Teen pilot buzzes football game

Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools on Monday suspended a 17-year-old Hopewell High School student for flying a plane over the Hopewell-North Mecklenburg football game.

The move came amid parent concerns over how a student could so easily rent a plane and fly it several times just above a packed stadium Friday night. Though some dismissed it as a prank, others in the stands feared terrorism.

The school system is investigating how many people knew that Brian Morris planned to buzz the Hopewell stadium. They found numerous student and faculty signatures on a football dropped from the single-engine Cessna 172. Two passengers also were suspended.

The Federal Aviation Administration could suspend or revoke Morris' pilot's certificate after an investigation that could take several months, spokeswoman Kathleen Bergen said. Meanwhile, Morris is free to fly, she said.

Morris received his pilot's certificate in July, FAA records show. The minimum age is 16.

Hopewell junior Kaleb Combs, a friend of Morris', said students collected $700 at the game for his bail in case he was charged. He said many students knew of plans for the flyover.

"He's an honor roll student. He's very popular, and he helped start the Hopewell Ultimate Frisbee Club," Combs said. "He's well-liked, and now a Hopewell legend."

Hopewell and North Meck are cross-town rivals, but pranks have been limited to painting the large rocks outside the schools in the other's colors, students said.

Friday's prank was different. The plane was so low over the field that the pilot dipped below stadium lights, Area Superintendent Hugh Hattabaugh said.

The FAA requires an altitude of at least 1,000 feet when flying over a large group of people. Dropping the football also may have violated FAA rules, Bergen said.

Flying so low as to endanger the public is a misdemeanor under state law. Huntersville police Capt. Michael Kee said his department "will certainly look into any criminal charges that we could levy against this young man."

Students -- including some football players -- and staff signed the ball before the game, but Hattabaugh said he thinks some "didn't have any idea whatsoever it was going to be dropped from a plane."

Hattabaugh said he didn't know whether any of the students' parents knew about the prank or helped rent the plane. The school system's investigation should conclude Wednesday, he said.

"I've been around for 27 years in public education. This is a first," he said. "I was just happy to have a car to drive to school."

A woman at what is thought to be Morris' home declined comment.

The plane was rented from the New Spirit Aviation flight school at Lincolnton-Lincoln County Regional Airport in Iron Station, New Spirit Aviation owner Roger Pipkin said. Pipkin declined further comment, citing the investigations. Cessna 172s rent for $85 an hour at New Spirit Aviation, according to its Web site.

Hopewell parent Chris Derrick, seated in the bleachers with his sons, initially thought the flight was planned by the school.

"Then we started thinking, 'This can't be right,"' Derrick said. "Normally, there would be some type of an announcement."

Adama Wakai, a Hopewell sophomore, said he also thought the school had organized the flyover.

"I thought they planned to do that," he said. "I think it was pretty cool."

It wasn't so cool to others in the stands.

North Mecklenburg parent Beth Plummer said she feared for her family's life. The plane was so low she could make out its numbers and the faces of the pilot and passengers.

"In this day and time, you think terrorist attack," she said, "and whether someone's coming out to hurt us."

(Charlotte Observer writers April Bethea, Mark Price and Tiffany R. Leonard and staff researcher Marion Paynter contributed to this report.)