Lawyer Says Pilot Who Flew Near President Meant No Harm

The lawyer for the pilot whose rented light airplane had a close call with President Reagan’s helicopter said Thursday that his client is remorseful and that he “at no time ever intended any harm to the President.”

“I think this is really a case of being at the wrong place at the wrong time,” Newport Beach lawyer Marc L. Goldstein said of the pilot, Ralph William Myers, 32. Goldstein contended, however, that there still is some question as to whether Myers actually violated prohibited airspace over Reagan’s ranch, Rancho del Cielo, near Santa Barbara.

Myers was en route to Orange County’s John Wayne Airport on Aug. 13 with a passenger when his Piper Archer airplane passed within several hundred feet of Marine One, which was carrying the President, White House Chief of Staff Howard H. Baker Jr. and other Administration officials. The White House said later that the aircraft had been separated vertically by about 150 feet and had approached within 200 to 300 feet of each other.

Plane Number Obtained

A second helicopter with the President’s party followed Myers and got the number of his aircraft. Soon after landing, Myers was interrogated by the Secret Service, and the next day he was stripped of his pilot’s license by the Federal Aviation Administration “for careless and reckless operation of an aircraft.”

Once it was discovered that Myers, an Army private, had been AWOL from Ft. Lewis, Wash., for several days, he spent four days in solitary confinement in the brig at Long Beach Naval Station. He has since been returned to Ft. Lewis.

“I’m hoping they realize a harsh sanction has already been imposed on Mr. Myers,” said Goldstein, who said he was attempting to get Myers’ pilot’s license restored.

Goldstein said Myers and his passenger, Harlan Lee Jones, 52, of Lake Oswego, Ore., still are trying to piece together exactly how their airplane could have come that close to the helicopter. Goldstein said, for one thing, that they found that the outdated chart aboard the airplane showed an oval area of restriction over the ranch rather than a square area. This could become crucial because Myers contends that, if he actually entered the prohibited airspace, it was only when he banked slightly to the left--toward the southwest corner of the restricted area--to stay away from the helicopter.