Fla. Man Arrested for Landing Small Helicopter on U.S. Capitol Lawn

A Florida man has reportedly been arrested after he flew a small craft helicopter onto the lawn of the U.S. Capitol this week, causing the government building to go into a brief lockdown.

The pilot of the helicopter, Doug Hughes, reportedly painted the gyrocopter with the logo of the United States Post Office, where he works. He then flew the helicopter onto the lawn of the Capitol building, and was promptly arrested after.

Hughes' friend, Mike Shanahan, told the Tampa Bay Times that the 61-year-old postal worker from Ruskin had reportedly landed the helicopter on the U.S. Capitol lawn as a form of protest against current campaign finance laws.

Shanahan told the local media outlet that he's thankful his friend was just arrested, and not killed after landing his small helicopter on the U.S. Capitol lawn.

"I was scared to death they were going to kill him," Shanahan said. "My thanks goes out to whomever it was who decided not to pull the trigger."

David Sease, vice president of the Sunstate Wing and Rotor Club, an organization to which Hughes belonged, told Newsweek that the 61-year-old Florida man was proficient in driving the gyrocopter.

"He was quite proficient with landing it in tough conditions, he has had a lot of tumbles," Sease told Newsweek in a recent interview. "Now, the one he had, it was one of the most inefficient gyrocopters out there. It is just old technology, an old motor. Old stuff. The sheer fact that he got it in the Capitol without being able to be stopped, well, that's devestating to the government."