Texas Pilot Wrongly Dinged For Presidential TFR Bust

Del Hinton and his family were minding their own business, taxiing to park after a trip from Arlington Municipal Airport (TX) to Shreveport (LA) to visit the casinos Saturday. Imagine their surprise when, as they pushed their Cessna T210N (file photo of type, right) into its hangar, an airport worker said the Secret Service wanted to have a chat with them.

The Feds were operating under the impression that Hinton, his wife and daughter had busted the presidential TFR surrounding George W. Bush's ranch in Crawford (TX). They were wrong.

The Fort Worth Star-Telegram reports the real culprit apparently drove away in all the confusion.

"I tried to tell them we had come from Shreveport, but they wouldn't listen. I was on the radar the whole time," Hinton told the Star-Telegram.

In the end, Hinton called Flight Services and had them verify his story. As it turned out, the pilot who actually busted the TFR had landed just ten minutes before the Hintons.

As for the pilot who did bust the TFR, airport employees said he was expected to show up at Arlington Municipal again on Sunday. Imagine his surprise when that airport worker tells HIM the Secret Service wants to have a chat....

FMI: www.faa.gov