Taxied King Air Into A Field

The story of Michael Santos -- the man accused of attempting to steal a Beech King Air C90 from an Indiana airport in September -- took a bizarre turn this week, as police revealed the man's motive for the crime.

As many ill-considered schemes often are, it was to impress a woman.

As ANN reported, Santos was arrested late last month on charges of theft and criminal mischief stemming from the September 9 incident.

According to the Michigan City News-Dispatch, Santos told police he was drunk when he took his girlfriend to the La Porte Municipal Airport, to show her he knew how to fly the plane. The couple broke into the aircraft, managed to start the engines and began taxiing for departure.

Fortunately for the couple, they didn't make it much further than that. Flames began to shoot from the left engine, Santos told police, and he veered the plane into a soybean field.

On Friday, Santos was charged on the previous allegations, as well as one new one: operating a motor vehicle, although his driving privileges had previously been taken away for life.

Police received an anonymous tip to Santos' involvement in the crime shortly after they found the aircraft abandoned in the field, although the investigation stalled when fog at the airport concealed the identity of the attempted plane thief from security cameras.

Damage to the King Air, owned by Delaware-based Longin Consultants, was valued at $160,000.

FMI: www.alco.org/govt/LP_Air/lpairport.html