# Pilot threatening to crash small plane in Mississippi (into a Walmart) {2022-09-03} \[Landed, no one harmed\]
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pilot-threatening-to-crash-small-plane-in-mississippi-into-a-walmart-2022-09-03-landed-no-one-harmed/970881
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
**Tags:** breaking-news
**Created:** [September 3, 2022, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pilot-threatening-to-crash-small-plane-in-mississippi-into-a-walmart-2022-09-03-landed-no-one-harmed/970881 "2022-09-03T13:48:13Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Biotop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biotop)
#### Post date: [September 3, 2022, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pilot-threatening-to-crash-small-plane-in-mississippi-into-a-walmart-2022-09-03-landed-no-one-harmed/970881/1 "2022-09-03T13:48:13Z")
> **[Pilot ‘threatened to intentionally crash into Walmart’ in Mississippi](https://www.atlantanewsfirst.com/2022/09/03/pilot-threatening-intentionally-crash-into-walmart-tupelo-police-say/)**
>
> Police say the airplane is “possibly King Air type,” in their Facebook post-Saturday morning.
Not sure what can be done in a situation like this. Just hope to talk him down?
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### Author:  [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)
#### Post date: [September 3, 2022, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pilot-threatening-to-crash-small-plane-in-mississippi-into-a-walmart-2022-09-03-landed-no-one-harmed/970881/2 "2022-09-03T13:54:20Z")
I just saw this. Do they know if there are any passengers?
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### Author:  [@ekedolphin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ekedolphin)
#### Post date: [September 3, 2022, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pilot-threatening-to-crash-small-plane-in-mississippi-into-a-walmart-2022-09-03-landed-no-one-harmed/970881/3 "2022-09-03T13:56:21Z")
I talked with my landlord (who has his pulse on daffy conspiracy theories, because he _is_ a daffy conspiracy theorist) and he said, “Oh, yeah, they must have heard about the FEMA centers underneath Walmart.”
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### Author:  [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)
#### Post date: [September 3, 2022, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pilot-threatening-to-crash-small-plane-in-mississippi-into-a-walmart-2022-09-03-landed-no-one-harmed/970881/4 "2022-09-03T15:22:55Z")
Air Force needs to send a fighter to shoot this dude down.
A burst from the guns will take care of it.
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### Author:  [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)
#### Post date: [September 3, 2022, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pilot-threatening-to-crash-small-plane-in-mississippi-into-a-walmart-2022-09-03-landed-no-one-harmed/970881/5 "2022-09-03T15:23:18Z")
> [@Biotop](#):
>
> Not sure what can be done in a situation like this. Just hope to talk him down?
I imagine fighter jets can be sent up with the intention of shooting him down in a ‘safe’ place where there’s not a lot of people (ie farm, open field etc).
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### Author:  [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)
#### Post date: [September 3, 2022, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pilot-threatening-to-crash-small-plane-in-mississippi-into-a-walmart-2022-09-03-landed-no-one-harmed/970881/6 "2022-09-03T15:24:54Z")
> [@aceplace57](#):
>
> A burst from the guns will take care of it.
Except for, you know, the flaming wreckage falling somewhere onto Tupelo…
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### Author:  [@Biotop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biotop)
#### Post date: [September 3, 2022, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pilot-threatening-to-crash-small-plane-in-mississippi-into-a-walmart-2022-09-03-landed-no-one-harmed/970881/7 "2022-09-03T15:26:48Z")
And someone may be aboard other than the pilot. Risky, no matter how it is handled.
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### Author:  [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)
#### Post date: [September 3, 2022, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pilot-threatening-to-crash-small-plane-in-mississippi-into-a-walmart-2022-09-03-landed-no-one-harmed/970881/8 "2022-09-03T15:28:15Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#):
>
> Except for, you know, the flaming wreckage falling somewhere onto Tupelo…
A good pilot should be able to chase the plane outside the city.
I’ve heard the air wash from a jet can be intimidating.
They do need to chase him away from the city.
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### Author:  [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)
#### Post date: [September 3, 2022, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pilot-threatening-to-crash-small-plane-in-mississippi-into-a-walmart-2022-09-03-landed-no-one-harmed/970881/9 "2022-09-03T15:29:16Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#):
>
> > [@aceplace57](#):
> >
> > A burst from the guns will take care of it.
>
> Except for, you know, the flaming wreckage falling somewhere onto Tupelo… -
Picky, picky, picky.
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### Author:  [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)
#### Post date: [September 3, 2022, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pilot-threatening-to-crash-small-plane-in-mississippi-into-a-walmart-2022-09-03-landed-no-one-harmed/970881/10 "2022-09-03T15:30:11Z")
> [@aceplace57](#):
>
> I’ve heard the air wash from a jet can be intimidating.
Or, you know, cause the plane to fall out of control, and crash somewhere in Tupelo.
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### Author:  [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)
#### Post date: [September 3, 2022, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pilot-threatening-to-crash-small-plane-in-mississippi-into-a-walmart-2022-09-03-landed-no-one-harmed/970881/11 "2022-09-03T15:33:51Z")
> [@aceplace57](#):
>
> A good pilot should be able to push the plane outside the city.
But a suicidal pilot isn’t going to be bothered by that.
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### Author:  [@Walken\_After\_Midnight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walken_After_Midnight)
#### Post date: [September 3, 2022, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pilot-threatening-to-crash-small-plane-in-mississippi-into-a-walmart-2022-09-03-landed-no-one-harmed/970881/12 "2022-09-03T15:34:12Z")
The plane has landed in a field.
>
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### Author:  [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)
#### Post date: [September 3, 2022, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pilot-threatening-to-crash-small-plane-in-mississippi-into-a-walmart-2022-09-03-landed-no-one-harmed/970881/13 "2022-09-03T15:38:33Z")
Appears to be a good outcome.
Only a few days before 9/11 anniversary.
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### Author:  [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)
#### Post date: [September 3, 2022, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pilot-threatening-to-crash-small-plane-in-mississippi-into-a-walmart-2022-09-03-landed-no-one-harmed/970881/14 "2022-09-03T16:41:09Z")
Local news is blocked outside the US for GDPR reasons. International link:
> **[Pilot arrested after threatening to crash plane into Mississippi Walmart and...](https://us.cnn.com/2022/09/03/us/tupelo-mississippi-pilot-threatens-walmart/index.html)**
>
> A worker at an airport who stole a twin-engine plane Saturday morning and threatened to crash it into a Mississippi Walmart was arrested after he eventually landed in a field, police said.
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### Author:  [@Biotop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biotop)
#### Post date: [September 3, 2022, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pilot-threatening-to-crash-small-plane-in-mississippi-into-a-walmart-2022-09-03-landed-no-one-harmed/970881/15 "2022-09-03T16:57:21Z")
Best possible outcome. Nice. Good job to all law enforcement and authorities involved!
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### Author:  [@Asuka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asuka)
#### Post date: [September 3, 2022, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pilot-threatening-to-crash-small-plane-in-mississippi-into-a-walmart-2022-09-03-landed-no-one-harmed/970881/16 "2022-09-03T17:12:21Z")
I can’t be the only one thinking “A small plane crashing into an empty Walmart would be a hell of a video”
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### Author:  [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)
#### Post date: [September 3, 2022, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pilot-threatening-to-crash-small-plane-in-mississippi-into-a-walmart-2022-09-03-landed-no-one-harmed/970881/17 "2022-09-03T18:04:26Z")
> [@Biotop](#):
>
> Best possible outcome.
Not quite. If he’d landed at the airport like they wanted, no soybeans would’ve been harmed.
Wonder if crop insurance covers damage caused by aircraft.
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### Author:  [@ekedolphin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ekedolphin)
#### Post date: [September 3, 2022, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pilot-threatening-to-crash-small-plane-in-mississippi-into-a-walmart-2022-09-03-landed-no-one-harmed/970881/18 "2022-09-03T18:11:18Z")
> [@Asuka](#):
>
> I can’t be the only one thinking “A small plane crashing into an empty Walmart would be a hell of a video. "
Maybe from a spectacle standpoint. But one in five Lee County residents is food insecure. The last thing they need is a severely damaged Walmart.
I know, not what you meant. No disrespect.
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### Author:  [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)
#### Post date: [September 3, 2022, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pilot-threatening-to-crash-small-plane-in-mississippi-into-a-walmart-2022-09-03-landed-no-one-harmed/970881/19 "2022-09-03T18:21:27Z")
> [@Asuka](#):
>
> I can’t be the only one thinking “A small plane crashing into an empty Walmart would be a hell of a video”
Doubtful. A small plane is light and fragile and a Walmart is vast. Unless it was carrying a gasoline bomb or plowed directly through the front doors, I suspect it would look like a mosquito plowing into the surface of a tub of Cool Whip.
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### Author:  [@Morgyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgyn)
#### Post date: [September 3, 2022, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pilot-threatening-to-crash-small-plane-in-mississippi-into-a-walmart-2022-09-03-landed-no-one-harmed/970881/20 "2022-09-03T18:48:54Z")
You know, we all gripe about how the police escalate to deadly force when it isn’t needed. I rather like that isn’t their first option here, if only because they don’t have any attack aircraft.
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