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15yr old crashes plane Original Source Link: (May no longer be active)    http://www.heraldtribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?Date=20021111&Category=APN&ArtNo=211110814&Ref=AR http://www.heraldtribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?Date=20021111&Category=APN&ArtNo=211110814&Ref=AR Report: Suicide pilot nearly hit MacDill tower By MITCH STACY Associated Press Writer A 15-year-old student pilot flew "just a few feet" over the MacDill Air Force Base control tower before committing suicide by slamming his small plane into a downtown skyscraper in January, a new federal report says. The National Transportation Safety Board report released Monday contained few new details about Charles Bishop's Jan. 5 suicide flight, but says he flew the stolen Cessna 172R dangerously close to the MacDill tower and then 75 to 100 feet over two loaded tanker planes on the flight line. After buzzing three base hangars, the plane "turned crosswind as if attempting to return when the U.S. Coast Guard helicopter appeared and the airplane proceeded northeast towards Tampa," the report said. The Coast Guard helicopter intercepted the plane but was unsuccessful at getting Bishop to land, the report said. The 3 1/2-page document does not speculate whether the base - home to U.S. Central Command, the military's nerve center for the war in Afghanistan - may have been his intended target. In a two-page note found in his flight bag, Bishop expressed sympathy for Osama bin Laden and supported the Sept. 11 attacks on America. He also claimed he had resisted recruiting attempts by al-Qaida terrorists. But authorities said they've found no evidence to support his claims or that the crash was an act of terrorism. The NTSB report calls the crash a suicide and makes no mention of Bishop's terrorism claims. MacDill officials did not immediately return calls seeking comment Monday. Without turning on his radio or transponder, Bishop stole the plane from the Clearwater flight school where he had been taking lessons just minutes before he was to begin his first night flight. He flew the four-seat aircraft into the 28th floor of the 42-story Bank of America Plaza in downtown Tampa, killing himself. Nobody else was hurt. "The controller at MacDill said (Bishop) flew by their tower, he flew around the Coast Guard helicopter that came around and then flew off toward downtown," NTSB investigator Butch Wilson said Monday. Bishop's family sued the maker of the acne drug Accutane for $70 million in April, claiming that the medicine prompted his suicide. The suit claims the drug caused severe psychosis. The boy's family said he was not depressed, had good grades and plans for his future. He acted normally on the day of the crash, folding his laundry, doing chores and having lunch with his grandmother before she took him to the Clearwater flight school for a lesson. A message left with the family's attorney seeking comment Monday was not immediately returned. Bishop had accumulated 19.3 hours of flight time beginning with his first lesson on May 17, 1998, the NTSB report said. The document released Monday is known as a "fact report." A final report on the crash will be released later. Last modified: November 11. 2002 5:03PM

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