AOPA Pilot Magazine - February 2013 - 65

ROBIN FLEMING inspects his Rolladen-

Schneider LS8-18 sailplane at his base
in South Carolina.

the evening before—five hours after his
arrest. She told him his friends would work
on his release the next day; Frank Reid spent
half the night finding a lawyer to represent
Fleming. In the morning that lawyer told
Fleming that his hearing should take place
at 4 p.m. In the meantime, Fleming would
be questioned by DHS and the FBI.
Fleming estimated he had been awake
for almost 30 hours when he entered the
room where a special agent from the FBI, an
aviation security inspector from DHS, and
a woman whose affiliation he can’t remember waited to question him. He recalled that
someone told him there was no intention
of charging him with any federal offenses
related to the incident, and that he was
asked to explain the intent of his flight. He
explained how he navigated by VFR charts
and that no restrictions were charted in the
area of the plant. A British-born American
citizen, Fleming also answered questions
about his background and how long he had
been a citizen of the United States.
To the attorney representing Fleming
at the bail hearing and subsequent court
appearance, the case was not aviation

related—it was about the breach of peace
charge. But to Fleming, it was bigger. He
had been flying legally in that airspace, and
local law enforcement had no authority
to order him out of the sky. A member of
AOPA’s Pilot Protection Services, he sought
additional assistance from John Hodge,
a lawyer and 17,000-hour pilot. From the
FAA’s perspective, Fleming’s flight was legal
and legitimate: No restricted or prohibited
areas were charted. Local law enforcement
does not have the authority to order an aircraft to land, Hodge said. Any argument
that Fleming delayed in complying with the
request to land must take into account the
nature of a sailplane: With no engine, it can’t
simply go directly from Point A to Point B.
Hodge noted that a sheriff ’s department with an aircraft can consult with the
pilot on aviation matters, but departments
like the Darlington County Sheriff’s Office
don’t have access to that knowledge. In fact,
a helicopter from a nearby county came to
the Hartsville airport during the incident.
Griffin said the Chesterfield County Sheriff
helicopter flew in, and the pilots left when
they found out what was going on. “They

pulled out a chart and they said, Look here,
nothing in this chart says you cannot fly over
the nuclear plant,” she said. “Nothing.”
Griffin said she told the officers on the
scene to clear the runway, and one officer
talked about commandeering the airport:
“He was running around saying, We were
going to shoot him down,” she said.
FLEMING WAITED outside the courtroom as
his case went before the judge. When his
attorney returned and said the case would
be dismissed if he agreed not to take any
legal action against Darlington County
law enforcement, he reluctantly agreed.
Fleming had cleared his name, but he
wouldn’t be satisfied until he could be sure
a pilot can rely on the sectional for direction and not go through a similar ordeal.
Fleming hopes no other pilots will be subjected to the same nightmarish ordeal he
experienced, or the breach of peace charge
that shocked him and those who know him.
“It was the police that breached the peace,”
Fleming said. 
AOPA
EMAIL sarah.brown@aopa.org
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AOPA Pilot Magazine - February 2013

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