Marietta, Georgia: Neighbors Want Answers About Low-Flying Plane

MARIETTA, Ga. -- A low-flying airplane has buzzed a Marietta neighborhood four days in a row, and no one seems to know who it belongs to.

Paul Saffold is a pilot with 48 years of experience.  He said he can’t think of a reason why a single-engine plane was constantly flying over his neighborhood for days.  Channel 2’s Craig Lucie asked Saffold how long it’s circling in a day. “It’s unusual having lived in the area for 34 years. We see aircraft, but not one circling for days at a time and certainly not in the same path. It’s circling from 9:30 to 1:30 or 2 in the afternoon,” Saffold said.

Saffold said he couldn’t get a tail number.The Federal Aviation Administration said that is what they would need to track it down. An FAA spokesman said they don’t have any record of the plane since it flew just above 1,000 feet, which is below radar coverage.

A few residents also called the Cobb County Airport to complain about the plane.  When Lucie contacted them, they said they didn’t have any record of it taking off or landing there.

A Dobbins Air Reserve Base spokesman said the plane doesn’t belong to them either.Saffold though thinks someone is not telling the whole story. “Nobody is flying in this airspace without first contacting the Dobbins control tower,” Saffold said.

A Dobbins spokesman said they are still investigating to see if the plane entered their airspace.

The FAA said the pilot didn’t do anything illegal since the plane was flying above the required 1,000 feet.

Other aviation officials said the plane could belong to a law enforcement agency or utility company.Lucie called all of them in the area, but the agencies said it is not their plane.

Saffold initially thought it could be someone taking pictures of real estate, but added “who needs four days to take pictures of the same houses?”