Wife Denies Maurice Kirk Violated P-49

He's at it again. Authorities in central Texas are questioning British pilot Maurice Kirk, after the infamous "Flying Vet" landed his single-engine plane six miles from President Bush's ranch in Crawford last week. The Secret Service will probably want to have a few words with him, too.

According to BBC News, the irrepressible pilot made an unannounced landing in a farmer's field April 25. Kirk reportedly wanted to drop off a note at the ranch, thanking Bush for his February rescue 80 miles off the coast of the Dominican Republic. As ANN reported, Kirk was plucked from the waters by the US Coast Guard, after his restored Piper Cub "Liberty Girl" suffered engine problems.

McLennan County sheriff's deputies arrested Kirk on the spot last Friday, and initially thought he was drunk -- as Kirk's arthritis prevented him from walking in a straight line. They then took the 62-year-old to a psychiatric hospital for evaluation.

Maurice's wife, Kirstie, said her husband isn't crazy... that's just how he might appear. "He's somewhat eccentric and I don't know what the Americans would make of him," Kirstie Kirk, 48, told the BBC. "I don't know they would understand our sense of humor and slightly different way of doing things.

"The fact that he is suspected of being a threat to the president, when he was quite safely outside the prohibition zone, is quite worrying. He told me he was going to leave a thank you note on the gate, which I do believe. I don't think even Maurice would think he could land on the president's lawn, not without repercussions.

"It's quite typical he'd do something that would be a gesture," Kirstie added.

The P-49 Prohibited Area extends in a three-nautical-mile radius around the ranch, from the surface up to 5,000 feet MSL, when Bush is not present. When the President is at the ranch -- as he will be this coming weekend -- the radius extends to 30 nm, and up to 18,000' MSL.

The fact Bush wasn't at the ranch, however, leaves Kirstie Kirk wondering what rule, exactly, her husband (shown below) may have violated.

"It's quite typical he'd do something that would be a gesture," Kirstie said of her husband. "He is a very good pilot for that sort of aircraft. He is a purist's pilot. An aviator. The sort of flying that Maurice does is landing in fields and little grass airstrips. He uses a plane the way some people use a sports car, to get to things. He just loves flying."

FMI: www.kirkflyingvet.com, www.tfr.faa.gov