Student pilot pleads guilty to stealing plane from Perry airport, flying to Carolinas
A Houston County student pilot admitted to a federal judge on Wednesday to stealing an aircraft and flying it from Middle Georgia to the Carolinas.
Rufus Crane, 27, pleaded guilty on Wednesday to one count of interstate transportation of a stolen aircraft in front of Judge Marc Treadwell. Crane had been accused of stealing a Bonanza A-36 aircraft from the Perry-Houston County Airport hangar around midnight on May 3-4, 2024, and flying it from Georgia to North and South Carolina, according to court records.
After departing from Perry airport, Crane flew the aircraft to the JAARS-Townsend Airport in Waxhaw, North Carolina, prosecutor Elizabeth Howard said Wednesday. He also stopped at a South Carolina airport for fuel. He said he meant to return the plane to the Perry airport afterward, but instead made a stop at Cochran Municipal Airport because “the area was too foggy for him to see the runway at Perry airport and he could not land safely,” the plea agreement said.
After the fog cleared, Crane returned the aircraft to the hangar he had stolen it from.
During the flight, he had turned off the transponder, which meant he couldn’t send signals that could alert air traffic control of the plane’s location, altitude and speed, according to the court document.
As a student pilot, Crane could only legally operate a plane with a licensed pilot next to him.
He faces a maximum of 10 years in federal prison, a $250,000 fine and three years of supervised release. He may also have to pay restitution to the aircraft’s owner, in an amount to be determined at his sentencing, and $875 to the Perry airport.
Crane’s sentencing is scheduled for Sept. 17.
Crane was released on a $20,000 unsecured bond. As a result of his guilty plea, he is prohibited from operating a plane.
