The alleged CEO killer, Luigi Mangione, flew back to the city from Pennsylvania on a federally funded department spy plane.
A $4 million plane designed specifically to search for radioactive weapons, or “dirty bombs,” departed Long Island MacArthur Airport at 8:51 a.m. on Dec. 19 and at 10:24 a.m. Records indicate that it arrived in Blair County, Pennsylvania. Flight Aware Show.
Records show the modified Cessna took off again at about 10:49 a.m. with the Ivy Leaguer inside and landed at Central Islip Airport at 12:08 p.m.
Mangione was then flown by helicopter to Manhattan.
Wearing an orange jumpsuit, Mr. Mangione was ushered into the courthouse surrounded by city and federal agents carrying long guns, as well as Mayor Adams, like a scene from a Hollywood movie.
The NYPD said they determined a plane was the best way to get Mangione to New York City.
“After considering distance, weather and conditions, we determined that air transportation was the most efficient and safest method of transportation,” a New York City Police Department spokesperson said.
The NYPD acquired a modified Cessna C208B Grand Caravan in 2017 through a preparedness grant from the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
The following year, the Post reported that five New York City police pilots were disciplined for using their planes to fly routes shaped like giant penises because they were angry with their superiors.
Officials said other officers also spotted the sneaky pattern in the department's flight-tracking software.
Also in 2018, during a trip between the city and Canada, then-Mayor Bill de Blasio decided to rename a Bronx street in memory of slain NYPD Detective Miosotis Familia. Further controversy arose when the plane was used to fly to and from the United States.
The police chief at the time, James O'Neill, also admitted that he flew “three or four times” that year because he was busy.
The top cop also said he had never driven a Cessna for counter-terrorism purposes.
One former law enforcement official questioned why authorities needed to use expensive planes.
“This is a show,” said Michael Osgood, former head of the NYPD's Special Victims Unit, noting that the trip would take about four hours by car.
“Luigi is a punk,” Osgood said. He filed a lawsuit against the department and its former chief, saying he was forced out in 2018 for helping his unit investigate. ”
