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Douglas Mark Hughes, 61, a U.S. Postal Service mail carrier,
described his flight upon arriving home in Ruskin, Florida,
early on Sunday.
"I had expected to be intercepted on the way," he told reporters
gathered outside his home.
He recalled it being colder than he had expected flying from
Gettysburg, Pennsylvania to Washington, where the sight of the
Washington Monument helped guide him to the Capitol grounds.
"People were not frightened at all," he said, noting that some
of the people below waved as he flew past. "I waved back. That
part of it was surreal."
A videotape of his interview was posted on the website of the
Tampa Bay Times, which chronicled his extensive preparations for
a trip that Hughes intended as a protest to highlight the need
for campaign finance reform.
Hughes faces up to four years in prison on charges of unlawfully
operating an unregistered aircraft and violating national
defense airspace.
He was allowed to return to Florida, but ordered to remain at
home in detention until he is due back in Washington for a
preliminary hearing on May 8.
"We’ve got bigger problems in this country than fussing about
whether or not the security around D.C. is ironclad," he told
the reporters at his home. "We need to be worried about the
piles of money that are going into Congress."
(Reporting by Letitia Stein; Editing by Eric Walsh)
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