There’s a lot to see from a plane and those beautiful aerial views. But an Arkansas man’s first airplane flight turned from serenity to outrage and panic when he happened to spot his home from above – while being burglarized. The robbery scene gives whole new meaning to a fear of flying.
A guy in mid-flight found himself literally helpless -- while scoping out fishing conditions -- as a homeowner’s attempt to snap some beautiful aerial shots ended with a private viewing of his house being robbed. Video footage may prove very worthwhile. Steven Lynn says he saw two men stealing property from his house: "I looked down [from the airplane], and sure enough, there was a truck hooked onto a trailer, and guys were loading stuff up." That 'stuff' included the expensive stuff, like air conditioners and metal.
Apparently not even the overhead plane, a Cessna flying low, deterred the home burglary in process.
But phoning a nearby uncle and 911 did help -- the calls causing the two guys to unload the trailer and bust out from the scene of the crime when Lynn’s uncle arrived. And while he couldn’t do anything any in the air, the homeowner’s aerial view did help nab the thieves: The pilot and Lynn's uncle followed the thieves until cops were able to catch up on ground -- turn-by-turn directions provided by the pilot and on-board passenger to help locate the robbers.
Amazingly most of the stolen goods were recovered – but unfortunately the homeowner got robbed from not just one home but two: It turns out that, while he saw burglars robbing his private residence, he also owns the house next door – and that place had been robbed of new ceiling fans, tools and that oh-so-precious copper wire.
The experience may not make the guy from Arkansas a new frequent flier: "It's slim to none that you would ever see anything like that [a burglary] happening. I never would have expected it. "I just wanted to see my house from the air, but to see something like that is a complete mood change.
No word on the guy's next scheduled flight. Maybe after he's retired to a back woods trailer to live a life of blissful fishing -- and sold those homes.