The Plane Crazy Days of Summer

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Stupid Pilot Tricks, Spanish Style…

This installment of things you definitely should not do with an airplane comes from the Scottish Highlands. There, two Spanish pilots reportedly flew their ultralight under a road bridge, scaring the heck out of residents in the area. Witnesses spotted the light aircraft flying under the Ballachulish Bridge between Fort William and Glencoe. Air safety rules in Britain prohibit aircraft to pass within 500 feet of any “person, vessel, vehicle or structure.” Needless to say, the 30-year-old cantilever bridge, which is 60 feet above high water, is off-limits. The adventurous pilots were traced to a nearby airport, detained and given a Scottish-style tongue-lashing. We’re not sure how the event compared to the infamous exploits of Jurgio Kairio. (Do not try this at home … or anywhere else.) The Spanish duo was part of a group of Spaniards on a weeklong trip flying around Europe. Apparently, this was not Scotland’s only bridge-flying scare, as just three weeks ago a helicopter was reported to have flown under the 100-foot-high toll bridge linking the Isle of Skye to the mainland twice in two days. Last year a pilot narrowly avoided prosecution for flying his plane under the Skye bridge. His excuse: He was avoiding a flock of seagulls.

…Skydiving Plane Hit By Shotgun…

In another bizzare event to taint the wild blue yonder, a skydiving aircraft was possibly hit by a shotgun blast while taking off from a Long Island airport. Newsday.com reports the Cessna 182, owned by Long Island Skydiving Center in East Moriches, was hit by 20 shotgun pellets on Sunday. Bart Spadaro, owner of Spadaro airport (1N2) in East Moriches, believes someone on nearby County Road 51 fired at the plane as it was taking off from the airport with a load full of skydivers. Local police haven’t reached that conclusion and speculate it may have been shot while parked overnight. Spadaro fears the incident could be related to a dispute he’s been having with a rival skydiving group located at the airport. The good news is that no one was injured in the airplane. In fact, the dimples in the fuselage were only discovered after the aircraft had been parked after taking three loads of skydivers.

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