As avionics become more digitized (and thus, more easily tracked), avionics theft may have become less of a concern. But that’s small comfort to four aircraft owners in South Carolina and Virginia who were targeted by thieves between Jan. 22 and Feb. 10.
According to the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association (AOPA), a Front Royal, Virginia-based Cessna Cardinal owner lost his Garmin 650 and BendixKing KX155 when overnight intruders pried open the doors of his aircraft, which was parked at South Carolina’s Charleston Executive Airport, and made off with the electronics. Damage to the Cardinal’s windows, doors and baggage compartment latch added insult to injury. Two other single-engine aircraft at the airport were also targeted by avionics thieves.
Two weeks earlier and 530 miles north at Warrenton-Fauquier Airport in Virginia, thieves stole a Garmin GNS 530 GPS/com and a GNC255 from an aircraft on the ramp awaiting maintenance. Garmin has promised to be on the lookout for anyone who might try to update the databases on the stolen units or otherwise overplay their hand, though the fear is that an online sale would leave the seller/thief more difficult to trace.
Airport officials pledged to beef up security to help close up the vulnerability, while AOPA warned aircraft owners to remain vigilant.
The new concern over avionics theft recalls a strategy used by avionics thieves years ago (not to give bad guys any ideas, but hopefully to give aircraft owners a heads up). Thieves would remove a popular radio from an aircraft panel, then break into another aircraft with the same radio. They would steal the radio from the second aircraft and replace it with the one from the first aircraft. The unwitting owner of Aircraft 2 would not realize anything was amiss, and not report his radio stolen. Meanwhile, the owner of Aircraft 1 would report his radio stolen, but no one would be the wiser until the owner of Aircraft 2 brought it in for service and the manufacturer would recognize the serial number from the “hot” list.
So take notice of every scratch and scrape on your avionics and add that double-check to your pre-start routine. And if you’re in the market for used avionics, check the serial number against the hot list before you pay.
And, of course, there is another classic tactic. Break into the aircraft and steal the avionics. Wait a few weeks. Then hit the same airport (and planes) again. The theory is that the planes that were robbed a few weeks ago will all have nice new avionics now.
Sneaky bastards. Swapping stolen stuff — damn.
Would an aircraft cover help? Seems like it would be a deterrent at least.
If you have a hangar with electricity and access to internet install a Door Bell Camera otherwise a Trail Camera. If your aircraft has expensive avionics and parked outside hide a Trail Camera in a large plastic box that stores oil, cleaners and other useful aircraft stuff. Just keep the cameras well hidden.
Yeah, the std Cessna locks will pull just a laugh from the thieves’ faces… IF they aren’t broken already….
Even if they’re replaced with high-quality locks, the weak point is still the door/frame interface. Or just knock out the plexiglass window.
True. Actually, if they are going to break in, I would prefer they break the Cessna lock rather than smashing the Windows or messing up the door frame which would cost a whole lot more to fix.
Hangar break-ins are now common too. All sorts of expensive toys are only “protected” with a pot metal combo lock. One thief here even put his own lock on a hanger that he broke into so he could come back over several nights and take everything at his convienience.