Plane incident a simple mix-up

Much ado about nothing.
That's what Hernando County Airport Director Don Silvernell is saying after a man's purchase of a Cessna 425 Thursday and his so-called "unauthorized" takeoff from Hernando to South Florida without the proper clearance.
As it turns out, the man, who hails from Paris, France, bought the plane and took off in it as he had every right to do, Silvernell said.
In an "abundance of caution," officials at the airport's American Aviation decided to alert air traffic controllers in Tampa and Miami after he left because there was some question about his flying ability, said Silvernell and a sheriff's report.
Eventually, two F-15 fighter jets intercepted the plane and forced the pilot down in Collier County where he was questioned and released.
The man was licensed to fly and the whole incident was "blown out of proportion," Silvernell said Friday morning.
"It was his plane and he left with it," he said.
An FAA-certified instructor who flew with the plane's new owner, Jean-Claude Courtois, recommended the pilot's flying skills be re-evaluated by another instructor, according to a sheriff's report.
The instructor also worried that Courtois could not communicate well in English and may have a problem transmitting over the radio systems, the report said.
The report said all that was explained to the pilot through a translator, and the pilot became indignant and took off in the plane anyway, a fact verified by Silvernell.
The report said American Aviation reported this to the FAA in Tampa, who advised they had no authority since he had not broken any laws.
FAA Tampa advised American Aviation officials if they believed it was a security concern they should notify Tampa Airport Approach, which they did.
Silvernell said there were never any security concerns at the airport.
And, in a related matter, Silvernell said that he has received no special instructions from the federal government after the attempted terrorist attack on Christmas Day near the Detroit Metropolitan Airport.
That incident, involving a Nigerian who attempted to set off an explosive device on a Northwest Airlines flight, prompted President Barack Obama to issue stricter screening and other security measures at airports throughout the nation.
Silvernell said Transportation Security Administration (TSA) officials - who are affiliated with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security - visit the county airport roughly once a month to look at operations. They do general ground checks and make sure all access points into the airport are controlled.
There is a 6-foot barbed wire fence that circles the perimeter of the airport preventing access by unauthorized personnel.
Because of the size and location of the Hernando County Airport, there is a level of concern by homeland security officials, Silvernell said.
The airport is roughly 30 miles from Tampa International Airport and the Crystal River Nuclear Power Plant, he said.
As for the attempted terrorist act on that Northwest flight, Silvernell said he doesn't know what more the federal government could have done to prevent that incident.
The explosive device was brought on board the airplane in a foreign country, he said.
"It's not the purview of TSA or Homeland Security Administration officials to go to foreign countries and set up (security) checkpoints," Silvernell said.