Pilot of stolen plane threatens to crash into Walmart store in US, lands in field

A worker at a US airport who stole a twin-engine plane on Saturday morning and threatened to crash it into a Mississippi Walmart was arrested after he eventually landed in a field, according to a CNN report.

Tupelo Police Chief John Quaka identified the arrested pilot as Cory Wayne Patterson, an employee with Tupelo Aviation for the past 10 years.

Quaka said that at 5:08 a.m. local time, Patterson, of Shannon, Mississippi, stole a Beechcraft King Air C90 twin engine aircraft and took off from Tupelo Regional Airport.

Although Patterson has some is known to have undergone some flight instruction, he is not a licensed pilot. Employed as a lineman at the airport his job is to fuel aircraft. The plane he stole was fully fuelled the night before.

Around 5:23 a.m., Patterson called Lee County 911 from the aircraft and said he was going to crash the plane into a Walmart store in Tupelo. The store and surrounding areas were evacuated and major streets in Tupelo were shut down after the threat.

The Tupelo Police contacted the pilot and convinced him to land the plane at the city’s airport. A private pilot assisted police in helping Patterson, but upon final approach the pilot aborted the landing and traveled northwest, Quaka said.

When police re-established radar contact with the plane, Patterson confirmed he had landed in a field after he probably ran out of fuel.