Police say Tampa pilot left suicide note

Florida police have given details of a suicide note that appeared to show the lone 15-year-old who flew a plane into an office…

Florida police have given details of a suicide note that appeared to show the lone 15-year-old who flew a plane into an office block in Tampa was inspired by the September 11th attacks.

Tampa Police chief Mr Bennie Holder told reporters a note found on the body of Charles Bishop, who was killed on Saturday when the stolen Cessna crashed into a Bank of America building in the city, expressed sympathy for bin Laden.

"I would characterise it as a suicide note," Mr Holder told reporters of the three to four-paragraph handwritten note. "[Bishop] did . . . make a statement expressing his sympathy for Osama bin Laden and the event which occurred on September 11, 2001," Mr Holder said.

"At this time there is no information to support Bishop's connection with any terror organisation . . . all the indications are Charles Bishop was a troubled young man who acted alone without anyone else," Mr Holder said.

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He added that there was no sign Bishop intended to harm anyone else and said it was not clear whether Bishop "had in mind" the Bank of America building or the nearby MacDill Air Force Base as a target.

He noted Bishop did not heed signals from a pursuing US Coast Guard helicopter to land and flew directly into the building.

Bishop turned up for a flight lesson at St. Petersburg- Clearwater airport, about 20 miles from Tampa, on Saturday afternoon.

After being asked to conduct preflight checks on the plane, he took off in a single-engine four-seater Cessna 172 without his flight instructor or airport clearance.