Police, Feds Investigating Mystery

Media in Atlanta are reporting a strange story today -- over the weekend, a Cessna Citation VII stolen from St. Augustine, Florida, turned up at Briscoe Field in the Atlanta-area town of Lawrenceville, Gwinnett County, Georgia.

The Citation, a 1995 model operated by Pinnacle Air Jet Charter of Springdale, Arkansas, was parked in St. Augustine at about 10:40 AM Saturday, dropping off clients, and the crew went off duty. Monday, they discovered that their plane was... gone. (That's got to be a really strange feeling).

They reported the apparent theft to local police at 11:30 AM.

As there is no record of it landing while the control tower at Briscoe was open, it's assumed to have landed there between 9PM Saturday, when the duty controller shut down, and 6:30 AM Sunday, when he arrived for the 7 AM opening of the tower and Class D airspace. One witness reportedly saw someone walking away from the plane Sunday night.

Many media reports have played up the national security angle, some to the point of hysteria, but Ken Sugiura of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution found a contrary opinion from expert Jonathan Bernstein of Bernstein Crisis Management. "A tanker truck full of explosive fuel is a much bigger concern than a private aircraft being stolen," Bernstein said.

The jet appears to have damage to one wing's leading edge. The damage reportedly was not present when the Pinnacle Air crew parked the plane.

The airplane, N182PA, (formerly N750PB) is a 1995 Citation VII or model 650, serial number 650-7049.  It's owned by a corporation that appears to have been established for the sole purposes of owning the plane, and is registered to a mail drop in Dallas; this kind of set-up is commonly used by bizjet owners to limit liability.

The FBI dispatched agents from the Terrorism Task Force, but have tentatively concluded that terrorism was not involved. Speculation so far centers on drug traffickers. Last December, a plane crashed in California, and the pilot fled. The plane was found to be loaded with cocaine. Authorities are still seeking the man believed to be the pilot, Eugene Nicholas Cobbs of Los Angeles.

FBI, FAA and other Federal law enforcement agents are continuing to investigate in cooperation with local police in St. Augustine and Lawrenceville. Local police evidence technicians have processed the plane.

Pinnacle Air Jet Charter has been assisting the authorities in the investigation, and will pick up the plane sometime today (Tuesday).

FMI: www.pinnacleair.com