The pilot of a small twin-engine plane flying over the Mississippi on Saturday is threatening to crash into a supermarket, police in the city of Tupelo, in this southern state of the United States, announced.
At around 5 a.m. (local time), the Tupelo police were notified that the pilot of a plane was flying over this city of nearly 38,000 inhabitants, she said on her Facebook page. “The pilot has contacted the emergency services and is threatening to intentionally crash into a Wal Mart,” the statement said without giving the pilot’s motivations, with whom the police were able to start talking.
Tupelo police also say they worked to evacuate the supermarket and a gas station nearby.
Situation described as “dangerous”
According to flight-tracking site FlightAware, the aircraft is a Beechcraft King Air 90, a device nearly 11 meters long and with a wingspan of just over 15m.
The emergency services are on alert in the face of this situation described as “dangerous” by the police, who are asking residents to avoid the area. “With the mobility of an aircraft of this type, the danger zone is even greater than Tupelo,” she warns.
