Somebody has taken to flying lawn chairs again.
Some guy back in the 70’s or 80’s tried this, and the FAA was not amused. He was jailed (IIRC) and fined some large (for the time) amount of money. I believe he eventually wound up committing suicide.
So how is it that this guy can do it and seemingly get away with it (the linked article doesn’t mention any pending criminal action)?
I am not legally a licensed pilot yet but I do take lessons and I am quite the aviation buff and read as much as I can for the past couple of decades.
It isn’t that clear cut. You can get into big trouble for penetrating restricted air space but people do it all the time in private planes, balloons etc. However, people do it all the time usually by mistake and they don’t land in prison for it. I took one lesson in a small plane where me and my instructor were studying a map. He looked up and freaked. We were seconds away from busting Boston Logan’s airspace he he took control and just dove. I don’t know how he could tell but it happens and he was shaken up but nothing happened from it.
The U.S. has some of the most generous regulations for ultralight aircraft in the world.
Single-Place
Weighs less than 254 pounds empty weight, excluding floats and safety devices which are intended for deployment in a potentially catastrophic situation;
Has a fuel capacity not exceeding 5 U.S. gallons;
Is not capable of more than 55 knots (63 mph) calibrated airspeed at full power in level flight; and
Has a power-off stall speed which does not exceed 24 knots (28 mph) calibrated airspeed.
You can build an aircraft in your backyard that meets these requirements without much restriction whatsoever. You have the freedom to crash and kill yourself from your own stupidity as well. The problems arise when you start violating airspace or put other people in danger.
In short, what this guy did wasn’t even that illegal. If he just managed to circle a rural area, I don’t think many (or any) laws would be broken at all. There is a guy that flies over my house in a powered parachute from time to time. It is not much more than a lawn chair with a fan on the back and a parachute up top. That is completely legal and you can build one from a kit if you want to.
http://www.ultralightflying.com/ultralight-vehicle-regulations/ultralight-vehicle-regulations.html
Cecil’s column on the ur-lawnchair balloonist.
Don’t forget the priest that did this in the spring and never returned. I’m just mentioning this to demonstrate that this isn’t the first time somebody has done it in recent history. Article and pictures for Brazilian priest’s flight.
The story linked to in the OP says the guy was 100 - 200 feet up. If he stayed that low, then perhaps he was in uncontrolled airspace and the rules are different there? Cecil’s article that flurb linked to said Larry Walters reached 16,000 feet.
For a second there, I thought this post was about Levon!
But it wasn’t Levon who wanted to fly. His son, Jesus, was the one who blew up balloons all day and wanted to go to Venus.
Last month a North Carolina man successfully flew his office chair, but didn’t get the same national publicity. And, according the news story, he got FAA training and certification first:
As Shagnasty pointed out it doesn’t require a license to fly an ultralight aircraft or balloons so it’s just a matter of staying out of restricted airspace.
And to the op title, The FAA would not arrest someone for this but simply levy a fine if they broke the law. Now if someone was smoking on the flight it would be another story. 
That fund raising event wasn’t thought through quite fully, was it? How was he being sponsored? For every foot he rose multiplied by the distance he traveled? ?
According to
they found his body yesterday. Or so they believe.
The cite there is a German translation of an AP newswire story which is very short on details … Here is the English version of that piece on MSNBC.
Well, he’ll ride forever.
He’s the priest who never returned.
Catchy, ain’t it?