Precaution Can't Ensure Prevention

Few flight schools have security measures in place that could have averted a Florida teen-ager who crashed a small plane into a skyscraper. Instructors say even with the heightened awareness after the September attacks, there is little they can do to identify a dangerous would-be pilot, though some are reviewing their procedures anew.

"You don't know how an individual's mind is going to work," said Joe Siligato, owner of Spirit Mountain Aviation, a flight school and charter service in Cody, Wyo.

Tampa Police said Charles J. Bishop of Palm Harbor, Fla., was killed in the Saturday evening crash. The 15-year-old was supposed to be checking equipment on the four-seat 2000 Cessna 172R as his flight instructor had requested but instead took off without permission, police said.

A Coast Guard helicopter pursued him before he finally crashed near the 28th floor of the 42-story Bank of America building. No one inside the building was injured.

The image of the small plane crashing into the building was a jarring reminder of the September hijackings which sent planes into New York's World Trade Center and the Pentagon and begged the question: What if the renegade pilot was out to harm others?

Tampa Police Chief Bennie Holder said Sunday the teen-ager left a note expressing support for accused terrorist Osma bin Laden and suggesting he crashed the plane on purpose and that he acted alone. Holder said was no indication Bishop specifically targeted the building or "had any intention of harming anyone else."

"We've already made some drastic changes since September 11 and we'll probably make sure we do a little more now," Russell said.

Andy Dutzi, director of The Flight School at Palm Springs, Calif., said he has a 15-year-old student, and in light of the Tampa crash he intends to talk to teachers or counselors at the boy's school to ask about his state of mind.

Dutzi said his school requires flight instructors to be present with student pilots during preflight checks, but not all of them follow that order. Just six weeks ago, Dutzi said, he fired a flight instructor for repeatedly ignoring the rule.

"The problem is, you don't always get the best material when it comes to flight instructors," Dutzi said.

Also, experts say, the sheer number of pilots makes controlling the skies nearly impossible. "There is an enormous number of small aircraft flying every day and the rules permit them... to fly rather freely," said aviation consultant Robert Ditchey.

But most said there was little they could do to prevent a similar situation, where instructors have gottn to know and trust a student.

"What the flight instructor did was what normally happens," said Warren Morningstar, vice president of communications for the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association. "There really was not a security breach. There was an abuse of trust here."

An instructor typically accompanies a student for the equipment check during the initial lessons but eventually, it is routine at many schools for novice pilots to do the preflight check alone.

"Everybody does that. How many times have you heard of people taking them and flying into buildings?" said Andy Surratt, owner of PilotMakers in West Chicago, Ill.

Morningstar added that it is unlikely that a small plane, which typically weighs less than a compact car, could cause significant damage. One worker in the Florida building at the time of the crash said the plane's impact was not particularly loud.

"It's not a terribly efficient vessel," Morningstar said. "It's not terribly fast. It can't carry very much weight."

The Florida incident was a reminder for Bruce Smith, dean of the John D. Odegard School of Aerospace Sciences at the University of North Dakota. One of the school's instructors was killed in October 2000 after crashing a twin-engine plane on a runway in an apparent suicide.

Smith said his school now requires badges to get to airplanes and is working on requiring a hand or thumb print as well.

But even the new security measures aren't certain to prevent a repeat occurrence, he said.

"If they really are truly dedicated to doing this and they're secretive about it," Smith said, "there's not a lot you can do."

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