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UPDATE. The Pilot Threatening To Crash a Plane Into a Walmart Has Gone Off Radar

The Tupelo Police Department confirmed on Saturday that a pilot made contact with air traffic control and announced that he intended to crash into a Walmart located on West Main Street. Both the targeted Walmart and nearby stores have been evacuated. Federal authorities are already helping local and state officials after Governor Tate Reeves confirmed all eyes are on the sky.
The Beech C90A King Air 6 photos
Photo: Lori London Raines on Facebook
The PlaneThe PlaneThe PlaneThe Plane's TrajectoryWal-mart
15:36 UTC Final Update - The plane has crash landed in Benton County. Fortunately, it is an unpopulated area. Local witnesses shared an image that shows the plane in a field. The pilot is reportedly alive.

Local media has found the plane and authorities are attending to the pilot at the moment. There's no smoke coming out of the aircraft. The Police are expected to make a statement soon. A WTVA 9 reporter is at the scene transmitting live.

15:22 UTC UPDATE - According to local media reporting on Facebook, the pilot works at Tupelo Regional Airport and allegedly stole the airplane. They're currently still in the air, navigating north of Gravestown and west of Falkner. The 29-year-old pilot might run out of fuel soon.

A Facebook post published a couple of minutes ago by an individual named Cory Patterson reads, "Sorry everyone. Never actually wanted to hurt anyone. I love my parents and sister this isn’t your fault. Goodbye."

It has not been yet confirmed if Patterson is indeed the person flying the plane, but his Facebook history shows he knows how to fly and has been around the Tupelo Regional Airport. Right now, the aircraft is southbound and still in the air.

The tracking has ended. The plane has last been seen near the Friendship Church Road that connects Ashland and Gravestown. "The flight with callsign N342ER is currently not tracked by Flightradar24. It's either out of coverage or has already landed," says FlightRadar24.

Initial news
An unidentified pilot is currently airborne and threatens to intentionally crash the aircraft into a Walmart located on West Main Street in Tupelo, Lee County, Mississippi. Fortunately, managers of the locations and people shopping quickly understood what was happening and dispersed before the pilot could end innocent lives.

The Tupelo Police Department asks anyone intending to go near that area to avoid it until the situation is brought under control.

It’s not yet clear if authorities are intending to talk the pilot out of it or if they will refer to more decisive action.

"State law enforcement and emergency managers are closely tracking this dangerous situation. All citizens should be on alert and aware of updates from the Tupelo Police Department," said Governor Tate Reeves.

The plane is currently flying over Gravestown and doesn’t have a clear direction. The aircraft keeps changing its course. The situation could become a more urgent one if the pilot decides to skip state lines.

Multiple sightings have confirmed that the airplane is flying at an unexpectedly low altitude while making weird maneuvers.

The Beech C90A is currently the most tracked flight worldwide on a free live air traffic platform. Over 132,000 people were watching what the pilot was doing at the time of writing.

A Beech C90A King Air costs around $750,000, has a fuel capacity of 384 gallons, and can reach a maximum speed of 250 knots (288 mph/463 kph).

Air traffic continues as normal at higher altitudes – for now. Other aircraft have been advised to avoid the area. The Tupelo Regional Airport has been blocked off.

We will update this article as soon as there is more news. Come back in a couple of minutes or hit refresh.


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About the author: Florin Amariei
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Car shows on TV and his father's Fiat Tempra may have been Florin's early influences, but nowadays he favors different things, like the power of an F-150 Raptor. He'll never be able to ignore the shape of a Ferrari though, especially a yellow one.
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