Gov. Tate Reeves announced on Twitter that “the situation has been resolved and no one was injured.” He thanked law enforcement for helping bring down the aircraft. The pilot, identified as Cory Wayne Patterson, was in custody and charged with theft and making terroristic threats, Tupelo Police Chief John Quaka said during a press conference Saturday afternoon. Patterson, an employee at the airport in Tupelo, allegedly stole the Beechcraft King Air C90A shortly after 5 a.m. — when the air traffic control tower was unmanned. He doesn’t have a pilot’s license or experience landing planes, but he does have some flight instruction, Quaka said. His job at the airport involves refueling planes. A Walmart in the city was evacuated just after 5:20 a.m. after Patterson called 911 and reported he was going to fly the plane into the store, Quaka said. Major roads in Tupelo were also closed. Negotiators then contacted Patterson and were able to convince him not to fly the plane to Walmart, according to Quaka. The Beechcraft was in the air for more than five hours, circling over Tupelo and another community nearby. An online flight tracking service showed the plane meandering through the sky for several hours and following a circular path. Law enforcement officials told the Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal shortly after 8 a.m. that the plane had left the airspace around Tupelo and was flying near a Toyota manufacturing plant in nearby Blue Springs. Shortly after 9:30 A.M. local time, Patterson posted on Facebook from the plane. At the end of the post he wrote “bye,” Quaka said. The plane had low fuel consumption. But with some guidance from a private pilot, Patterson was able to land the plane about 30 minutes later. The plane sustained minimal damage when it landed, Quaka said. The Federal Aviation Administration said the plane landed in a field several miles northwest of Ripley Airport in Ripley, Mississippi. No one was injured in the incident. CBS affiliate WCBI-TV released video of the plane flying over the area. We follow an evolving story. A pilot threatens to crash his plane into the West Main Wal Mart in Tupelo…. Posted by WCBI News on Saturday, September 3, 2022 Leslie Criss, a magazine editor who lives in Tupelo, woke up early and tracked the situation on television and social media. Several of her friends were outside watching the plane circle overhead. “I’ve never seen anything like this in this city,” Criss told The Associated Press. “It’s a scary way to wake up on a Saturday morning.” Former state Rep. Steve Holland, who is a funeral director in Tupelo, said he has received calls from families concerned about the plane. “Someone called and said, ‘Oh my God, do we have to cancel mother’s funeral?’ Holland said. “I just told them, ‘No, life will go on.’ Patterson will likely face federal charges as well, Quaka said. Several federal agencies, including the Department of Homeland Security and the FAA, were involved in the investigation. They are still working to discern a motive. The plane drama unfolded as tens of thousands of college football fans headed to north Mississippi for Saturday’s football games at the University of Mississippi in Oxford and Mississippi State University in Starkville. Tupelo is located between these two towns.
