LA Times/AP wrote:BROOKSVILLE, Fla. (AP) — Authorities in Florida say military jets escorted down a small plane being flown by a French pilot, who was advised to not get behind the controls of the aircraft because he could not speak in English with officials.

According to the Hernando County Sheriff's Office, the pilot, who owned the Cessna plane, grew indignant when a certified instructor recommended he remain on the ground Wednesday. The pilot disregarded the warning and took off from the Hernando County Airport in Brooksville, about 42 miles north of Tampa.

John Cornelio, a spokesman for North American Aerospace Defense Command, said two fighter jets were dispatched to turn around the pilot, who landed at a South Florida airfield.

The sheriff's office says the pilot won't face criminal charges.

OscarDeuce wrote:Last time I checked you could still fly a no radio airplane. Is Hernando County Airport a controlled field? Even if it is, could then have use the light gun (not that most controllers know how anymore)? Who said there was any need for him to talk to controllers? Just what business of this flight instructor was this? Without knowing more, we've got a busybody with a CFI (so what) and a couple cowboys in f15s burning the taxpayers money and putting lives at risk for what...oh, I missed the part about him being French!!! Freedom Fries anyone? With our rights to fly under assault every day, this incident conjures up everything that's wrong these days. It's certainly not a reflection of any of the things that make this country great.

Apollo wrote:How does that not make sense??? A pilot that cannot speak English and is not responding to controllers is definitely going to be scrambled on. That is exactly the reason that F-15s and F-16s sit alert all over this great nation of ours!

Glidergeek wrote:When in Rome do as the Roman's do. Speak English or get off the road or air. Go back to France and speak French or Mexico and drive Mexican. If this clown can't tell us what his intentions are in a traffic pattern he doesn't belong there.

mtv wrote:Man, if you think most Americans who visit a foreign country speak the language or are expected to, you haven't been to many foreign countries....
MTV

BROOKSVILLE - Much ado about nothing.

That's what Hernando County Airport Director Don Silvernell is saying after a man's purchase of a Cessna 425 Thursday and his so-called "unauthorized" takeoff from Hernando to South Florida without the proper clearance.

As it turns out, the man, who hails from Paris, France, bought the plane and took off in it as he had every right to do, Silvernell said.

In an "abundance of caution," officials at the airport's American Aviation decided to alert air traffic controllers in Tampa and Miami after he left because there was some question about his flying ability, said Silvernell and a sheriff's report.

Eventually, two F-15 fighter jets intercepted the plane and forced the pilot down in Collier County where he was questioned and released.

The man was licensed to fly and the whole incident was "blown out of proportion," Silvernell said Friday morning.

"It was his plane and he left with it," he said.

An FAA-certified instructor who flew with the plane's new owner, Jean-Claude Courtois, recommended the pilot's flying skills be re-evaluated by another instructor, according to a sheriff's report.

The instructor also worried that Courtois could not communicate well in English and may have a problem transmitting over the radio systems, the report said.

The report said all that was explained to the pilot through a translator, and the pilot became indignant and took off in the plane anyway, a fact verified by Silvernell.

The report said American Aviation reported this to the FAA in Tampa, who advised they had no authority since he had not broken any laws.

FAA Tampa advised American Aviation officials if they believed it was a security concern they should notify Tampa Airport Approach, which they did.

Silvernell said there were never any security concerns at the airport.

58Skylane wrote:When we (U S citizen) go to most foreign country's, we're expected to know there language and respect there culture. Am I not right??

mtv wrote:I would strongly suggest that any of us who winds up in Florida boycott American Aviation. What a bunch of pr+^ks!! The guy owns the airplane, and THEY get to decide whether he's qualified to fly it?? And, if they don't think he is, they call out the Mounties? What a bunch of crap.

What we need in aviation is a bunch of do-good snot nosed jerks calling the FAA every time they perceive someone's piloting skills aren't quite up to snuff.

Grrrrrrr.

MTV