This photo shows a stolen Huey helicopter that landed directly in front of the White House in
1974. The aircraft was piloted by a disgruntled ex-soldier, 21-year-old Robert Kenneth.
With only 157 hours of fixed-wing flight experience, Kenneth managed to
evade police and Secret Service gunfire to land directly on the South Lawn of the White House…
Robert Kenneth Preston
Minutes after midnight, February 17, Private First Class Robert Kenneth Preston stole an
unarmed UH-1 Iroquois, also known as a "Huey" from an airfield at Fort Meade, Maryland. Unqualified,
according to his limited credentials and fixed-wing pilot's license,
he nonetheless flew the helicopter directly to the heart of the nation's capital.
Born in 1953, Roberth Kenneth Preston grew up in Panama City, Florida. In 1972, he enlisted
in the U.S. Army intending to become a helicopter pilot. His dream was to evacuate wounded soldiers
from battlefields. At Fort Wolters in Texas, he started flying Hughes TH-55 Osages soon after.
However, after failing the technical training requirements due to [QUOTE] "deficiency in the
instrument phase," his chances of becoming a warrant officer pilot were immediately
killed. Reportedly, the withdrawal of American troops from Vietnam and the
resulting excess supply of helicopter pilots may have played some role in his rejection.
Despite this, he was conscripted to serve in the Army for an additional four years. Therefore,
by the start of 1974, he started work at Fort Meade as a helicopter mechanic. At the time of
the incident, his commanding officer described him as being intelligent, but unremarkable overall.
Helicopter Theft
On February 17, 1974, near the start of his second month serving at Fort Meade, Preston left
an enlisted club just past midnight. Supposedly depressed due to the failure of his relationship
and stagnation of his military career, Preston drove to his place of work, an Army Airfield.
Tipton Field was south of Fort Meade, housing thirty Bell UH-1 Iroquois helicopters,
which were always fueled and prepped for takeoff.
Here, Preston parked his car and climb into a Huey with the designation 62-1920.
The airfield sentry took note of his parked Chevy Nova only after the helicopter's rotor was already
turning. According to Preston, [QUOTE] "I just walked out, prepared the aircraft for flight,
started it, and took off, I was really surprised. I thought there would be somebody out there."
Preston lifted off without radio call or anti-collision lights.
Once the control tower notices the unauthorized takeoff, they phoned the Maryland State Police.
Preston would later state his intentions were to [QUOTE] "get up and fly and get
behind the controls. It would make me feel better because I love flying."
The club where he'd reportedly been drinking only soda earlier phoned the police as well
after the helicopter roared momentarily over the establishment, hovering.
Residents of a trailer park nearby in Jessup reported that the plane touched down for a
few seconds before taking off. Preston's cover was found later at that location.
A mere 20 miles away, Preston reportedly concluded that he merely wanted to observe
the nation's capital from above. Landing at the White House
After flying over the Baltimore-Washington Parkway, Preston reached the capital.
The Police at the District of Columbia was first alerted of Preston when they witnessed
the helicopter flying between the Capitol building and the Lincoln Memorial. Operating an
unauthorized aircraft near the area was strictly forbidden. However, flight boundaries were not
enforced by surveillance besides radar. No one had previously dared to overfly the White House.
Preston was attracted to The Washington Monument, lit up at night.
According to him, he was [QUOTE] "like a moth to the candlelight."
With all of his external lights killed, Preston leveled off the helicopter,
a few feet above the monument's grounds.
Secret Service Agent Henry S. Kulbaski was on duty. He received the report
about the stolen helicopter and flew directly towards the restricted area.
Preston landed at the White House briefly with no Secret Service agents firing at him.
As two Maryland police helicopters approached, he took off again, commencing an aerial chase.
According to one of the officers, Preston was, [QUOTE] "one hell of a pilot."
He hovered over the Washington Monument, almost crashing into it as police fired.
He turned to the Anacostia River, all the while circling the monument at low flight.
Police on the scene described his evasion as using [QUOTE] "modern dogfight tactics."
The Private then flew back to the White House. After temporarily hovering at a height of
300-feet, he approached to land on the South Lawn again. He flew just high enough to avoid colliding
with the picket fence where he was greeted by a hail of shotgun and submachine gun fire.
Kenneth was slightly wounded as he parked the Huey and ran outside. He was soon tackled on
the South Lawn, running towards the White House. President Richard Nixon was not there at the time.
Consequences
Inevitably, Preston was court-martialed for stealing the chopper.
Some remained impressed with his theatrical and reckless performance. Maryland Police
Department Sergeant Thomas Linnehan stated at the trial, [QUOTE] "They said he couldn't fly. Well,
I'll tell you he could fly if he had not harassed the citizens of the state of Maryland as he did,
and had not made such a big show of it… the man could have flown directly into the White
House at 160 knots, and there wouldn't have been anything anybody could do."
Still, Preston got off light. He served only six months at a military stockade, then discharged
for unsuitability. Rumor has it, the incident influenced Samuel Byck's failed assassination
against Nixon only a week later when he tried to crash a commercial airliner into the White House.