Echoes of a Ramp Tantrum

On Monday, 24 October 2023, deputies of the Martin County, Florida Sheriff’s Department arrested student pilot Sumebh Singh, 23, after he allegedly vandalized no fewer than ten airplanes on Stuart, Florida’s Whitham Field (SUA). Subject aircraft belonged to Treasure Coast Flight School, at which Singh reportedly matriculated.

Singh acted out after the school’s flight instructors denied him permission to undertake his first solo flight; so stated the Martin County Sheriff’s Department in a Facebook post.

Officials of the Treasure Coast Flight School notified the Sheriff’s Department after viewing surveillance video of Singh proceeding from aircraft to aircraft, damaging each in turn.

Michael Leighton, who owns a competing flight school and has been flying since 1988, referred to Singh’s actions as “vindictive,” and asserted he’d never before heard of a student pilot purposefully damaging an aircraft—let alone ten.

Leighton remarked: “I feel bad for him [the owner of Treasure Coast Flight School]. Ten airplanes down like that, it's got to put a big kink in his business because not only is [it] a thousand dollars to fix the plane, but the three-to-four days of revenue that the plane doesn’t fly, times ten, is a lot of money."

Security measures enacted after 9/11 require foreign student pilots training in the U.S. to obtain visas, undergo background checks, and conform to additional federal requirements. Ergo—after the fashion of all things governmental—a significant span of time is apt to elapse between the application for such approvals and the issuance thereof.

Mr. Leighton added: “It’s not easy to make the connection. It could take six-weeks, sometimes seven-weeks, sometimes eight-weeks to get it.”

The entirety of the damaged aircraft have been grounded pending assessment and repairs.

At a minimum, Singh, who was arrested on SUA, faces charges of felony criminal mischief.

Here follows an unabridged transcript of the Martin County Sheriff’s Department’s Facebook posting pertaining to Singh and his actions:

Martin County Sheriff’s Deputies have arrested a flight school student after he vandalized a number of airplanes at Treasure Coast Flight School located at Whitham Field Airport in Stuart. 23-year old Sumebh Singh, a student from India, became angry after school instructors would not allow him to take a solo flight. School officials called the Sheriff's Office when they said they saw Singh on video going from plane to plane causing damage to each of the aircraft. Items such as a plane’s throttle was [sic] damaged. A total of 10 aircraft have been affected. The planes are grounded until mechanics can determined [sic] what damage was caused to each of the planes. Singh was arrested at Whitham Field and charged with felony criminal mischief. Additional charges are possible. We will update this as information becomes available.

FMI: www.leg.state.fl.us/statutes