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Pipe Bomb Dropped From Stolen Plane

Story Filed: Monday, October 15, 2001 7:43 PM EDT

PRESTON, Idaho (AP) -- A man stole a single-engine plane, flew it low enough to snap several power lines and dropped a homemade pipe bomb that did not explode, police said Monday.

Raymond Montgomery was arrested when he landed across the Utah state line, said K.G. Fonnesbeck, a lieutenant with the Bannock County Sheriff's Department in Idaho. No one was injured. He was not immediately charged.

The Champion 7GC was stolen from an airport in Preston, Idaho, said Norma Harris, whose husband owns the plane.

At times it flew only about 10 feet above the ground, breaking power lines and causing at least three poles to fall, Fonnesbeck said. The pipe bomb landed on Interstate 15, which runs north from Utah into Idaho, Fonnesbeck said.

The plane landed safely at a small runway on the property of Thiokol Corp., an aerospace company in Utah. The pilot flew about 50 miles.

Two F-16s were sent to intercept the plane, but it landed before the fighters arrived, said Michael Fergus, a Federal Aviation Administration spokesman.

Montgomery stole and crashed a different airplane in 1988, Shaw said. The pilot had some flying experience and prior ``alcohol offenses,'' Fonnesbeck said.

Police found Montgomery's car at the Preston airport. It was filled with canisters of aviation fuel and tools, Shaw said.

``We're not really sure what his mental status might be,'' said FBI spokesman Kevin Eaton. He said the U.S. attorney's office in Idaho is fpursuing charges against Montgomery.

-- Anonymous, October 15, 2001