Prosecutors: Gyrocopter pilot nearly collided with airplane

A Florida man who flew a small gyrocopter through protected Washington airspace before landing outside the U.S. Capitol last spring was seconds away from colliding with a Delta flight that had taken off from Reagan National Airport, prosecutors said.

In a court filing Friday, prosecutors said Douglas Hughes flew his one-person aircraft almost directly into the oncoming flight path of the 150-person Airbus turbojet last April.

Mark Goldstone, an attorney for Hughes, said they will look into whether the government's claim about the flight is correct and questioned how prosecutors got the new information.

Whether the next airspace violator is an unpopular religious extremist who wants to impact US foreign policy or a popular advocate on any issue of domestic policy, the deterrent message must be clear:

If you violate the airspace of our nation's capital — regardless of your message — you will be punished because of the substantial risks to safety and national security, prosecutors wrote.