By Jeff Lipton
An Atlantic Beach man who entered restricted airspace around LaGuardia Airport in his single-engine plane last week may not be out of the woods just yet, the Federal Aviation Administration said.
Although the 47-year-old pilot, Richard Langone, has not been charged with a crime and the incident has initially been chalked up to pilot error, the investigation is still continuing, said FAA spokesman Jim Peters. Langone took the plane along the East River, buzzing the Statue of Liberty.
Peters said that although the incident is being attributed to pilot error, and Langone-s plane was not seen as a threat to the area-s security, the pilot is aware of the rules of flying and could not feign ignorance.
We filed a pilot deviation report because he flew through that airspace without FAA approval, Peters said.
In addition, he said, a letter of investigation has been sent to Langone, outlining the exact offenses he committed. We-re telling him exactly the act he-s in violation of, Peters said.
Peters added that the FAA will give Langone an opportunity to request an informal briefing, with or without his attorney present, to hear his side if the FAA decides to take any action against the pilot based on the ongoing investigation into what happened on Sunday, Dec. 28, at 1:20 p.m. The incident which occurred when America-s terror alert level had been raised to orange, or high caused police from Nassau County and New York City to scramble helicopters equipped with machine guns to escort the plane out of the restricted airspace.
Peters said Langone could either accept the FAA-s findings or appeal them to a court of law.
Based on the FAA-s findings, Langone may face civil penalties, or the FAA could seek the suspension or revocation of his pilot-s license. Langone has been a pilot for about 18 months, officials said.
Right now a violation has been filed against him, Peters said, adding that the investigation could take months. It-s too early to tell what will happen with this.
In the meantime, law-enforcement sources revealed that Langone has a criminal past and a violent history. He was charged in the shooting death of 18-year-old Peter Miller in an incident on 243rd Street in Queens on Nov. 15, 1974, the day Langone turned 18, sources said. He was convicted of second-degree murder and was sentenced by Supreme Court Justice Kenneth Brown to 15 years to life in prison in October 1975, sources said.
Langone was released from prison in 1991.
Peters said that being convicted of a felony is not a barrier to getting a pilot-s license.
He added that Langone-s actions on Dec. 28 did not pose a threat to security because at the time of the incident there were no flights in or out of LaGuardia. There was no chance that he would be interfering with any other aircraft, Peters said.
Airspace above a commercial airport is restricted, Peters explained, and pilots need the permission of the controlling FAA authorities to enter it. Langone, he said, never requested that permission.
Airspace above New York City is controlled airspace, Peters said. For him to fly over it, he needed to call the FAA to enter it, and nobody gave him the OK to do that.
Langone left Republic Airport in Farmingdale on his way to Poughkeepsie in his single-engine Mooney aircraft with three friends at around noon on Dec. 28.
He entered restricted airspace above the Throgs Neck Bridge, flew over LaGuardia and down the East River, buzzing the Statue of Liberty.
He then made his way back to Lindenhurst and then returned to Farmingdale, where he was intercepted by police helicopters.
After the plane was escorted to the ground, Langone was interviewed by authorities, who did not charge him after he told them he goofed. But he has since been issued the violation.
Since he was in controlled airspace, procedures allow us to identify an unidentified aircraft and intercept it, Peters said.
Langone could not be reached for comment.
