A man without a pilot's license faces felony charges for flying a small plane in Fredericksburg, Virginia, federal officials say.
Ryan Guy Parker is accused of flying out of Shannon Airport in September 2018, court documents filed earlier this month say.
Witnesses said Parker flew an unsafe "bucket of bolts." At one point, he passed over large tanks containing 18,000 gallons of fuel, flying over them at only about 50 feet. An accident involving the fuel tanks would be "like a bomb going off at the airport," one witness told officials.
Parker flew in "patterns" for at least 10 minutes and then "bounced the airplane on landing and spun out," officials say that video taken by witnesses shows.
The witnesses said the weather was bad enough that day and visibility was so low that it would be unsafe for anyone to fly.
Parker was charged following an investigation by the U.S. Department of Transportation's Office of the Inspector General.
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"Untrained individuals operating airplanes in any manner pose a significant risk of injury and death to themselves and the public," a special agent wrote.
