Episodes
Wednesday Jul 29, 2020
Fly By Night Trailer
Wednesday Jul 29, 2020
Wednesday Jul 29, 2020
Introducing “Fly By Night”, with stories of pilots who used their skills to smuggle drugs in the 70’s and 80’s, and the people who chased them. The series begins with the story of a pilot who had been a corrupt cop and helped build one of the largest aerial smuggling rings in the country.
On the night of September 10th, 1985, Drew Thornton strapped cocaine and weapons to his body, turned on the autopilot, and jumped to his death. His body was found the next morning in a driveway in Knoxville, TN, and his pilot less plane crashed in the mountains of NC.
It was a case that set in motion investigations and media coverage that exists to this day.
Fly By Night is produced by Charles Stites, former aviation writer-photographer and founder of Able Flight.
Throughout the 1970's and early 1980's, pilots from all walks of life used airplanes of all sizes to move contraband in the form of marijuana and cocaine into the United States. Many tried just once and walked away, some lost their lives, some were caught and sentenced to prison, and some became wealthy and left smuggling behind to set up legitimate businesses with their proceeds.
Fly By Night shares the stories of some of those pilots.
Photo courtesy of Robert Palumbo
Version: 20240320