Tampa, Fla. — A 15-year-old student pilot took off in a small plane without permission Saturday and crashed into a skyscraper after ignoring a Coast Guard helicopter's signals to land, authorities said.
The crash occurred after Charles J. Bishop's grandmother brought him to the National Aviation flight school for a 5 p.m. flying lesson, said Marianne Pasha, a Pinellas County Sheriff's Office spokeswoman. She said an instructor told Bishop to check the plane's equipment before the lesson.
"The next thing the instructor knew he was gone," Pasha said.
Though terrorism was quickly discounted, the televised image of a plane blasting a hole in the side of a skyscraper was a chilling reminder of the World Trade Center attacks. The plane's tail dangled near the 28th floor of the 42-story Bank of America building.
Officials would not immediately confirm it was Bishop, but The Los Angeles Times identified the victim as Bishop. It was unknown whether anyone in the building was injured.
Bishop, of nearby of Palm Harbor, had been taking lessons for two years, Pasha said.
Air traffic controllers at the St. Petersburg-Clearwater Airport notified the Coast Guard that the four-seat 2000 Cessna 172R had taken off without clearance, said Coast Guard Lt. j.g. Charlotte Pittman.
A Coast Guard helicopter intercepted the plane and attempted to give the pilot visual signals to land at a small airport, but the pilot did not respond, Pittman said.
In Portland, Ore., where President Bush was visiting, White House spokesman Scott McClellan said "there is no indication" of terrorism.
Gordon Johndroe, a spokesman for the Office of Homeland Security, said there was also no sign of terrorist involvement in small-plane crashes Saturday in California, Colorado and Puerto Rico.
Capt. Kirstin Reimann at the North American Aerospace Defense Command said two F-15s were scrambled from Homestead Air Reserve Base.
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