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November 18, 2009

Pilot admits faking local crash

By ANDREA VanVALKENBURG

PLATTSBURGH — A Vermont flight instructor has admitted faking a plane crash at Plattsburgh International Airport earlier this year.

Nicholas Santo has been facing charges since the Jan. 30 scare, when the 59-year-old radioed a control tower in Burlington saying his Cessna had veered off the runway and flipped into a snowbank.

Santo claimed the landing lights from an incoming Cape Air flight from Boston blinded him and caused him to lose control of his plane.

His claims sent emergency personnel scrambling to find the wreckage, but authorities discovered it was a hoax.

His call delayed a passenger-filled commercial flight, which later landed safely.

Santo, who is a part owner and chief flight instructor of North Ramp Aviation in South Burlington, was charged with a felony count of falsely reporting an incident and with the misdemeanor offense of aggravated harassment.

In Plattsburgh Town Court this week, Santo pleaded guilty to third-degree falsely reporting an incident, a misdemeanor, and was fined $100.

He was also ordered to pay a $205 surcharge and an undisclosed amount of restitution, which, court officials said, had already been paid in full Wednesday.

Santo had his one-year jail sentence conditionally discharged if he remains out of trouble for the next year.

He has never publicly commented on the case.

E-mail Andrea VanValkenburg at: avanvalkenburg@pressrepublican.com

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