Marine Formally Charged With Taking Jet Joy Ride

Formal charges have been filed against an El Toro Marine who allegedly took a pre-dawn joy ride in a jet fighter on July 4, a base spokesman said Tuesday.

Lance Cpl. Howard A. Foote Jr., 21, who set records as a civilian glider pilot from Los Alamitos, is charged with flying the A-4M Skyhawk without proper training and without concern for the condition of the aircraft, Sgt. Cindy Kimball said.

Additionally, Kimball said, Foote has been charged with unlawful entry and wrongfully appropriating government property for allegedly taking the keys to a vehicle and driving it to to the parked plane.

Foote also is accused of inflicting minor damage to some panels on the single-seat fighter, taking off when the airfield was closed and using the El Toro runway without clearance.

In Brig Since Incident

A pretrial hearing for Foote, who has been in custody at the Camp Pendleton brig since the incident, is expected to be held within the next two to three weeks. By that time, Kimball said, the base commander will have decided whether Foote will face a general court martial--the equivalent of a civilian felony trial--or a special court martial on misdemeanor charges.

Foote, a mechanic assigned to station operations and maintenance for visiting aircraft, reportedly donned a flight suit and boarded the Skyhawk from Marine Attack Squadron 214 about 2 a.m. for a flight that lasted about half an hour, ending only after he had made five passes over the runway in attempting to land the plane, according to the Marine Corps.

Before joining the Marines in 1984, Foote had broken several civilian altitude records for glider pilots under the age of 21 and had enlisted with the hope of being accepted for flight training, a Marine Corps spokesman said shortly after the alleged joy-ride incident.

Recently, however, Foote learned that an injury he had suffered during a glider flight probably would disqualify him physically for pilot’s training, according to Lt. Timothy Hoyle.

Sgt. Kimball also said Tuesday that a review carried out by the base’s Provost Marshal’s Office in the aftermath of the Foote incident has shown that “airfield security measures are adequate. However, there is an increased awareness among security personnel.”