2008-03-05 06:56:23
Tue Mar 4, 10:42 PM ET
When Robert Kadera's teenage son was running late for a tennis date near their
northern Illinois home, Kadera came up with a novel way to avoid 45 minutes'
worth of traffic fly. There was just one problem he had to land, without
permission, at a golf course.
Now the Federal Aviation Administration is investigating, and local authorities
are considering charges.
"We're all pretty dumbfounded," said Lincolnshire Police Chief Randy Melvin. "I
don't have any idea what the guy was thinking. He was going to park his plane
across the street like nobody would notice."
Kadera, a 65-year-old electrical engineer, flew his 14-year-old son, Isaac, in
a four-seat 1949 Piper Clipper from their Lake Villa home to the golf course in
Lincolnshire across a highway from the tennis club. They were on their way to
the tennis club when authorities stopped them.
The plane had had to circle twice before landing Saturday afternoon, and
witnesses called police, fearing there had been a crash.
Kadera, a Navy veteran with about 40 years of flying experience, wasn't allowed
to fly the plane home, and it had to be towed.
He said he thought flying his son would be "a convenient way to get him down
there and get him to his tennis on time."
And next time, he said, he'll drive.