The story of Thomas Fitzpatrick, who landed a plane in downtown New York twice

It is well known that alcohol can prompt a person to do the strangest and riskiest things. This happened to Thomas Fitzpatrick, who, in order to win an argument in a bar, hijacked a plane and landed it in the center of New York right on the street. He got away with the drunken prank, and he soon repeated it again.

Military pilot from New Jersey Thomas Fitzpatrick was drinking with friends in a New York bar on September 30, 1956. After several servings of strong alcohol, the usual argument arose between the drinking buddies - which of them was cooler. As a result, Thomas made a bet that he could get from his home state of New Jersey to New York in 15 minutes.

That same night, an inebriated Fitzpatrick returned to his home state. But instead of lying down and sleeping it off, he decided to win the argument. At 3 a.m., the pilot hijacked a light single-engine Cessna 140 aircraft from the Teterboro Aeronautics School. He successfully lifted it into the air and soon landed without incident on one of the streets of the Big Apple.

He landed the plane directly on St. Nicholas Avenue and “parked” it right outside the bar where he had argued with friends that evening. Thomas's act became a sensation, and dozens of newspapers wrote about it in the morning. At the same time, almost no one condemned the pilot, and The New York Times even called his trick “spectacular.”

The police did not consider Fitzpatrick’s hijacking and dangerous landing in the center of the metropolis a serious offense. The pilot got off with a modest fine of $100. The owner of the aircraft, who decided not to sue the reckless driver, had no complaints against him either. On the contrary, the owner of the aeronautics school was pleased with the advertising of his business, which the whole country learned about.

But it is clear that impunity does not lead to anything good. Two years later, Fitzpatrick again got into a drunken argument with patrons at another bar. They did not believe that he was that legendary dashing pilot. In the end, everything happened again. Thomas returned to New Jersey again, and that same night he hijacked a plane from a local airfield. He again made the flight without incident and landed on the roadway.

This time they decided not to forgive the air hooligan. Thomas Fitzpatrick was tried and sentenced to 6 months imprisonment and a fine. After serving his sentence, he no longer committed drunken exploits and settled down. The Korean War hero and Purple Heart recipient took a job as a locomotive engineer, got married and became the father of three sons.

The pilot died in 2009 at the age of 79. A popular alcoholic cocktail in the United States, Late Night Flight, was named in his honor. Thomas Fitzpatrick argued while drunk and got nothing but dubious fame. But there are people who earn a lot of money from betting and do equally amazing things.