Incident Raises Security Questions At FDK

As if GA didn't have enopugh to deal with, the recent theft of a Super Cub is raising some eyes at TSA. Calvin Craig Cox, 51, is in custody after allegedly stealing a Piper Super Cub from a locked hangar at the Frederick Municipal Airport (FDK) and taxiing it off a runway last week. Cox managed to liberate the aircraft from a hangar, start the engine, and taxi part way down the runway before upending the Cub in the grass.

Cox fled the scene when the propeller struck the ground. Police K-9 units tracked him to a wooded are near FDK where he is reported to have lived in a tent. According to reports, Cox was charged with felony theft, burglary, and trespassing -- and has gotten the attention of security officials.

Michael H. Higgins, president of the Mid-Atlantic Soaring Association that owns the Cub, says the aircraft sustained damage to its engine and propeller. Oddly, there were no signs of forced entry at the locked hangar where the club stored the tow-plane. Higgins says no one in the soaring club knows him. 

Authorities are trying to figure out how Cox knew how to operate the Piper, as he has no record of training. Airport and security officials are also looking into how he managed to get onto airport property in the middle of the night.

FMI: www.m-asa.org