TORQUEMADA

Tor·que·ma·da (tôrk-mäd, tôrk-mää), Tomás de 1420-1498. Spanish Dominican friar who was appointed grand inquisitor by Pope Innocent VIII (1487). Under his authority, thousands of Jews, suspected witches, and others were killed or tortured during the Spanish Inquisition.

martes, 7 de abril de 2009

FIX Looks @ Joyriding pilot 'wanted to be shot down' by F16s


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From Times Online
April 7, 2009

Joyriding pilot 'wanted to be shot down' by F16s

F16 fighter falcons
Philippe Naughton

"Suicide by cop" is a well known phenomenon. But suicide by fighter jet?

A man who stole a Cessna light aircraft in Canada and flew it erratically across three American states was hoping to be shot down by the US Air Force, the state trooper who arrested him said today.

Adam Dylan Leon, 31, stole the plane from a flight school Thunder Bay airport in Ontario at 2.30pm yesterday and entered US airspace an hour later.

Two F16 fighter jets were scrambled to intercept him at the Michigan-Wisconsin border but he refused to respond to their commands to land, and the chase continued over Michigan, Wisconsin and Illinois.

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Eventually, after a six-hour flight, he brought the single-engined plane down on US Highway 60 in rural Missouri and taxied it to a side road. He was arrested at a convenience store in the nearby town of Ellsnere to which he had apparently hitched a lift after climbing down from the Cessna.

Justin Watson, a Missouri state trooper, who arrested Leon in the convenience store as he sat drinking a bottle of Gatorade, said that the pilot had said that he wanted to be shot down.

“He made a statement that he was trying to commit suicide and he didn’t have the courage to do it himself. And his idea was to fly the aircraft into the United States, where he would be shot down,” Trooper Watson told ABC's Good Morning America.

He said that the pilot had given "no indication that it was anything other than he was having personal problems and was in an attempt to end his life".

The FBI said that Leon was a native of Turkey who had changed his name from Yavuz Berke and become a Canadian citizen last year. Defence officials said that the plane was tracked as a “flight safety issue" and was not believed to pose a terrorist threat as it avoided built-up areas.

Canadian officials said that Leon had recently been treated for depression and had left his girlfriend a goodbye note. His vehicle was left at the airport in Canada with the keys still in it.

John, Koblenz, Germany
You say that, but I think it would be safe to assume that if the plane was to apporach something that could be a target or look as if it was about to crash on purpose, Im sure they would have shot it down. Why shoot it down and risk civilian deaths on the ground for nothing?

John Hodges, Boston,

So, the chief man at NORAD with all the medals couldn`t or didn`t make the decision to erase the threat. So, the next geek with an alleged similar warped mind can do what he wants knowing he/she can achieve fame or martyrdom without being shot down. Hope NORAD publish a debrief of their staff!!

John, Koblenz, Germany

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