As FAA Investigates, Most Laugh Off Gyrocopter Stunt

Stephen Pope

Thursday, April 16, 2015 at 07:49 PM ET

Verified

Key Takeaways:

Mailman Doug Hughes deliberately landed a gyrocopter on the Capitol lawn as a pre-planned protest to highlight campaign finance reform.
The unauthorized flight prompted an FAA investigation and was condemned by AOPA, but the public largely reacted with amusement.
While raising concerns about security breaches in Washington D.C.'s protected airspace, the incident did not negatively impact general aviation, partly due to the unusual nature of the gyrocopter.

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With his harebrained landing of a gyrocopter on the Capitol lawn to hand deliver hundreds of protest letters to Congress, mailman Doug Hughes has put a new twist on the expression “going postal.”

The FAA says it’s launching a full-scale investigation of the unauthorized flight. AOPA quickly labeled the stunt “unacceptable.” Most everybody else, meanwhile, seems to be laughing off Hughes’ impromptu arrival on the Washington, D.C. Mall in his self-described “flying bicycle.”