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Highlands Today

MYSTERY SOLVED:Grounded Plane Was Not From Iraqi Air Force

WAS BOUND FOR IRAQ, THOUGH

Doug Carman/Highlands Today

Officials with the Highlands County Sheriffs Office and the Federal Aviation Administration investigate a single-engine plane Thursday afternoon after it landed in Venus Wednesday.

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By Douglas  Carman | Highlands Today

Published: February 22, 2008

VENUS — Along an isolated road near the Highlands-Glades county line, a single-engine plane with Iraqi Air Force insignia was grounded Wednesday afternoon.

Doug Oliver, a spokesman for Cessna Aircraft Company in Wichita, Kan., confirmed that the plane, a Cessna 172 Skyhawk, is a basic training aircraft intended for sale to the Iraqi Air Force.

There were no injuries or damages reported in the emergency landing.

Capt. Randy LaBelle of the Highlands County Sheriff's Office said that the pilot was transported to the Sebring Regional Airport.

Oliver said the Skyhawk is a "ubiquitous" trainer, with a design that's changed little in 50 years.
"They're all over the place. We've probably sold 10,000 of them," Oliver told the Tampa Tribune.

He also said it was a common practice for them to manufacture this plane for other air forces through a foreign military sales program.

The plane was flying from a paint shop in Tampa to Miami, where the U.S. Air Force was to inspect it before it was boxed up and shipped to Iraq for sale. During the flight, it experienced engine problems, causing the pilot to land along C.R. 731, roughly two miles south of the bend toward U.S. 27.

Eyewitness Ron Jones said was driving along C.R. 731 on his way to Venice when he saw the plane blocking the road around 2:30 p.m. Wednesday. He said he spoke to the pilot, who said he was OK.
He was "totally calm. He was not shaking, he was just, 'no big deal,'" Jones said.

According to Jones, the pilot told him that the downed plane was with two other planes that continued toward Miami after he landed.

But the markings on the plane got Jones worried for a bit.

"There was something not normal," Jones said of the plane's bluish-gray color. Jones had a little flight experience and he did not notice any serial numbers where he thought they should be. "To see 'Iraqi Air Force' on it was pretty odd."

LaBelle said the crash was reported at 4 p.m.

On the tail end of the plane was stenciled "YI-138." Foil and paper covered an Iraqi emblem and the phrase "Iraqi Air Force."

Oliver said he believed the pilot covered those parts after the landing to "keep people from panicking, but it didn't do any good.

"It's nothing more than a training plane," he said. "There's nothing sinister about it."

The plane was guarded by a single sheriff's deputy until Cessna employees came on scene at 3 p.m. to begin disassembling the plane.

An official from the Federal Aviation Administration also checked out the plane Thursday afternoon. He described it as a routine investigation but declined further comment.

The sheriff's deputy guarding the plane Wednesday night, Deputy Jacob Riley, spent a 12-hour shift, which ended Thursday morning, sitting alone next to the plane.

Riley said he saw a "couple of people come by" gawking at the plane. By Thursday afternoon Deputy Mike Weed took his place to contend with reporters from local media gathered around the plane.

The nearest eatery is about seven miles away. One of Weed's co-workers had to bus him lunch.
"They just don't send us down here and forget about us," he grinned.
Tampa Tribune reporter Billy Townsend contributed to this report.

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