He Also Offers Theory on Gunshot : Wandering Pilot Denies Allegations Against Him

Washington pilot and lawyer Thomas Root on Sunday categorically denied most of the financial and personal allegations against him and said a revolver he kept in his small plane probably discharged and wounded him when the plane crashed in the ocean last week.

In an interview with the Washington Post, the 36-year-old Alexandria, Va., resident said he has never experimented with drugs or engaged in drug trafficking. He also said he did not receive $5 million from his business dealings with Sonrise Management Services Inc., a Georgia-based company under investigation by the Federal Communications Commission for possible securities fraud.

“I’m shocked. I can’t understand why this story has blown up, beyond the admittedly unusual circumstances, to end up being a front-page story like this,” Root said of the plane trip in which he lost consciousness and flew down the Atlantic Coast for four hours before he was rescued in the Bahamas.

Responds Testily

Plainly exasperated by the publicity about his personal and professional life that has surfaced since Thursday, Root sought to offer his side. He answered questions for an hour, at times testily, from his hospital bed here while his wife, father and brother watched.

Root displayed a sense of humor, ending the interview saying he was going to explain to the tabloid National Enquirer that “somewhere over Virginia I was hit by a UFO driven by Elvis and Jackie O.”

At one point he nearly broke down as he dismissed the theory that he may have tried to take his life.

“As I was swimming around out there, hurting a lot, I was thinking about my family and that I wasn’t going to see them again. And I say that to say that I don’t think I have the ability, nerve or stupidity to take another life--mine or anyone else’s.”

In this connection, Root said that because his life insurance policy includes a clause allowing his family to collect in the event of a suicide, it would have been pointless for him to plan the trip as an accidental death--as one theory suggests--if he had wanted to commit suicide.

Had Three Policies

Although he would not disclose the value of his life insurance, Root said that the three policies were not purchased recently. He said he bought a term policy that would cover for a few years until the whole life policy built up in value.

Sitting up in his bed in the intensive-care unit of Memorial Hospital in Hollywood, a tube up his nose, Root portrayed himself as a victim of misunderstanding and innuendo.

For example, Root said that the five gallons of ether that police found in April at his leased airplane hangar in Manassas, Va., was purchased to clean off synthetic oil streaks that had built up on his Cessna 210. Ether can be used to process cocaine.

He said he read that ether would be effective in removing the oil, so he bought five gallons because the chemical company would not sell him less than that. The solvent was delivered to his L Street law office but was removed because of its odor. It was never used, he said.

Furthermore, he said, a green leaf that police found on the floor of the plane during the April search was tested and determined not to be marijuana.

Never Used Plane Outside U.S.

Contrary to some reports that Root was being watched by federal authorities for trips to the Caribbean, Root said he had never taken his plane outside of the United States.

“I have not experimented with drugs,” he said. “I don’t condone it. The last time I was around marijuana was in college when everyone smoked it.

“Of course, you don’t have to be a druggie to be a drug smuggler. But I haven’t done that either,” he said.

He said he has never been told by any federal agency that he is suspected of drug trafficking.

Root said that about 24 hours before taking off from National Airport about 6:30 a.m. on Thursday, he took a painkiller for recent dental work. He said neither he nor the plane had any trouble on a flight he took Tuesday to North Carolina.

On his way to Rocky Mount, N.C., on Thursday, Root said, he did not turn the heater on and did not open any air vents. Could carbon monoxide have seeped into the cabin? “It’s possible. I can’t think of much else.”

Between Gordonsville, Va., and Lawrenceville, Va., Root said, he reached for the compact disc player in the glove box, where he also kept a loaded, uncocked .32-caliber Smith & Wesson revolver.

The gun could not have fired then, he said, because it was early in the flight and he would have lost too much blood before the plane dived.

‘Best Theory I’ve Got’

He confirmed federal investigators’ account of his losing oxygen. As to the bullet wound, he said, “the best theory I’ve got” is that the revolver fired from the impact.

A partner in Sonrise, a firm that assembled investors seeking licenses for new FM radio stations, said in an affidavit filed with the FCC that Root had received roughly a third, or $5 million, of the $16 million collected from the investors.

“There’s no document I know of that makes reference to me being paid $5 million over five years,” Root said.

Root took pains to draw a distinction between Sonrise’s activities and his own. Sonrise has been accused by federal authorities of setting up sham partnerships to apply for licenses.

Saying he merely represented the partnerships before the FCC, Root said: “I’m not now, nor have I ever been, an officer, director or stockholder or owner of any interest in that company.”