California man pleads guilty to landing plane on restricted Navy island — twice

A San Diego man pleaded guilty Monday to federal charges related to twice landing his small private plane on San Clemente Island a mostly barren strip of land about miles west of San Diego that s controlled by the U S Navy and under the command of Naval Base Coronado Andrew Kyle White pleaded guilty in Los Angeles federal court to a felony count of theft of authorities property and a misdemeanor count of illegal entry into a naval installation As part of his plea he agreed to give up and not renew his pilot s license Related Articles One killed in small plane crash near Mount Hamilton Pilot who landed on California freeway announced engine sputtered after fuel tanks switched Flight crew didn t follow Cal Fire protocol before helicopter crash that killed NTSB says Plane lands safely in a California watermelon field after engine failure California racing pilots never saw each other before their midair collision at championships White admitted that he landed his single-engine plane on an airstrip on the island without the Navy s permission for the first time in October Despite signing a letter that warned him against landing on the island again and acknowledging that he could be charged with a federal crime if he did so he landed on the island a second time in April according to his plea agreement San Clemente Island has an airfield a bombing range and a training facility used by special operations units According to the Navy there are typically between and people on the island After the second landing White abandoned his plane drove off in a Navy pickup truck broke through at least one locked gate and spent a night on the island prompting Naval Base Coronado s commanding officer to place all personnel on the island on lockdown while assurance officers searched for him according to his plea agreement and other court records Mr White s unauthorized landing on San Clemente Island put Naval Base Coronado working duty and civil function members at threat while negatively impacting military readiness and costing the Department of Defense nearly man-hours and about Capt Loren Jacobi Naval Base Coronado s commanding officer wrote in a victim impact declaration to the court White s attorneys announced their client acknowledged his wrongdoing but that it was clear he did not go to the island with nefarious intentions of terrorizing the base or destroying sensitive equipment In a sentencing memorandum White s attorneys described him as a lifelong San Diegan and an intelligent young man who is passionate about everything having to do with the coastal and offshore fisheries he has grown up loving Attorneys Domenic Lombardo and Trip Johnston wrote that White has designed and built custom fishing equipment for the commercial fishing industry including harpoons and communications systems They disclosed his same curiosity and passion that led him to try to innovate solutions from the docks and his workshop also led him to begin flying and become an aerial fish-spotter One of Mr White s favorite places to fly was around the rich fishing grounds that surrounded San Clemente Island the attorneys wrote In October Mr White s curiosity got the the bulk of him and he landed his plane on a small airstrip on the island The defense attorneys did not explain for what specific purposes White landed on the island or why he returned again in April They wrote that when he was apprehended after spending the night on a beach he notified bureaucrats that he had come to the island to get away from the noise He also apologized about taking the truck saying Sorry about the bicycle Prosecutors and Naval Base Coronado s commanding officer recounted a much more harrowing ordeal following White s second landing on the evening of April When defendant landed his plane Captain Jacobi had no choice but to order a total lockdown prosecutors wrote in a sentencing memorandum He had only five defense personnel available to protect the approximately people who were located on the island and did not know the nature of the threat or the level of hostility he faced When his personnel uncovered an abandoned plane on the island he had very little information with which to evaluate the threat the Navy was facing he had no idea who the intruder was how several intruders there were whether the intruders were armed or what their intentions were He had to assume the worst Because of a thick marine layer Navy personnel from the mainland were unable to arrive on the island until the next morning Jacobi reported the court that two safety personnel had to stay with the plane overnight while three others searched in the darkness Our personnel were dangerously exposed and ill-prepared to spend a full night on patrol Jacobi wrote Night tactical movements are perpetually risky especially for junior safety personnel responding to unplanned events Additionally the overland search exposed my personnel to multiple historic bombing ranges that have not been swept for unexploded ordnance White who has been in pretrial custody for about four months is expected to be sentenced later this month Prosecutors commented they would recommend a six-month sentence that s expected to be the high-end of his guideline range while White s attorneys wrote that they plan to seek his release with credit for time served Prosecutors will also seek an order that White pay the Navy in restitution for the broken gate