Thomas Fitzpatrick gained popularity on September 30, 1956 when he decided to break into the Teterboro School of Aeronautics and steal a light aircraft. The motive was a bet placed in a New York City bar. Fitzpatrick claimed that he could make the trip from New Jersey to New York in less than 15 minutes.
Of course he didn't mentioned that to make that time he would be using an aircraft. The bet was on as everyone thought that Thomas was too drunk to know what he's saying. Indeed he was drunk...
So he went to the school and managed to get to a plane, took off around 3 A.M with the lights off and a silent radio and flew at low altitude to avoid any radars.
The Daredevil eventually lands the plane in a Manhattan street abound light poles and parked cars. He glided between the buildings, landing on St. Nicholas Avenue and parking his airplane right next to the bar in which the bet was placed earlier that day. All of that in less than 15 minutes and drunk.
This legend managed to pull a scene that we would only see in movies which of course got the attention of the authorities. He was arrested and fined 100$ (equivalent of 800$ today) but was very soon released after the owner of the plane had dropped charges against him.
But two years later,on October 4, 1958, the same thing happened again, Thomas Fitzpatrick stole a plane from the same school and landed it next to another bar, this time he landed at the intersection of Amsterdam and 187th street, right in front of a Yeshiva University building, perfermong her again another miraculous stunt.
Only this time the authorities weren't entertained. Thomas Fitzpatrick was sentenced to 6 months of prison.
explaining the cause of his mishaps: “It’s the lousy drink.”
Jokes aside, the airplane stunt was certainly an act of a reckless man, but since no one was harmed, the story became a testimony of the eccentricity of New Yorkers.
As for Fitz, he led a fulfilled life until 2009, when he died of cancer, aged 79. As a veteran of WWII, he had joined the Army once more during the Korean War and earned a Purple Heart for his service. Tommy Fitz was also a family man, leaving behind him three sons to tell the tale of his daring accomplishments.
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