Thief Breaks Into 10 Airplanes At Nashua Airport To Steal Navigation Equipment

NASHUA, N.H. - Pilots at the Nashua airport are no different from pilots around the world: They love to be in the air - and their aircraft get them there.

So Saturday, when 10 pilots discovered their airplanes had been broken into and valuable equipment stolen, it was a shock.

"The airplane owners are upset. They've been violated," said Farrell Woods, the chairman of the Nashua Airport Authority.

Most of the equipment taken was navigational, essential for operating the aircraft. One airplane is now missing a $30,000 GPS unit.

"They knew what they were looking for," said Woods.

Maybe the thieves don't know it, …but the crime isn't just a state crime, it's also a federal crime - "tampering with an aircraft." Federal investigators are now on the scene.