Marcus Schrenker's Piper PA46-500TP Malibu Meridian crashed January 11 in the Florida panhandle, without him aboard, and Schrenker Friday pleaded guilty to intentionally crashing an airplane and sending false distress calls related to his use of the aircraft in an alleged attempt to fake his own death. The 38-year-old Indiana fund manager was president of Heritage Wealth Management as the U.S. economy faltered in late 2008. His January flight took him from Indiana to Birmingham, which is roughly where he parachuted out of the aircraft. Schrenker had filed a flight plan to Destin, Fla., where his father lives, but en route sent distress calls via radio saying he had been injured, was bleeding and the aircraft was losing altitude. He followed those with transmissions that he was losing consciousness, then leveled the aircraft at 3,500 feet, put it on autopilot and jumped, landing safely under canopy, according to U.S. attorney Tiffany Eggers. Examination of a laptop later recovered with Schrenker when he was found by U.S. Marshals in a campground near Quincy, Fla., showed he had searched the internet for advice on parachuting from aircraft and "security fraud penalties," according to Bloomberg.
This is a companion discussion topic for the original entry at https://www.avweb.com/news/schrenker-pleads-guilty-to-crash-charges