Question

Some hoodlums who have been earning money by stealing copper pipes and cable and selling them to recyclers are driving around one evening when they spot an unattended strange-looking building sitting out in the middle of a field, break in, and steal all of the copper wire they can haul in their truck, disabling the VOR air navigation facility.
Required:
In addition to trespassing, breaking and entering, and burglary, have they committed any aviation-specific federal crimes? If so, identify each such crime(s) and describe the penalties.

Answer 1

Answer:

• Yes they have

• 18 U.S. Code § 32 (a) Clause 3

Explanation:

With aviation being such a sensitive field that requires a lot of oversight, Congress enacted rules to punish aviation crimes which means that such crimes fall under Federal jurisdiction and as this crime is a crime against an aviation facility, it is a Federal crime.

The crime in question here falls under US. Code 32 - Destruction of aircraft or aircraft facilities under subsection (a)3 which talks about damaging an air navigation facility and how this can endanger the safety of flights en route.

Their punishment would be either a fine, imprisonment of not more than five years or both.