David Lesh And A Female Companion Were Rescued By The USCG On A Training Mission

The pilot of a Beech Bonanza that was ditched in the ocean off Half Moon Bay in California has a history of reckless behavior, according to authorities.

Television station KTVU reports the David Lesh, 34, the owner of the outerwear company Virtika, has been cited several times for stunts around the country. For instance, he posted on Facebook on April 1 that he had been kidnapped by a Mexican drug cartel. In 2014, he pleaded guilty to criminal mischief for a stunt for a video produced for the company in which several shopping carts were set on fire in Boulder, CO. That same hear, Lesh was cited by the Colorado Division of Wildlife for harassing wildlife after he chased a moose in his car and on foot while making a video.

Ten years earlier, he was arrested and placed on probation for attempting to elude police in Oregon.

In this most recent incident, Lesh ditched his recently-purchased Bonanza in the water, where he and his companion remained for about 45 minutes waiting for the Coast Guard to rescue them. Lesh told the station that the rescue took some time because the Coast Guard had to land and get a couple of people off the helicopter to make room for them.

Lesh insists that ditching the aircraft was not a stunt. He said capturing video of the incident was "instinctive" for him. He also said that if he wanted to destroy an airplane as a stunt, he has an older one that he's been trying to sell for about nine years that would have been "much better suited for destroying into the ocean."

He said that because the Bonanza was under-insured, he would likely lose money on the aircraft. But he also planned to look for a new airplane when he got back to Colorado.

(Image from YouTube)

FMI: Source report