Cessna Pilot Detained After Ignoring F-16s

A student pilot flying a small plane believed stolen from an airport in Canada ignored interceptor jet fighters and flew over three states before landing on a road in southeast Missouri and hopping out and running away before local authorities could take him into custody.

The pilot hadn't communicated with authorities through the entire flight. The incident caused the Wisconsin Capitol in Madison to be evacuated as a precaution as the plane flew through that section of the state.

Mike Kucharek, spokesman for the North American Aerospace Defense Command in Colorado, said the Cessna 172 was stolen from Thunder Bay, Ontario, about 2:30 p.m. Monday. The pilot was flying erratically and didn't communicate with the fighter pilots from the Wisconsin Air National Guard, who intercepted the plane at the Michigan-Wisconsin border, he said.

The pilot had acknowledged seeing the F-16s but he didn't obey their nonverbal commands to follow them, Kucharek said.

Kucharek said the plane wasn't believed to be a terrorist threat, reports CBS affiliate WISC-TV in Madison.

Laura Brown, a spokeswoman for the Federal Aviation Administration, said the plane finally landed Monday night on a road in far southeastern Missouri and the pilot ran.

Local law enforcement converged on the area and Missouri State Police confirmed to CBS News that the man had been taken into custody.

A man named Adam Dylan Leon, 31, was taken into custody about 9:30 p.m. in the same area, said Sgt. Marty Elmore, a spokesman for the Missouri Highway Patrol, without confirming that Leon was the pilot. FBI spokesman Richard Kolko told CNN that Leon was a native of Turkey who changed his name from Yavuz Berke and became a Canadian citizen last year.

The aircraft had stayed at a "fairly constant altitude his entire flight," at around 14,500 feet, Brown said. There was no way of knowing his intent because he hadn't communicated with anyone.

Authorities know his identity, she said, but she declined to release his age or name.

She said the plane came from the Confederation College Flight School at Thunder Bay International Airport.

The Web site cessna.com indicated the Cessna 172 Skyhawk is a four-seater with a range of about 790 miles and top speed of 141 mph.

The plane landed about six hours after the reported theft, and had enough fuel for about eight hours of flight, NAADC officials said.

"We tailed it all the way," Maj. Brian Markin said. "Once it landed our aircraft returned to base."

In Madison, Department of Justice spokesman Bill Cosh said the state Capitol building was evacuated shortly after 5 p.m. as a precaution because of the unknown intentions of the pilot.

Many workers in the Wisconsin State Capitol building had already left for the day when it was evacuated, reports WISC-TV. Governor Jim Doyle was in Chicago at the time.

Capitol police ordered everyone out of the building and told them to go at least a block away. Police cars with sirens on drove on the sidewalks by the doors of the Capitol. Others drove on the streets of the Capitol square, telling people to move away.

People were allowed back in the building about an hour later.