Friday April 23, 2004

Pirate Radio Seized
When Frantzler Narcisse talked, pilots at Lantana Airport and Palm Beach International couldn't listen ... to each other and air traffic control. Authorities dismantled Narcisse's pirate radio station last week after pilots complained his signal was blocking communications at the two airports. "That was one hell of a dirty transmitter," Terry Jones, a news helicopter pilot, told The Palm Beach Post. FAA officials tuned into Narcisse's signal and found the illegal setup on the second floor of his Palm Beach home. He turned the radio equipment over to the FCC to avoid prosecution. In Australia, a teenager who pleaded guilty to interfering with radio communication at Perth Airport could be going to jail. Scott Bradley Pike pleaded guilty to two counts of illegal use of a transmitter without a license and in a matter likely to prejudice the safety of an aircraft. As AVweb www.avweb.com told you last month, Pike was caught making bogus calls to ATC and aircraft. The court was told that in one transmission he threatened to "bring back explosives and blow up all of you bastards." He apparently also told one pilot to bail out because his aircraft was on fire and sang nursery rhymes in another transmission. He'd been smoking pot and drinking at the time. He could go to jail for two years or face $13,000 (AUD) in fines, or both.

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