In Pennsylvania, a pilot who was accused of flying drunk last year has lost his airplane. The Cherokee was sold for $34,000, and now a judge has decreed that the proceeds belong to the district attorney’s office. Asst. D.A. James Staerk argued pilot John Salamone’s actions were “egregious” and warranted forfeiture of the airplane, and the court agreed. Salamone was convicted of risking a catastrophe and endangering others after flying recklessly for four hours in January 2004. His arrest prompted the state legislature to propose a new law against drunken flying, after prosecutors (and the public) were aghast to find that no such law existed. Salamone’s money goes into an account that funds crime-fighting measures.
