Flight instructor sentenced for buzzing county fair
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Posted 2:51PM on Thursday, January 24, 2002
FAYETTEVILLE - A flight instructor who was in the plane when a 16-year-old student pilot at the controls buzzed the Fayette County Fair has been sentenced to 30 days in jail. <br>
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Fayette County State Court Judge Fletcher Sams also sentenced Andrew Waits, 22, of Fayetteville, to 23 months probation, fined him $2,000 and ordered him to surrender his pilot's license. <br>
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In addition, the judge said Waits will have to perform 100 hours of community service and write an essay on flight instructors' responsibilities before and after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. <br>
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The Fayette County Sheriff's Department said the teen-ager was at the controls of the single-engine plane that made two very low passes over the fair the night of Sept. 25, alarming a crowd jittery after the attacks on Washington and New York. <br>
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The student pilot earlier was placed on probation for an indefinite period, fined $200, ordered to perform 40 hours of community service and told to write an essay about the consequences of his actions. <br>
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Waits, who pleaded guilty to two counts of unlawful flight, will report to jail in April. <br>
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