Rocket Trail Spotted By Pilot Traced To Teens, Not Terrorists

Federal officials and Spokane International Airport police investigating a rocket fired at a commercial plane found their men Saturday.

Only the missile was a model. And it wasn’t fired by men. The rocketeers turned out to be teenagers, not terrorists.

The pilot of a 30-seat Horizon Airlines prop plane reported seeing a smoke trail during his descent Thursday at about 5 p.m. The plane was three miles north of the runway at Spokane International, said Mike O’Connor, Federal Aviation Administration regional duty officer.

Soon, airport police were on the case. And the FBI and the FAA, too. After a television news story reported feds were investigating a rocket or missile fired at a commercial flight, authorities received a call Saturday morning. Some worried parents said the rocket was a model launched by their children.

“It wasn’t any kind of subversive group or anything firing something at an aircraft,” said Peter Troyer, airport chief of police. “It was a model rocket, build-at-home type.”

Troyer said the teenagers won’t face criminal charges. The FAA could still press civil charges. Duty Officer O’Connor said the case is still under investigation.

“It wasn’t malicious. I think these kids probably didn’t stop and think about it,” Troyer said.

But firing model rockets at airplanes is no harmless adolescent gag. “It could have punctured the skin or damaged the prop or engine,” Troyer said. The rockets often have hard plastic tips and travel at “a high rate of speed.”

Model rockets fly several hundred miles per hour, and can go as high as 1,500 feet, said Joe Bruce, owner of Columbia Cycle-Craft & Hobby. Some are as large as 20-feet tall and climb up to 6,000 feet.

Even if a rocket impact didn’t damage the plane, it could have caused a crash by startling the pilot, Troyer said.

“Landing is the most critical portion of the flight, and at 800 to 900 feet off the ground … they don’t have a lot of time to make adjustments.”

, DataTimes