Pilot threatening to crash stolen plane into a Walmart store in city lands safely: Mississippi Gov
Washington, Sep 3: A pilot, who was circling a stolen airplane for hours over Tupelo, a city in the state of Mississippi in the US, and threatened to intentionally crash it into a Walmart store has been taken into custody after he landed the aircraft safely, Governor Tate Reeves said on Saturday.
Mississippi Governor Reeves announced on Twitter that the situation has been resolved and that no one was injured.
The plane over North MS is down. Thankful the situation has been resolved and that no one was injured. Thank you most of all to local, state, and federal law enforcement who managed this situation with extreme professionalism, Reeves said in a tweet.
The pilot was taken into police custody, authorities said.
The nine-seater airplane started circling over Tupelo, Mississippi, about 5 am local time, when the pilot made contact with 911, issuing the threat, according to CNN.
It was airborne for more than five hours, which police described as a dangerous situation.
About 8:30 am local time, the plane was north of Tupelo, police said.
A government source said the aircraft was later flying over the Holly Springs National Forest, CNN reported.
A reporter of local television station WTVA showed footage of the plane perched in a field, according to the BBC.
The Daily Journal, a local newspaper, reported that the pilot of the plane is an employee of Tupelo Regional Airport.
Authorities believe the aircraft a Beechcraft King Air C90A was stolen.
An online flight tracking service showed the plane meandering in the sky for several hours and following a looping path.
Details of the conversation between the pilot and police while he was in the air, or his identity, were not immediately made public, the BBC reported.
Meanwhile, the Walmart and another nearby store were earlier evacuated by security officials, while citizens were asked to avoid the area.
The Federal Aviation Administration said it "is aware and is coordinating with local law enforcement," the agency told CNN Saturday.
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India harbouring big and bold dreams in space sector: Shubhanshu Shukla
Kolkata (PTI): Air Force Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla, the first Indian astronaut to go to the International Space Station, on Wednesday said the country is harbouring “big and bold dreams”, foraying into human spaceflight after a hiatus of 41 years.
Shukla was the first Indian to visit the International Space Station as part of the Axiom-4 mission. He returned to India from the US on August 17, 2025, after the 18-day mission.
The space is a “great place to be”, marked by deep peace and an “amazing view” that becomes more captivating with time, he said, interacting with schoolchildren at an event organised by the Indian Centre for Space Physics here.
“The longer you stay, the more you enjoy it,” Shukla said, adding on a lighter note that he “actually kind of did not want to come back”.
Shukla said the hands-on experience in space was very different from what he had learnt during training.
He said the future of India’s space science was “very bright”, with the country harbouring “very big and bold dreams”.
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Shukla described his ISS flight, undertaken with support from the US, as a crucial “stepping stone” towards realising India’s ‘Vision Gaganyaan’.
“The experience gained is a national asset. It is already being used by internal committees and design teams to ensure ongoing missions are on the right track,” he said.
Shukla said the country’s space ambitions include the Gaganyaan human spaceflight programme, the Bharatiya Station (India’s own space station), and eventually a human landing on the Moon.
While the Moon mission is targeted for 2040, he said these projects are already in the pipeline, and the field will evolve at a “very rapid pace” over the next 10-20 years.
He told the students that though these targets are challenging, they are “achievable by people like you”, urging them to take ownership of India’s aspirations.
The sector will generate “a lot of employment opportunities” as India expands its human spaceflight capabilities, he noted.
Echoing the iconic words of India’s first astronaut Rakesh Sharma, Shukla said that from orbit, “India is still the best in the world”.
Shukla also asserted that the achievement was not his alone, but that of the entire country.
“The youth of India are extremely talented. They must stay focused, remain curious and work hard. It is their responsibility to help build a developed India by 2047,” he said.
Highlighting a shift from Sharma’s era, Shukla said India is now developing a full-fledged astronaut ecosystem.
With Gaganyaan and future missions, children in India will be able to not only dream of becoming astronauts, but also achieving it within the country, he said.
“Space missions help a village kid believe he can go to space someday. When you send one person to space, you lift million hopes. That is why such programmes must continue... The sky is not the limit,” Shukla said.
“Scientists must prepare for systems that will last 20-30 years, while ensuring they can integrate technologies that will emerge a decade from now,” he said.
Shukla added that he looked forward to more space missions, and was keen to undertake a space walk, which will require him to "train for another two years".
