Drunk Man Steals Plane, Goes on Joyride

Link : http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=817&ncid=757&e=10&u=/ap/20041014/ap_on_fe_st/france_plane_caper

PARIS - A young man who stole a plane and took a joyride in the night sky over France then slipped from the grasp of police has been found and detained for questioning, police said Thursday.



Despite strict anti-terrorism measures at airports all over the country, a young man in a "visible state of drunkenness" broke into an airport terminal in Coulommiers, east of Paris, at about 2:00 a.m. Wednesday and took a single-engine aircraft for a joyride.


He was detected by a French Air Force center after some 30 minutes in the sky, then signaled by radio that he had a fuel problem, police officials said.


A helicopter was sent up to escort the young pilot to Charles de Gaulle Airport, the main Paris-area airport north of the capital. There, he was immediately detained by airport personnel ?- before managing to flee, police said.


From the beginning of the investigation, the police said they had a "serious lead" ?- the young man left keys to an apartment and numerous fingerprints in the cockpit.


Police would not immediately provide the young man's identity or specify when and where he was caught. He was being questioned at the police station in Coulommiers.