CROP DUSTER - Sprays tugboat, pleasure boat on Mississippi River, officials investigating

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Oct 20, 2001

Crop Duster Sprays Tugboat, Pleasure Boat on Mississippi River; Officials Investigating

By Jason Straziuso Associated Press Writer

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) - Emergency management officials took samples from a Mississippi River tugboat and pleasure craft after a low-flying crop duster sprayed the boats with an unknown substance.

Environmental Protection Agency officials Saturday were trying to determine what was sprayed.

A crop duster flying north passed over the tugboat near Rosedale, Miss., around 3 p.m. Friday, spraying the substance, said Kent Buckley, director of the Bolivar County Emergency Management Agency.

Matthew Tomek, a spokesman for the Bolivar County EMA, said officials think the spraying was "just a scare."

It appeared the plane released the spray on purpose, Buckley said, because it then circled around to spray a pleasure boat.

Buckley said officials suspect the substance was sodium chlorate, used to defoliate cotton crops. Buckley said that sodium chlorate is like salt water and is not dangerous.

It was unclear how many people were on the tugboat and pleasure boat, or if any of the crews were on deck when the plane passed over, Buckley said.

The investigation has been turned over to federal investigators and the FBI has been notified, said Amy Bissell, spokeswoman for the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency. The Coast Guard has jurisdiction over the Mississippi River.

Officials do not know the identity of the plane and are looking for witnesses who may have seen an identifying tail number, Buckley said.

"Apparently he was doing something he shouldn't have been doing," Buckley said. "And with the things that have been going on lately it really wasn't funny."

The tug boat was pushing 17 barges. They are grounded and quarantined, Bissell said.

AP-ES-10-20-01 2228EDT

This story can be found at : http://ap.tbo.com/ap/breaking/MGAIZV682TC.html

-- Anonymous, October 20, 2001

Answers

Gurney Seed used to own the land across the road from the nursery where I work. They used crop dusters quite frequently. The crop duster pilot is an ass and would buzz their fields just for fun whenever they had workers in the field. Then he started buzzing our fields. My boss complained, but it didn't do any good.

Then, one day, the pilot buzzed the Gurney's field and opened up his nozzles (just for fun) and whatever he sprayed drifted into our field while we were working out there. My boss got so mad, he grabbed one the workers car and drove to the airport (it's only a mile away). He waited on the runway 'til the guy landed, then grabbed him by the neck, pulled him out of his plane and threatened to beat the crap out of him if he ever flew anywhere near his property again.

THAT actually worked.

Crop duster pilots have a reputation for being asses. I've seen 'em buzz herds of livestock "just for fun", even if it results in broken fences and injured animals. I've seen 'em land on county roads and hop over cars "just for fun"--too bad if a car ends up in the ditch.

We had a pilot who liked to use our place as his turn around point. He would fly about 10 feet above the ground and hop over our barn--just for fun. Our barn is 32 feet tall at the peak, plus another 3 feet for the cupolas. As usual, complaining didn't do anything.

Pointing a rifle at him worked, though.

A friend of mine had a guy who liked to buzz her cattle. One day he kept buzzing her house 'til she came outside. The idiot pilot had finally hooked the electric line running to the farm and tore his landing gear off (it was in the middle of the feedlot).

She called the sheriff and the fire department and the pilot successfully ditched his plane in a pasture. Later, the pilot bitched her out for taking so long to come out of the house.

Asses. All of them.

-- Anonymous, October 21, 2001


Sunday October 21 6:46 PM ET

Sprayed Towboat Crew Seems Healthy

By JASON STRAZIUSO, Associated Press Writer

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) - Crew members who were aboard a Mississippi River towboat when a crop duster sprayed it with an unknown substance have reported no health problems but were given an antibiotic as a precaution, health officials said Sunday.

The towboat's skipper reported that the low-flying plane sprayed the towboat and barges Friday near Rosedale, Miss., then circled around and sprayed a pleasure craft. Officials were still searching for the pleasure boat.

``This was a deliberate act by a crop duster - this was no accident,'' said Kent Buckley of the Bolivar County Emergency Management Agency.

Buckley said officials suspect the sprayed substance was sodium chlorate, used to defoliate cotton crops. Buckley said that sodium chlorate is similar to salt water and is not dangerous.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has asked the Mississippi Department of Health to test the unknown substance, said NancyKay Wessman, spokeswoman for the state health department.

Officials do not know who owns the plane and are looking for witnesses who may have seen an identifying number, Buckley said.

It was unclear how many crew members were on the towboat or if any were on deck when the plane passed over; owners of the towboat at Metropolis, Ill.-based Mid South Towing could not be reached for comment Sunday.

Lt. Dale R. Dean of the U.S. Coast Guard said no crew members reported any symptoms. As a precaution, the crew was given the drug Cipro, the primary antibiotic used to treat anthrax, Buckley said.

The FBI is investigating; Mississippi FBI spokesman Jeffery Artis declined to comment. The Environmental Protection Agency, the Coast Guard and the CDC were also involved in the investigation.

The towboat and its 17 barges have been grounded and quarantined near Rosedale. Their contents were unknown.

-- Anonymous, October 22, 2001


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