Maybe if he'd been a better liar he might have pulled this thing off.
Generally you don't stick with the "my windshield cut the bejeezus out of me" when the cops find you and the only marks on you are the self-inflicted suicide wounds. Just a hint for anyone looking to try this in the future.
Why not fly into Mexico, land at a remote, small-town airport, hand the first guy you see $5,000 and tell him to store the plane for 6 months, hand more cash to everyone you encounter at the airport, get the nearest cantina, catch the first bus out of town? Keep it simple, stupid.
His plane was on autopilot at 2,000 feet, which is lower than the peak of Mt. Tamalpais in Marin. Which makes me wonder how my family made it up to the peak for weekend picnics without a pressurized station wagon. Maybe it's the hypoxia that explains my life.
O.K., wanting to fake your own death, sure! Everyone's thought of that. Whether in junior high or when being investigated for fraud, that's just kind of a "go to" thought. But, to fake your death in Alabama? That's just not cool, man. Not cool.
Did he mention, in his email to his friend, checking into a motel under an assumed name? Or getting his motorcycle at a storage facility, also under an assumed name?
There must be a lack of oxygen, causing hypoxia, on the ground in Alabama.
@FormerEnglishMajor: To me, the email is the best part of the story. Because nothing says "I'm dead" better than sending an email . . . after said death. Oh right, I guess the hypoxia confused him.
@OrneryBabe: That really is priceless. He was so careful, stowing away the motorcycle - but emailed after his supposed death. It's like you can't make this stuff up.
can someone explain to me why people lie about shit that can obviously be proven to be a lie? so when investigators show him pictures of his still intact windshield clearly he can't stand by the hypoxia/shards of glass nearly killed me story... i just don't get it...
I think I read that his plans were to ditch the plane in the Gulf, but ran out of gas too soon. If it had gone down in the water, the evidence would have been much harder to piece together.
@tigolbitties: particularly a window imploding, which would assume greater pressure on the outside. Whence the hypoxia? Was he flying in a vacuum-chamber?
This is what he planned to do - look at the flight path. He underestimated the drag from the open door and wind rushing into the plane, so the fuel ran out before the plane hit water.
If you look at a map of the path, he was very, very close to making the Gulf. But he blew it - and now they have all the intact windows to prove it. Not to mention the scrambled military jets who saw the windows, the door up, etc.
Just for sheer bad-assitude, like the part about stashing the bike in storage and then hopping on it and making your getaway via motorcycle a la Steve McQueen in "The Great Escape."
The only problem is that in the dead of winter there are like ZERO motos out on the roads so you stick out like a sore thumb. How many red Yamahas are out and about this time of year? I ride to work whenever I can and don't even see other bikers most days this time of year.
@Botswana Meat Commission FC: Camrys are not theatrical enough (which is obv his prediliction). He would've needed to hijack an ambulance or firetruck or something.
Mostly. I rode to work most of last week and did a few hundreds miles two weekends ago. This week it's gotten into the 30 degree zone early in the morning. Too cold for me!
And the 40s-50s is still way too cold for the vast majority of weekend warrior types (cough Harley guys cough).
@Botswana Meat Commission FC: Yeah, if we've learned anything from the Bourne movies, inconspicuous, yet reliable transportation is definitely the way to go.
There but for the grace of God, the lack of a plane, general dislike of heights, and inability to cut myself, and lack of current civil judgements against me, go I.
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Generally you don't stick with the "my windshield cut the bejeezus out of me" when the cops find you and the only marks on you are the self-inflicted suicide wounds. Just a hint for anyone looking to try this in the future.
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There must be a lack of oxygen, causing hypoxia, on the ground in Alabama.
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I think I read that his plans were to ditch the plane in the Gulf, but ran out of gas too soon. If it had gone down in the water, the evidence would have been much harder to piece together.
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This is what he planned to do - look at the flight path. He underestimated the drag from the open door and wind rushing into the plane, so the fuel ran out before the plane hit water.
If you look at a map of the path, he was very, very close to making the Gulf. But he blew it - and now they have all the intact windows to prove it. Not to mention the scrambled military jets who saw the windows, the door up, etc.
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The only problem is that in the dead of winter there are like ZERO motos out on the roads so you stick out like a sore thumb. How many red Yamahas are out and about this time of year? I ride to work whenever I can and don't even see other bikers most days this time of year.
Should have stashed a cheapo Camry or something.
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Mostly. I rode to work most of last week and did a few hundreds miles two weekends ago. This week it's gotten into the 30 degree zone early in the morning. Too cold for me!
And the 40s-50s is still way too cold for the vast majority of weekend warrior types (cough Harley guys cough).
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I snorted tea out of my nose! HA!
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The saliva stops once the child psychologist realizes that this guy probably doesn't have any money anymore.
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