Pilot tries to escape in his plane, runs out of gas on runway

A Delta Airlines pilot who moonlighted as a flight instructor at the Griffin-Spalding Airport has been jailed and suspended by his employer for his actions at the airport on Wednesday.

In a scene right out of a Stuart Woods' novel or a James Bond film, pilot Dan Gryder was seen driving his car across the airport's taxiway. When approached by officers who were issuing him citations, Gryder then boarded his 1937 DC-3A and started heading down the runway. Officers tried to block him, but when he showed no signs of stopping they moved out of the way. Gryder attempted to takeoff, but ran out of gas at the end of the runway.

Gryder is still a resident of the Spalding County Jail.

Among the facts that strike me about this story is that there is another Delta/Northwest Airlines pilot in the news for all the wrong reasons. Also, the plane was from 1937? i checked and apparently there are many planes like the DC-3 still flying from the 30's. And, it's a fairly big plane, so those officers were smart to move out of the way.