Pilot kidnaps foreign student and tries to deport him back to China, police say
The pilot is accused of orchestrating the kidnapping with his assistant
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.A vigilante deportation attempt in which a pilot allegedly kidnapped a foreign student, took him to an airport and tried to send him "back to China" was thwarted last week, California police say.
Jonathan McConkey, a pilot and certified flight instructor, is accused of orchestrating the kidnapping with his assistant, Kelsi Hoser, a ground instructor. Both reportedly worked at the IASCO flight training school in Redding, California.
Among IASCO's students were dozens of Chinese nationals with student visas, according to court records. KRCR News 7 reported that the school contracted with China's civil aviation authority to train its new pilots, one of whom was apparently Tianshu Shi.
Mr Shi told reporters that he had been in the United States for about seven months - living with several other IASCO trainees at an apartment in Redding. It was there, police said, that McConkey and Hoser came for the student.
The pair first showed up at the apartment on Thursday night, according to a police statement. They allegedly informed Mr Shi that they were sending him back to China and would return in the morning.
Police have not explained why anyone would want Mr Shi gone from the country. An unrelated lawsuit, filed last year by a former instructor, alleges that some of IASCO's Chinese students spoke so little English that they could not safely fly - that one had nearly crashed into another plane because he had misunderstood his teacher's instructions.
Those allegations predate Mr Shi's training, however. And the lawsuit does not mention Hoser or McConkey, who is reportedly a 48-year-old manager at the school.
Police say the two returned to Mr Shi's apartment around dawn on Friday to carry out their would-be deportation.
When Mr Shi refused to go with them, police said, McConkey "battered" him and threatened physical violence.
McConkey grabbed Mr Shi roughly by the arm, the student told the Record Searchlight, and said he needed to get on a plane now or face worse violence.
"He's very rude," a visibly shaken Mr Shi recalled to the newspaper. "Used too much dirty words."
But before Mr Shi was taken from his home, he managed to call his brother in Shanghai and ask for help.
His brother tried to call Mr Shi back but couldn't reach him. Mr Shi was by then being driven several miles to the municipal airport, where the flight school kept its planes.
So Mr Shi's brother phoned Redding police, who scrambled to the airport and rescued the student before his accused abductors could put him on a plane.
The pair's plan, Mr Shi told the Searchlight, had been to fly him to the Bay Area, then put him on another plane to China.
McConkey and Hoser were arrested and charged with conspiracy and kidnapping. They were being held on $100,000 (£75,000) bail each, according to KRCR News 7, and could not be immediately reached.
The incident has left Mr Shi distraught, the Searchlight reported, and grappling to convey the trauma of the event in his limited English.
But he conveyed gratitude plainly enough. "The police officer is the best American," Mr Shi told the newspaper.
Washington Post