FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Corporate jet buzzes City of Chardon, one day after Sept. 11th anniversary;
hundreds call 9-1-1
Sept, 2002 -- Chardon City, Ohio
An
Alcoa-owned corporate jet on a aerial photo shoot
frightened Chardon City residents at about 10am this date, one day after the one
year anniversary of the Sept. 11th terrorist attacks involving two
airliners. Chardon Police dispatchers took over 200 calls from concerned
residents, who watched the 18G4 Gulfstream aircraft cris-cross the town square,
near the county court house area. The aircraft, which is about three times
bigger than a Lear Jet (see bottom photo), was spotted by a councilman, as well as police and fire
personnel, as it dipped and pitched hard four or five times. One resident
reported the plane to have crashed; a report that put area safety officials on
edge.
Upon investigation, the FAA insisted that the plane had not violated any
laws, and was flying within the 1000 foot limit on an aerial photo shoot.
Residents disagreed, stating the plane was much lower than 1000 feet. The
FAA initially declined to provide Chardon City officials with owner or pilot information.
Alcoa later acknowledged it was their airplane, and apologized for the incident.
A
local TV news station, ABC affiliate WEWS NewsChannel 5, featured Chardon fire
department members Bill Crowley and Theresa Reinhart on the 6pm news (see top
left photo).
After being asked if she thought the plane was in trouble, Reinhart quickly
retorted, "No, I thought we were in trouble." An amateur
videographer got footage of the aircraft (top right photo).
A written apology
is expected from Alcoa, and no further action or
investigation is anticipated about the incident.
See the amateur video of the
incident at this link: http://www.newsnet5.com/news/1672242/detail.html
Top photos courtesy of WEWS Newschannel 5 www.newsnet5.com
For More Information Contact:
Chardon Fire Department
110 S. Hambden St. Chardon, OH 44024
Tel: 440-285-4665
FAX: 440-285-8320
Internet: Capt. John Blauch, Webmaster
