Amateur Pilot's Bizarre Flight to Cuba
Aug. 1 -- Another bizarre chapter was added to the annals of U.S.-Cuba relations on Tuesday, when a Florida Pizza Hut driver allegedly stole a small plane and flew it to Havana.
John Reese, alternatively identified by The Miami Herald as Milo John Reese, 55, was allegedly taking his first solo flying lesson from Marathon, Fla.-based Paradise Aviation when he suddenly declared that he was afraid to land.
Then he broke off radio contact and flew 140 miles south from the Florida Keys, eventually crash-landing the school's four-seat Cessna 172 just outside the Cuban capital, Havana.
‘He Said He Was Afraid’
"He said he couldn't land, he said he was afraid," Paradise Aviation Vice President Ute Steigerwald told Reuters. "The instructor talked him through it. Then about 100 yards out he turned toward the ocean and didn't come back."
Although he was tracked by U.S. Navy planes in the area, Reese did not respond to their radio signals, either, and pilots could do little more than watch as he entered Cuban airspace.
Witnesses in Cuba say Reese first tried to land the aircraft on a road, then skimmed the ocean, lost a tire and then turned over on the rocky coast just outside of Havana.
Reports from that city say he walked from the wreck dazed and scratched up, but seemed mostly unhurt. He was taken away by police.
"He said his name was 'Juan Miguel,' that he was from Florida and he asked for some water," Fabian Molina Herrera, a 19-year-old student, told The Associated Press.
"He looked alright, but a bit scared," local resident Johan Mora told Reuters.
U.S. officials said Reese was being treated at a Havana hospital, but there has been no official comment from the Cuban government, not even to acknowledge that the incident took place.
Why Did He Do It?
The political implications of a Cuba landing — and that Reese made no radio contact once he was under way — has led to speculation that he was not the novice pilot he made himself out to be, and perhaps had some other motive for his mystery flight.
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