Watercooler Stories

Pilot jumps to safety as plane crashes

BOULDER, Colo., Nov. 25 (UPI) -- Jason Patton's friends say he jumped from his doomed plane to safety seconds before it crashed on takeoff at the airport in Boulder, Colo.

The Daily Camera newspaper in Boulder, Colo., said Tuesday that Patton escaped unharmed Monday when his experimental plane spun out and slammed to the ground at Boulder Municipal Airport.

Ulrich and Joan Hauser said Patton jumped from the cockpit just before the plane hit the runway and walk away from the wreck no worse for wear.

The Camera said Patton, who hails from Minnesota and lives in Guatemala as a missionary, told sheriff's deputies a slightly different tale. He said he stuck with the plane until it skidded to a stop and hopped out moments before it caught fire.

Either way, Patton himself declined to talk to the media about his escape, the Camera said.

Man, skid loader, stolen ATM take tumble

LEAVENWORTH, Kan., Nov. 25 (UPI) -- A Kansas man, a skid loader and an allegedly stolen ATM all survived a 50-foot tumble down an embankment during a burglary, police say.

Leavenworth, Kan., Police Chief Patrick Kitchens told The Kansas City Star the 49-year-old suspect sustained only minor injuries after mishandling a stolen skid loader he had allegedly used to pry an ATM loose from a federal credit union Sunday morning.

Kitchens said the suspect had succeeded in using the machine to lift the ATM from its moorings, and allegedly decided he could break it open by dropping it down a steep hill. But instead of just the ATM going over, the suspect, trapped inside the skid loader's cage, also tumbled down the embankment and through a wooded area, landing near some parked semi-trailers, the Star said.

"It is stunning that he is still alive," Kitchens told the newspaper. "We are talking about a 50-foot embankment -- basically straight down. He has the ATM, which basically weighs 3,000 pounds."

Jet-pack pilot sets world records

CANON CITY, Colo., Nov. 25 (UPI) -- Wearing a jet pack, a former TV stunt man has entered the record books by flying 1,500 feet across a gorge on the Arkansas River.

Eric Scott fired up his 135-pound pack Monday and crossed the Royal Gorge in 21 seconds at an altitude of 1,053 feet, the Rocky Mountain News reported Tuesday.

Scott set a world record for both height and distance with the 800 horsepower state-of-the-art pack designed by Denver-based Jet P.I., The Denver Post reported.

"This is the biggest adrenaline kick I've ever gotten," Scott said after landing, steam billowing from the hydrogen peroxide-fueled pack.

Scott, who has piloted rocket-powered jet packs for 16 years, crossed the gorge at an estimated 75 mph without a parachute, cables or other safety devices, the Post said.

"It's like something out of the future," said Mikey Vigil, a resident of the San Luis Valley and one of several hundred spectators who watched the flight.

Seuss lawyers crash Louisville Grinch gala

LOUISVILLE, Ky., Nov. 25 (UPI) -- Louisville, Ky., boosters say the city's annual Christmas celebration will go on as scheduled despite last-minute changes made to mollify Dr. Seuss's lawyers.

Light Up Louisville was supposed to have a "How the Grinch Stole Christmas" theme this year but that plan caught the eye of Seuss Enterprises in San Diego, which sent attorney Barbara Orr to point out copyright issues to the city, The Courier-Journal newspaper in Louisville said Tuesday.

Orr fired off a cease-and-desist letter to the Louisville Convention and Visitors Bureau, which then agreed to change the name of the kids' play area from "LouWhoVill" to "Lou-Ville" and is benching the guy in the Grinch costume, the newspaper said.