A single-engine plane was stolen from a Thunder Bay, Ont., aviation school Monday afternoon, sparking a bizarre chase through U.S. airspace that ended in a small Missouri town.
The Cessna 172 was taken around 2:55 p.m. ET and soon crossed into the United States, passing over Wisconsin and Illinois as it was tracked by two F-16 fighter jets.
dirt road in the southern Missouri town of Ellsinore and fled on foot.
Authorities allege 31-year-old Adam Dylan Leon, a native of Turkey who became a Canadian citizen last year, flew the stolen plane. He was arrested just outside Ellsinore late Monday night.
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Lt.-Cmdr. Gary Ross, a spokesperson for the North American Aerospace Defense Command, said the pilot did not respond to radio calls from the jets or the FAA during the entire pursuit.
He also said the pilot refused to acknowledge the nonverbal communications from the F-16 jets to follow them. It appears the plane only landed as it came close to running out of fuel.
At about 5 p.m., the state capital building in Madison, Wis., was evacuated before the plane passed near the region. Police cars cordoned off the streets around the building and officers told people to move away from the area.
