Unlicensed Pilot Allegedly Steals Small Plane

An unlicensed pilot allegedly hotwired a small airplane in California and then flew to Arizona, where he buzzed an airbase while ignoring military air controller orders to land, police said Wednesday.

The wayward pilot, arrested Tuesday, was identified as Timothy Hayes, 46, of Salinas, Calif.

Witnesses at Salinas Airport said the 1955 Cessna took off Tuesday afternoon without clearance from tower controllers, a common practice at smaller airports. But police said it was Hayes, not the plane’s owner, at the helm.

The plane’s owner came to the airport later in the day to prepare his single-engine aircraft for a Christmas flight to visit out-of-state relatives. When he saw it was gone, he alerted the airport manager.

By that time the plane was nearing Yuma, Ariz., with just enough fuel for the flight. Air traffic controllers at the Marine Corps Air Station, which jointly operates the Yuma airport, spotted the aircraft circling overhead and radioed the pilot for clearance but got no response.

“The tower was challenging him on the radio and he would not respond back,” said Salinas Police Lt. Henry Yoneyama. “They diverted all other traffic until they could get him down.”

Hayes safely landed the plane and was immediately taken into custody, police said. He was booked into Yuma County Jail on charges of grand theft and providing false information.

The owner, Herschel Eaton, was scheduled to travel to Arizona to retrieve his plane, Yoneyama said.