What GA Security Problem?

For those who are tired of hand-wringing in Washington and in the media about a supposed lack of security on America's GA airfields, consider the case of 30-year old James E. Patton. Police nationwide had been looking for Patton, who stood accused of fraud, theft and impersonating a police officer. But they couldn't find him -- until he showed up at Cottonwood Aviation in McPherson, KS.

The story goes something like this, according to the Wichita Eagle:

A customer service agent says Patton walked into Midwest Corporate Aviation at Wichita's Jabara Airport last Saturday and asked to rent a plane. According to the agent, Patton said he was a CFI and an airplane owner looking for someplace to hangar three aircraft he was bringing in from Florida.

He also filled out an aircraft rental agreement with Sabris Corporation, according to the unnamed agent. But when he got to the part asking for his FAA certificate number -- the agent said he left that space blank.

No deal, said Sabris.

The next day, authorities say Patton showed up at Cottonwood Aviation. He had a woman and three children with him -- his girlfriend and her kids, Patton allegedly told the clerk. Officials say he wanted to go to Vinita, OK, so he slapped down a credit card and, family in tow, away he flew.

But the credit card was decline, according to authorities.

"He said he had overspent his daily limit and to run it again after midnight," the clerk told the Eagle.

But the icing on the cake came from the charter pilot himself, en route to Vinita. "The pilot said the guy claimed to own planes and be an airline pilot, but that he really didn't know much about how the plane's systems operated," the clerk said in an interview with the Wichita paper.

Meanwhile, back at Jabara...

Sabris GM Bob Karslake was on the internet, checking the name and birthdate on Patton's rental application. Aha! The name, the DOB, the photo -- everything matched a James E. Patton who had served time in Florida's prisons. He was convicted on two counts of impersonating a police officer and 16 counts of grand theft.

The unnamed customer service agent told the paper she spotted Patton immediately. "Oh, my God. That's the guy who was in here. That's the guy," she said.

Karslake was on the phone and on the 'net, broadcasting information on Patton to other aviation businesses around southern Kansas. He sent the information to TW Anderson, manager of the airport in Newton and president of the Kansas Airports Association. He posted it to everyone on the association's mailing list.

By Wednesday, it was over. Using information gathered at Cottonwood and elsewhere, authorities nabbed Patton at a Wichita restaurant, where they said they found him with flight manuals and fake ID.

"We may not have tall fences and strobe lights, but that doesn't mean nobody is paying attention," Anderson told the Eagle. "The people who belong at our airports tend to know each other pretty well. A stranger stands out."

FMI: www.kansasairports.org