’Copter pilot questioned

Press, Volume CXIV, Issue 33463, 19 February 1974, Page 13

’Copter pilot questioned

(N.Z.P. A.-Reuter—Copyright) WASHINGTON, February 18.

Secret Service agents were today interrogating a failed military pilot who stole a United States Army helicopter and was forced down by gunfire on the lawn of the White House.

They were trying to find out whether the 20-year-old Army private, Robert Preston, who has about 60 hours experience as a pilot in civilian aircraft, was simply on a wild escapade from his base at Fort Meade, some 40 kilometres north-east of Washington.

the psychiatric section of the Walter Reed Army Hospital outside Washington under close guard. He has been charged with unlawful entry into the White House grounds and also faces Army charges of stealing military property.

Or was he lodging a dramatic protest at his failure to qualify as an Army helicopter pilot? But whatever his motive, Preston’s two-hour flight early yesterday appeared certain to pose questions about the effectiveness of security for the President and his family—as well as security at military installations. There was no danger to President Nixon on this occasion. He was at his home in Key Biscayne, Florida. Among questions that might be asked are: How was the Huey-1 HB helicopter stolen so easily from Fort Meade? How did it manage to evade pursuing police aircraft along a main highway? Why did military aircraft not intercept it? What protection was there—apart from shotguns fired by secret servicemen—to keep it from buzzing the White House? Preston, who suffered superficial gunshot wounds in the leg and buttocks, is in