What started as a nice walk on the beach with his mom ended with a trip to jail for an Arkansas pilot. Mark Jensen thought it might be nice to spend a sunny Saturday on the white sand of Tybee Island, in Savannah, Ga., so he put his taildragger (looks like a Kitfox) down and they got out to spend the day, as they apparently have done at other beaches in the past. However, the local police took a dim view of Jensen’s decision to drop in on the popular spot and, ironically, after surrounding the plane with ATVs and a Jeep, charged Jensen with operating a motorized vehicle on the beach and with reckless conduct. Mom, who wasn’t named, escaped the handcuffs and was not charged.
Police Lt. Jonathan Hagan told the Savannah Morning News there was no problem with the plane and the landing was purely for recreational purposes. “It’s unacceptable,” Hagan said. “It jeopardized the safety of our beachgoers.” The newspaper didn’t report on how the airplane got off the beach.
