The Barefoot Bandit — Hero My Foot!

Hallelujah! The so called “Barefoot Bandit†has been caught. You know the story—this is a punk kid who has stolen many things since age 12, including several airplanes, even though he has no pilot certificate. Big deal—if I remember correctly, he wrecked all of them. I hope they throw the book at him. It has always irritated me when the media elevate some creep like this into a public figure as if s/he was Robin Hood (a direct ancestor of mine, BTW). It is particularly irritating when airplanes are involved. How many kids will now believe it possible to steal an airplane and fly it away with no training? How many will try it? How much more must we spend on airport security just because this derelict acted like the hopeless loser that he really is? Back in the days of drug running in GA airplanes, the media referred to some of the stupidest criminals as being “the brains†of this operation or that. Listen, we dealt with some of those brains back when I was in the FBO end of our industry, and most of them were anything but brainy. How smart is a person serving time for drug running, anyway? Long may this barefoot jerk languish at guvmint expense. We’d love to post your comments. Please click the comment tab at the top.