Man who crashed stolen airplane in North Miss. dies in federal custody

TUPELO, Miss. (WMC) - The man accused of threatening to crash a plane into a Walmart in Tupelo, Mississippi, died in federal custody, according to the Federal Bureau of Prisons.

It’s unclear how Cory Wayne Patterson died, but it happened Monday, November 14 at the Federal Detention Center in Miami, Florida.

Tupelo Police said Patterson stole a small plane from the Tupelo Regional Airport on Sept. 3 and threatened to crash it into the Walmart store on West Main Street.

Patterson was employed fueling planes at the Tupelo Regional Airport, giving him access to the Beechcraft King Air C90A, police Chief John Quaka said.

Police negotiators were able to make contact during the flight and convince Patterson to land, but he didn’t know how. He was coached by a private pilot into nearly landing at the Tupelo airport but he aborted the attempt at the last minute and resumed the flight, authorities said.

Patterson was facing the possibility of 20 years in federal prison.

The Federal Bureau of Prisons provided this statement on Patterson’s death:

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