Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, September 24, 1993 TAG: 9309240146
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: By LAURENCE HAMMACK STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Posing as an air traffic controller, he has created heart-stopping confusion by instructing pilots of incoming flights to break off their landings at the last minute.
Using his own aviation transmitter and scanner, he has made both prank comments and official-sounding instructions for commercial flights to change altitudes or switch radio frequencies.
And transmitting at times from a car or other mobile source, he has stayed one step ahead of the law as emergency workers responded to his false cries of "Mayday, mayday."
On Thursday, after a two-month investigation, federal authorities said they have identified the voice of the "Roanoke phantom."
FBI agents arrested Rodney Eugene Bocook, 27, at his Westover Avenue apartment - charging him with communicating false information to in-flight aircraft.
An affidavit filed in U.S. District Court in Roanoke alleges that Bocook has "generally imperiled the flow of air traffic and . . . safety."
Although it was often clear that the phantom was an impostor - the affidavit states he argued with air traffic controllers who told him to get off the air - federal authorities are treating the charges seriously.
Don Poff, a Federal Aviation Administration official in Roanoke who headed a task force investigation of the case, said unauthorized commands for pilots to change altitudes can create "the potential of a mid-air collision. That's the risk that is run."
Assistant U.S. Attorney Morgan Scott asked a magistrate Thursday to hold Bocook without bond on charges that carry up to 22 years in prison.
After being appointed to represent Bocook, Roanoke lawyer Tony Anderson promptly asked that his client receive a psychiatric evaluation.
"You just don't think that too many people are going to do what he's accused of doing, if they're operating with the full benefit of their senses," Anderson said.
Federal authorities believe that Bocook, an unemployed janitor with "some skill in electronic devices," was able to intercept aircraft communication with an aviation transmitter that can be purchased from mail-order firms for about $500. The hand-held units are sometimes used by pilots as an auxiliary radio or in an airplane without an installed radio.
Authorities also believe Bocook had access to control frequencies and published radio procedures.
"In just seven weeks," the affidavit states, "this violator has been able to progress from merely chatting with the aircrews to giving them instructions so authentic that some have been followed."
The 18-page affidavit lists some of the conversations:
On Aug. 1, pilots of a ComAir flight just south of Roanoke heard a voice on their radio inviting them to join him to smoke marijuana after they landed.
On Aug. 15, a voice that authorities believe was disguised by electronic means unleashed a string of obscenities. Bocook also is charged with using obscene and indecent language over the airways.
On Aug. 22, the captain of a commercial aircraft landing in Roanoke was instructed by a male voice to "break off" the landing.
On Sept. 2, a voice was recorded saying: "Mayday, mayday, mayday, mayday. Ultralight goin' down one zero miles south of Roanoke. . . . Can't stay on radio."
On Sept. 4, a voice called the radio tower and identified itself as the pilot of "Lifeguard two lima gulf," a code name for the rescue helicopter at Roanoke Memorial Hospital. When the tower responded, the voice said: "April Fool! April Fool!"
On Sept 7, the voice transmitted: "Hello, everybody. This is the Roanoke phantom." When the tower closed for the night, it said: "Attention all aircraft, the phantom is off the air for probably another week."
But authorities hope that with an arrest in the case, the phantom is off the air for good.
by CNB