This column first appeared in April 2014.
Just for a moment, let’s revisit those dark days of Watergate in the Nixon White House. Julie Nixon Eisenhower was recovering from emergency surgery in her penthouse suite high atop the IU Med Center in the Circle City and her daddy, the President, was on his way to rescue her. Good thing, too, because at 2 a.m. on February 17, 1974, private first class Robert K. Preston was busy buzzing the White House in a stolen U.S. Army Bell UH-1 Iroquois helicopter.
The 20-year-old Preston stole the “Huey” from the Fort George G. Meade airbase located midway between the cities of Baltimore, Annapolis and Washington, D.C. It was Zero-Dark-Thirty (after midnight) when PFC Preston, a wannabe helicopter pilot who had washed out of training, crept across the tarmac and boarded the Huey. Although the aircraft sat unarmed, it was kept fueled and flight ready on the flight line. Using his training, he easily fired the bird up, pulled on the controls and rose into the night. At first, he orbited the base under cover of darkness, enjoying the view while hovering above base housing. But soon he grew bored and set out for a new destination — the White House. He had no malice in mind, he simply wanted to prove that his skills were good enough to pull it off.
Preston was originally stationed in Panama City, Florida. Although training to become a certified helicopter pilot, he was booted out due to a “deficiency in the instrument phase” or in other words, he “screwed the pooch” by failing his instrument check ride. It was a devastating blow to PFC Preston, who had enrolled in the Junior ROTC program while still a student at Rutherford High School in Panama City with dreams of a lifetime military career. The Vietnam War was winding down and the U.S. withdrawal was largely complete, leaving the South Vietnamese military to fight against the North. Preston had been on a fast track to combat readiness, his biggest fear being that he would miss the big show.
Failing the check ride, however, meant that he was done. True, a future career in the military might await, but Preston was “Fangs Out” to achieve his dream. He wanted to fly these birds, not wash them. Furthermore, he still considered himself to be a damn good helicopter pilot and now he was going to prove it by doing some “flathatting” (aviator slang for unauthorized low level flying). With the war winding down and the need for combat pilots waning, Preston now believed he had been the victim of an intentional “weed-out.” He could think of no better way to prove himself than to show his skills to the President of the United States, Richard M. Nixon, in person.
When he left Fort Meade without tower clearance, Army controllers had no idea Preston’s intended flight plan was to the White House. Since Preston took a rather meandering course to the Executive Mansion, it appears that at first, neither did he. The air defenses around the nation’s Capitol in those days were somewhat lax and the Secret Service had no clue of his intentions either. Although policies regarding shooting down aerial intruders who might threaten the President were defined, they were by no means airtight. Besides, President and Mrs. Nixon weren’t in the White House.
PFC Preston flew at “Ground Pounder/Mud Mover” speed (low level) across Anne Arundel County, at one point landing in a parking lot, where he shut down and got out to “kick the tires and light the fires,” running a couple of times around the helicopter to look for damage before restarting and continuing on. He continued to fly at tree-top levels across the town of Dorsey, landing several more times as he passed. At one point, Preston buzzed a pursuing police car so low that he cut the car’s radio antenna. He then buzzed Baltimore-Washington International Airport before turning southeast and flying low along the Baltimore-Washington Parkway, dodging between electrical wires and trees in what pursuing police described as “masterful” flying.
When PFC Preston arrived in Washington, he took a flight down the Anacostia River, turned north at the Capitol Street Bridge and then flew directly towards the White House. It was about 1 a.m. when he buzzed the White House for the first time, much to the chagrin of the frazzled Secret Service agents. Then Preston hovered above it for six long, nerve-racking minutes. At that time, policy dictated not to fire on an “aerial intruder” if there was any chance it might endanger innocent bystanders. So they watched and waited, guns drawn. Finally, PFC Preston disengaged from his lofty, threatening perch to land on the South Lawn about 100 yards from the fence between the White House and the Washington Monument. By then, two Maryland Police helicopters from nearby Baltimore had flown down and were hovering nearby.
Suddenly, Preston’s bird sprang back up into the night skies with the police copters in hot pursuit. An extended low level tail chase ensued. For that brief moment, PFC Robert K. Preston proved that he was an expert pilot after all, as he outmaneuvered the two helicopters at ever turn. He even managed to drive one down in the process. The second helicopter broke off but stayed nearby after what officials called, “a modern day dogfight.” It was nearly 2 a.m. when PFC Preston decided to buzz the White House one more time, but now, his fuel was running low.
Along the way, he flew up to the Washington Monument, hovering seven feet in the air along the base for a moment before flying straight north onto the White House’s South Lawn. There he hovered menacingly just above the grass, leading officials to believe that Preston was preparing to crash his bird into the building. Suddenly, the second Maryland Police helicopter landed between him and the White House as Secret Service agents rushed the helicopter. Then, without warning, they opened fire with handguns, shotguns, and sub-machine guns hoping to cripple the helicopter. PFC Preston was himself hit with a shotgun blast, but was only slightly injured. But that shot meant playtime was over and Preston landed the damaged helicopter at once. Later, Secret Service agents insisted that it was the damage from the gunfire that had knocked the aircraft out of the sky, leaving the Secret Service to conclude that it had thwarted the attack. Either way, they were right.
The Secret Service and Maryland Police rushed in while PFC Preston jumped clear and, though badly outnumbered, began to fight them hand to hand. Within moments, he was subdued, handcuffed, and taken into the White House for questioning. There, Preston said he angry over not being allowed to continue training to be a helicopter pilot, and that he staged the incident to prove his skill as a pilot. Eventually, he was transferred to Walter Reed Hospital for treatment for his injuries — mainly the removal of shotgun pellets.
The following day, while being escorted to a waiting police car, he was grinning from ear-to-ear for the press. When asked why he had flown back to the White House a second time, he said that he knew it was wrong to fly over the White House so he had flown back to turn himself in. The Secret Service ordered psychological testing. Ultimately, all civil charges were dropped and he was left to the military court system. In a plea bargain, he pled guilty to “wrongful appropriation and breach of the peace,” and was sentenced to one year in prison and fined $2,400. This amounted to a six-month sentence, since he had already served an equal time in jail awaiting trial and sentencing.
Ironically, PFC Preston’s stunt worked on two counts. He had indeed proven that he was a pretty darn good helicopter pilot while simultaneously proving that he was not up to the psychological, ethical and moral standards of the US Army. Preston has managed to keep out of the public eye for the past four decades. When last heard from, he was reportedly a mild mannered clerk in an unnamed shoe store.
While PFC Robert K. Preston was most likely not trying to assassinate Richard Nixon, it can’t be denied that his actions could be construed as such. Not to mention, Preston’s story takes on an ominous portent when viewed alongside the events of 9-11. Some have suggested that Preston’s actions inspired Samuel Byck to attempt to crash a passenger airplane into the White House just five days later on February 22, 1974. What? You don’t remember that episode either? Well, let me tell you another story.
Al Hunter is the author of the “Haunted Indianapolis” and co-author of the “Haunted Irvington” and “Indiana National Road” book series. His newest books are “Bumps in the Night. Stories from the Weekly View,” “Irvington Haunts. The Tour Guide,” and “The Mystery of the H.H. Holmes Collection.” Contact Al directly at Huntvault@aol.com or become a friend on Facebook.
