Pilot who buzzed Santa Monica Pier in military jet gets 60 days in jail, fine

A movie producer who buzzed the Santa Monica Pier in a Soviet-era military jet to promote an action film was sentenced Monday to 60 days in jail and fined $900 for recklessly operating an aircraft in a manner that endangered life and property.

Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Harold I. Cherness also placed David G. Riggs, 48, on three years’ probation, imposed $260 in court fees and ordered him to clean city beaches for 60 days as community service. Cherness, however, stayed the jail sentence pending an appeal.

“I wanted a little more jail time,” said prosecutor Terry White, who heads the criminal division of the Santa Monica city attorney’s office. “But I understand the court’s reasoning. Beach clean-up is for 60 days, eight hours a day. There’s no time off for good behavior,” as there is with a jail sentence.

A jury convicted Riggs on Thursday of violating a rarely used section of the California Public Utilities Code that is designed to protect the public from careless and reckless pilots. A violation of the law is a misdemeanor and carries a maximum penalty of six months in jail and a $1,000 fine.

Prosecutors accused Riggs of making low-level passes over the Santa Monica Pier on Nov. 6, 2008, to promote “Kerosene Cowboys,” an unfinished film his company was making about a maverick squadron of Americans and Russians on a secret mission to Iran.

During the stunt, Riggs, the chief executive officer of Afterburner Films, flew a 1973 Aero Vodochody L-39 Albatros, a Czechoslovakian jet trainer that was popular in the Soviet bloc during the Cold War. His plan was to attract potential investors attending an American Film Institute convention near the pier, which he raced toward at altitudes of 50 to 100 feet.

Before the sentence was pronounced, prosecutors told the judge about Riggs’ criminal history, including federal convictions for wire fraud, bank fraud and passport fraud for which he was sentenced to 10 years in prison.

White said that there have been few prosecutions for reckless flying in the state and even fewer jail terms upon conviction. In the last 25 years, at least five people have been convicted of reckless flying in Southern California. Four were fined and placed on probation. One pilot, who was intoxicated while flying, received a six-month jail term.

John Duran, Riggs’ defense attorney, said he would appeal the verdict.

dan.weikel@latimes.com