmart and a convenience store in Tupelo because the pilot had threatened to intentionally crash into the Walmart.
The plane flew over Tupelo for more than three hours before flying towards more rural areas.
Leslie Criss, a magazine editor who lives in Tupelo, woke up early and was watching the situation on TV and social media. Several of her friends were outside watching the plane circle overhead.
“I’ve never seen anything like this in this town,” Ms Criss told The Associated Press. “It’s a scary way to wake up on a Saturday morning.”
The drama unfolded as tens of thousands of college American football fans were headed to north Mississippi for matches at the University of Mississippi in Oxford and Mississippi State University in Starkville. Tupelo is between those two cities.
