Charged With Reckless Piloting After Flying Low Over Highway

The pilot of a helicopter was arrested Saturday in Osceola County, FL and charged with reckless flying after flying low over a highway.

Osceola County Sheriff's Deputies said they witnessed the helicopter flying so low over U.S. Highway 192 in central Florida that it would have collided with something as tall as a semi truck.

The helicopter is registered to Orlando HeliTours, according to television station WFTV. Police were waiting at the company's helipad when 31-year-old Thomas Vorstman landed. But he at first refused to shut down the aircraft and speak to deputies. Instead, he said he took off again with a group of passengers.

But that flight only lasted about five minutes. Vorstman landed again, shut down the aircraft according to procedures, and met with the law enforcement officers on the scene. He said he had been flying low because he "had a heavy load," according to the police report. The company said that its procedures for a "heavy load" were not in line with the pilot's actions.

Vorstman was fired on the spot, and then arrested and booked into the Osceola County Jail on charges of Operating an Aircraft Recklessly and Resisting Arrest without Violence.

(Osceola County Sheriff booking photo)

FMI: www.osceolasheriff.org