Copter Pilot to Be Charged With Violating Restricted Airspace

Douglas Hughes, the pilot who flew an aircraft onto the U.S. Capitol lawn, will be charged with operating an unregistered aircraft and violating restricted airspace, federal authorities said Thursday.

The first charge carries up to three years in prison, the second charge up to one year. Hughes was released on bond and ordered back to court May 8.

Hughes, a mail carrier who wanted to protest money in politics, flew the aircraft, an open-cockpit contraption known as a gyro-copter, onto the West Lawn of the Capitol on Wednesday afternoon…

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