The flight of a small plane in the sky of the US state of Mississippi for more than 5 hours sparked panic, after its pilot threatened to crash into a Walmart store, before landing in a nearby field and being arrested, according to local media reports.
The police said - in a statement on Facebook - that they had received a notification that the pilot was orbiting over the city of Tupelo, and was threatening to crash into a Wal-Mart store with his plane.
Currently we have a 29yr old who stole this plane & is threatening to crash it into something.
Polices, ambulances, & fire trucks are everywhere.
Everything is shutdown rn pic.twitter.com/AzebdIa3tP
— City King (@CityKing_Gank_) September 3, 2022
The statement stated that the police coordinated with the store to evacuate it and disperse the citizens from the place, in order to avoid carrying out the threat and colliding with the store, and the police recommended the citizens to avoid the area until the matter is resolved.
While some sources stated that the plane was stolen, the police statement did not confirm this.
Flightradar24 tracking data shows the aircraft continued to circle randomly around the city at a low altitude, before tracking was cut off completely.
The flight path of the plane, according to data from the Flight Radar 24 website, which tracks air traffic (Reuters)
In turn, Mississippi Governor Tate Reeves announced on his Twitter account that the plane landed in one of the rights near the city after flying for more than 5 hours in the air, without causing any injuries, while local media reports said that the pilot was arrested, without any injuries. Details of his identity.
It is not yet known whether the pilot had permission to fly, and why he was being threatened.