The plight of the glider pilot who was arrested for overflying a nuclear powerplant in violation of zero federal or local laws reminds me of another instance in which overzealous police overstepped their bounds after a pilot did exactly what he was supposed to be doing.
It happened on New Year’s Eve in 2003. My dad, Bill Pope, a medevac helicopter pilot for the Westchester County Medical Center outside New York City, had gotten the call to pick up a critically ill newborn from Stamford Hospital in Connecticut. Along with a flight nurse and paramedic, he boarded his BK117 and took off into the dark for the short flight across the state border.
