A 24-year-old Palo Alto flight instructor disappeared while flying over the Pacific Ocean on May 8, and Palo Alto police and the Federal Bureau of Investigation are trying to locate him and the plane he was flying, police spokesman Sgt. Brian Philip said Friday.
William James McAdams, a flight instructor at Palo Alto Municipal Airport, allegedly took a plane from Advantage Aviation, a flight school where he worked, without permission and flew out of the airport for an unknown destination, according to police.
McAdams, a Palo Alto resident, took off in the 2011 G1000 Skyhawk 1TG, tail number N191TG at 1 a.m., Philip said. The plane’s electronic signal was picked up off the California coast near the Mexican border, but the quality and duration of the signal was not sufficient to pinpoint its last location.
“The last radar hit on the plane showed it was flying southwest over the water, about 70 miles offshore, around 2:45 a.m.,” Allen Kenitzer, Federal Aviation Administration spokesman, said.
Update: A U. S. Coast Guard spokesman said the plane sent out an emergency signal at 2:45 a.m.
No further signals have been detected.
Police have sent out alerts to local, state and federal agencies, the U.S. and Mexican Coast Guards and to all west coast airports to be on the lookout for the plane. Currently, there is no active over-water search, Philip said.
“There is no threat to the public,” he said. Authorities do not know where the pilot was headed, he added.
McAdams is also listed as the owner of Fly High Bay Area Aviation School at Palo Alto Airport, according to the company’s Facebook page. The company lists itself as an aviation supply and flight-training school. McAdams also writes aviation-training technical manuals specializing in technically advanced aircraft general aviation.
A Milwaukee, Wisconsin native, he received his Federal Aviation Administration commercial pilot certification in 2011 and was certified to operate singe- and multi-engine aircraft and had instrument certification, according to the FAA Airmen Certification Database. He gained flight-instructor certification in March 2014.
McAdams previously worked as a flight instructor at Epic Flight Academy in New Smyrna Beach, Florida, working with students from all over Asia, South America and Africa, according to his company website. He began working as a flight instructor at Advantage Aviation in Palo Alto in 2012. He also taught instrument ground school. Advantage Aviation directed inquiries for comment to Palo Alto police.
Anyone with information about McAdams or the plane is asked to call the Palo Alto Police Department at 650-329-2413.
Wonder how the theft of this airplane will be recorded by the police? Presumably this is grand theft–so will the police ultimately charge this man with a felony, or will they just drop the case if he is never heard from again?
Wonder if this guy underwent any background checks before being allowed to fly planes over Palo Alto as an instructor?
The article does not specifically state how he was able to take the plane, so possibly someone familiar with the operation of Advantage Aviation can explain how people can take their airplanes without their knowing anything about the theft of the planes.
This is Will’s sister, Bridget. I need him home and love him so much. Praying he has a safe return…
If you look at his picture on his facebook page, is it the same guy as in this mugshot (same name) – arrested in Florida two weeks before he disappeared with the plane?
Here is the mugshot – looks like the same guy to me, maybe this is a bail jumping situation.
http://openpasts.com/PublicRecord/WILLIAM-MCADAMS/1010296388668
Crime is up in Palo Alto with the recent Bloomingdales heist and the home break-in this past week, but theft of airplanes?
This is very concerning given the recent actions of the Swiss suicide pilot. And now there is the tragedy in Philly which is TBD if it was a terror act. Somebody taking off with an airplane does not sound good at all.
I would want to hear more about the security measures taken with these pilots. An FAA license alone seems to mean very little by way of screening, and apparently why many foreign nationals get their licenses from the FAA.
There is a TV show on A&E called Airplane Repo. Planes are very expensive and many are paid for on a monthly basis – like autos. Someone should check to see if the plane is “mortgaged” and who owns the papers on the plane. It is possible that he was falling behind in payments and would have to give up the plane – or the Repo guys would arrive and take over the plane. Yes – they can do that.
Or – the plane could be owned by a foreign individual and he was moving it out of reach of the Repo man because the foreign individual was not keeping up payments.
Check who owns the papers on the plane and if the payments were being kept up.
Interesting. I’ll wait for something more official. Takes a good three hours to get anywhere near the Mexican border from Palo Alto in a 172.
Nice sleuthing, Slow Down 🙂
“. . . he received his Federal Aviation Administration commercial pilot certification in 2011 and was certified to operate single and multi-engine aircraft and had instrument certification, according to the FAA Airmen Certification Database. He gained flight-instructor certification in March 2014.”
Does this mean he could be a pilot for a commercial airlines (ie: United) when he was 20-years old? And teach others to fly when he was 23?
“Does this mean he could be a pilot for a commercial airlines”
No, it means he can fly for hire such as being a flight instructor, flying cargo etc. To fly for a commercial passenger airline he would require an ATP certificate (Airline Transport Pilot).
And to actually be hire by a major carrier he would need something like 1000 hours of flight time primarily in multi-engine aircraft.
I wonder why Resident 1’s comment was removed?
It was about the financials of airplane ownership and I thought that was relevant to the possible theft scenario.
Hey – I was wondering the same thing. it was as not uncomplimentary as the one that suggested he was a bail bonds skip. I suggested that he may not be meeting the payments on the plane in which case it would result in an airplane repo. There is a TV show on A&E where they are paid to repo planes. Guess what – that is not as uncommon as you would believe.
Time to call in Stephanie Plum and Ranger ((Janet Evanovich series). They are in Trenton New jersey but do travel for special occasions. They are mob wise.
“Special occasions” goes to scenario #2 – 24 year old takes off in the dead of night traveling to presumed south of the border off coast. Or ship in ocean. HUMM – follow the money. Things have gone wrong in assumptions for take-off.
Hey Weekly – you put “theft” in your Title for this – called leading the witness.
Could this young man have ditched the plane into the ocean purposely; i.e., trying to commit suicide by airplane?
We are assuming that he was alone – possibly not true. Possibly someone else in plane with him.