Will Serve Jail Time, Community Service, Pay Fine For 2008 Pier Buzzing Incident

The conviction of David Riggs, who infamously buzzed the Santa Monica Pier in an L-39 Albatros on November 6th, 2008, has been upheld by a Los Angeles appellate court. Riggs will serve 60 days in jail and perform 60 hours of community service cleaning up the beach he buzzed, as well as paying a modest fine for his stunt.

Riggs was convicted of recklessly operating an aircraft in a manner that endangered life and property for flying at times within 50 feet above the ground over the pier in the Soviet-era jet. The stunt was to promote the movie "Kerosene Cowboys," which was never released. He was originally convicted in 2010. His attorney had appealed the jail time portion of the conviction based on the assertion that the stunt was carefully choreographed and performed by a professional pilot. He also maintained that Riggs did not fly too low or too close to the people on the pier or the beach.

As ANN reported, the FAA almost immediately revoked Riggs' pilot certificate following the stunt. But on March 17th, 2009, an administrative law judge modified that revocation order to a 210 day suspension, and it was eventually reinstated.

Monday, the LA Superior Court announced that a three-judge panel, consisting of judges Anita Dymant, Joseph Kalin, and Gregory Keosian had upheld Riggs' conviction and the original sentence. The panel's opinion has not yet been released by the court.

Riggs had more recently gotten involved with the "Ultimate Air Racing Championship" ... a planned head-to-head pylon race that the FAA refused to allow to proceed primarily for safety reasons.

FMI: Court Summary