On this day, Feb. 17, in 1974, U.S. Army Pvt. Robert K. Preston buzzed the White House with a stolen helicopter.
At about 2 a.m., Preston commandeered a UH-1B “Huey” helicopter from Fort Meade and began buzzing the D.C. suburbs before flying to the White House. For six minutes, Preston hovered over the White House before briefly landing about 150 feet from the West Wing.
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Preston pulled the chopper back up, and two Maryland State Police helicopters gave chase. In a brief dogfight around the Washington Monument, Preston forced one of the helicopters down and returned to the White House. Police riddled the copter with bullets, forcing the craft to the South Lawn.
Preston, a 20-year-old who had flunked out of Army flight school, said he staged the incident to prove his pilot skills. He served two months of a six-month sentence at Fort Riley, Kan.
– Scott McCabe
