# Small Plane Crashes into Building in Austin, TX **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [February 18, 2010, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/small-plane-crashes-into-building-in-austin-tx/529484 "2010-02-18T16:56:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Duke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e8c25b/32.png) [@Duke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duke)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2010, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/small-plane-crashes-into-building-in-austin-tx/529484/41 "2010-02-18T19:11:17Z")
> [@Palo\_Verde](#): > > So she’s OK then. Great news! Glad to hear your sister is well. Great news indeed! ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2010, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/small-plane-crashes-into-building-in-austin-tx/529484/42 "2010-02-18T19:20:25Z")
> [@Duke](#): > > And on further review (sorry 'bout that, Dad), some of the engines for the PA-28 weren’t even built by Lycoming. Hopefully by tomorrow night when I see him the news agencies will have their story straight about which plane it was. Don’t forget - there are also reports it was a Cirrus - another low-wing 4 seat airplane. I think we’re better off waiting until there is a definitive identification of the airplane. ---
**Author:** ![Chessic\_Sense](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7c8e57/32.png) [@Chessic\_Sense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chessic_Sense)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2010, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/small-plane-crashes-into-building-in-austin-tx/529484/43 "2010-02-18T19:40:22Z")
I think President Obama knew this was going to happen, but he let it happen to justify a war against Texas. Then he’ll use that as an excuse to invade New Mexico. ---
**Author:** ![Anamorphic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/anamorphic/32/3057_2.png) [@Anamorphic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anamorphic)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2010, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/small-plane-crashes-into-building-in-austin-tx/529484/44 "2010-02-18T19:43:14Z")
> [@Chessic\_Sense](#): > > I think President Obama knew this was going to happen, but he let it happen to justify a war against Texas. Then he’ll use that as an excuse to invade New Mexico. I’m hearing reports (which I just made up) that there was a van full of Nebraskans cheering when the plane hit. ---
**Author:** ![fuzzypickles](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/9d8465/32.png) [@fuzzypickles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fuzzypickles)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2010, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/small-plane-crashes-into-building-in-austin-tx/529484/45 "2010-02-18T19:46:19Z")
Thank goodness this guy wasn’t Muslim, or Fox News would be claiming this was yet _another_ terrorist attack that happened on Obama’s watch. :rolleyes: > [@Chessic\_Sense](#): > > Then he’ll use that as an excuse to invade New Mexico. Hold on…there’s a _New_ Mexico?? ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2010, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/small-plane-crashes-into-building-in-austin-tx/529484/46 "2010-02-18T19:48:58Z")
> [@Duke](#): > > And on further review (sorry 'bout that, Dad), some of the engines for the PA-28 weren’t even built by Lycoming. Hopefully by tomorrow night when I see him the news agencies will have their story straight about which plane it was. [CNN](http://www.cnn.com/2010/US/02/18/intentional.plane.crash/) interviewed an eye witnessed who has 4000 hrs of instructor flying time in a 140 and positively identified the plane. My experience with them is with the Lycoming 0-320 (my Piper Colt has an 0-320 pulled from a 140). ---
**Author:** ![Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tapioca_Dextrin)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2010, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/small-plane-crashes-into-building-in-austin-tx/529484/47 "2010-02-18T19:48:59Z")
I just drove by coming back from the store and it’s rubberneck city :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Death\_of\_Rats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a6a055/32.png) [@Death\_of\_Rats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Death_of_Rats)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2010, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/small-plane-crashes-into-building-in-austin-tx/529484/48 "2010-02-18T19:57:11Z")
> [@Mehitabel](#): > > But there’s something else going on, because why try to take your family with you if you’re mad at the IRS? So they don’t have to pay the “death tax”? He was a tax protester, after all. ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Tildrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2010, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/small-plane-crashes-into-building-in-austin-tx/529484/49 "2010-02-18T20:26:00Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > 1. Guy’s from Texas. > > 2. Guy has a hatred of the Catholic Church. > > 3. Guy tries to re-interpret the tax code to his advantage. > > I’m getting a profile of the guy, that matches a lot of what I read in a gun forum I lurk at. The denunciations of George W. Bush, for-profit health care, and capitalism may not fit that profile. This guy just sounds like he was angry at _everything_. ---
**Author:** ![Biotop](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biotop/32/321_2.png) [@Biotop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biotop)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2010, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/small-plane-crashes-into-building-in-austin-tx/529484/50 "2010-02-18T20:29:32Z")
Geez. Not another nut using that tired “definition of insanity…blah blah…same actions expecting different results blah blah blah…” A real definition of insanity I could get behind is “setting the family house on fire and then flying a plane into a building.” ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2010, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/small-plane-crashes-into-building-in-austin-tx/529484/51 "2010-02-18T20:30:01Z")
Wow, what a rant. Where to start. It sounds like he tried to scam the IRS with a phony church. Then he talks about not being able to fly (because of 9/11 security restrictions) and that hurt his ability to travel on business. Any pilot will tell you it costs more to fly privately than commercially. He then talks about NOT filing his taxes because he didn’t make any money that year. He then blames the accountant for not including (his wife’s) income of $12,700. It looks like he suffered from serious mental problems. ---
**Author:** ![Translucent\_Daydream](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/translucent_daydream/32/16170_2.png) [@Translucent\_Daydream](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Translucent_Daydream)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2010, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/small-plane-crashes-into-building-in-austin-tx/529484/52 "2010-02-18T20:30:50Z")
If it hasn’t been posted yet, here is a link to his manefesto/suicide letter. Language alert, but its not super bad. [http://www.star-telegram.com/news/story/1978748.html](http://www.star-telegram.com/news/story/1978748.html) (Fort Worth Paper) ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2010, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/small-plane-crashes-into-building-in-austin-tx/529484/53 "2010-02-18T20:34:10Z")
> [@Magiver](#): > > Wow, what a rant. Where to start. It sounds like he tried to scam the IRS with a phony church. Then he talks about not being able to fly (because of 9/11 security restrictions) and that hurt his ability to travel on business. Any pilot will tell you it costs more to fly privately than commercially. He then talks about NOT filing his taxes because he didn’t make any money that year. He then blames the accountant for not including (his wife’s) income of $12,700. > > It looks like he suffered from serious mental problems. In the sense that stupidity is a mental problem, yes. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2010, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/small-plane-crashes-into-building-in-austin-tx/529484/54 "2010-02-18T20:38:21Z")
> [@Tom\_Tildrum](#): > > The denunciations of George W. Bush, for-profit health care, and capitalism may not fit that profile. This guy just sounds like he was angry at _everything_. I haven’t had time to read his suicide note. I was just going on what was posted earlier. Here are comments from that other board: > [@](#): > > we could use a ot more comakaza pilots, especially about the white house > [@](#): > > Another of a growing number of signs that people have had enough of predatory government. > [@](#): > > I see very little in the treatise to disagree with, personally. The points he makes are VALID…like it or not. > > It will be interesting to watch the pro-con debate. > > For all you hand-wringers that abhor ‘violence’…UNLESS, of course it comes from a jack-booted thug..the man took action to fight for what he considered right. To be fair, there are those there calling him a coward and a murderer. But most of them seem to agree with the man’s frustrations. So my earlier post was taking into account the sort of thing these guys write, along with the limited information I had at the time. ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2010, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/small-plane-crashes-into-building-in-austin-tx/529484/55 "2010-02-18T20:52:48Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > In the sense that stupidity is a mental problem, yes. When you read through the whole letter he comes off very narcissistic in the way he thinks he doesn’t have to pay taxes. ---
**Author:** ![Hippy\_Hollow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hippy_hollow/32/4841_2.png) [@Hippy\_Hollow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hippy_Hollow)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2010, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/small-plane-crashes-into-building-in-austin-tx/529484/56 "2010-02-18T20:57:31Z")
**Palo Verde** , glad your sis is okay. My realtor’s office is in Echelon IV, but they moved last week. :eek: I live in the subdivision next to the kook’s house. I actually could see the smoke plume from my house in Wells Branch. Drove down Mopac to work and could see the blown out side of the Echelon building. Like several of you, I’m wondering why he targeted that small IRS operation when the big-assed facility is down south at 35 & Woodard. Last I heard one person is not accounted for. One victim has been flown to San Antonio for burn treatment. I don’t know why these nutjobs always have to take innocent people out. Or why we give them the ace spot on the evening news for their death rants. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![suranyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@suranyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/suranyi)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2010, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/small-plane-crashes-into-building-in-austin-tx/529484/57 "2010-02-18T21:01:28Z")
I am an engineer who graduated from college at about the same time he did, and I have NO idea what he’s talking about when he references the tax law changes in 1986 that caused him such problems. I’m sure it’s just as idiotic as everything else he ranted about, but what is the real issue here? ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2010, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/small-plane-crashes-into-building-in-austin-tx/529484/58 "2010-02-18T23:33:53Z")
His rant starts out saying that the letter was started months ago for therapeutic reasons. If he was under a doctor’s care then his medical license was void. ---
**Author:** ![fuzzypickles](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/9d8465/32.png) [@fuzzypickles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fuzzypickles)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2010, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/small-plane-crashes-into-building-in-austin-tx/529484/59 "2010-02-18T23:51:29Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > In the sense that stupidity is a mental problem, yes. More selfish than stupid, I think. In fact, these mass murderers always seem to possess an overblown sense of self-entitlement, as if they are the only ones in the world who shouldn’t be allowed to suffer hardship. They claim to be victims of “the system,” but in fact _they_ are the ones who are victimizing themselves. At least we can take comfort in the fact that these murderous nimrods are very rare, no matter what the media wants us to think. ---
**Author:** ![Kolga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e56c9b/32.png) [@Kolga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kolga)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2010, 3:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/small-plane-crashes-into-building-in-austin-tx/529484/60 "2010-02-19T03:39:56Z")
I posted this in the other thread about this event. There are Facebook fan clubs about this guy. Some have been removed by Facebook, but others are popping up. “Joe Stark is a hero!” etc. Fly a plane into a building because you’re pissed at the American government’s domestic policies, and you’re a hero with fan clubs. Fly a plane into a building because you’re pissed at the American government’s foreign policies, and we bomb your country. Well, not yours. One near yours. That has citizens who look like you. Kinda. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/small-plane-crashes-into-building-in-austin-tx/529484.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/small-plane-crashes-into-building-in-austin-tx/529484.md?page=4)