Yoink

A phone call from a technician in the club’s shop shattered the normalcy. MacAir had been burglarized.

McNutt and MacAir were the victims of a massive avionics theft, a crime that many often associate with flying around the developing world, but which can and does happen in the United States. In McNutt’s case, the crime was especially bad because the thief hit 11 of the club’s airplanes, stealing mostly Garmin GNS 430s, but also some King radios, audio panels, and one Stratus transponder, rendering the airplanes unairworthy.

Although no central database of avionics thefts exists, anecdotally, the crime is infrequent, and tends to happen in batches. Ryan Stokes allegedly stole from MacAir and also from John C. Tune Airport (JWN) in Nashville and another airport in Ohio before being arrested in Missouri. In another case, Mario Mercier Hernandez, a convicted felon who had been released, only to repeat the same pattern, stole avionics from more than 40 airports from 2019 until being caught in 2024.

McNutt’s criminal made a fundamental error in stealing from MacAir. In addition to running the club and training business, McNutt also owns a high-tech surveillance company.

The airport only had a Ring camera pointed at the gate at the time of the thefts in 2024, but with a few blurry pictures, McNutt’s people got to work. First, they were able to identify the car the perpetrator was driving, a red Volvo S60 circa 2012. The thief was also wearing unusual shoes with a large, visible yellow swoosh on the side.

Once McNutt heard about the other crimes, he worked with the FBI, the FAA, and local police to share their findings. From that information the authorities were able to identify the car at Tune airport, get a license plate, and track it via highway cameras between the locations in Ohio and Nashville. Another hit in Missouri resulted in a traffic stop, where Stokes agreed to allow his car to be searched. Cops found the telltale shoes, but no stolen avionics. The shoes were enough, however, and he was arrested.

Insurance is always an owner’s best security blanket, and McNutt has nothing but glowing things to say about his experience. The company gave him a reasonable used value for the GNS 430s and audio panels, and with that and a bit of help from club members he was able to approach Avidyne and buy all new IFD440s.In the Mercier case authorities got lucky, and he was caught in the act in Caldwell, Idaho. This, after stealing more than $1 million in avionics over a five-year period. Mercier was particularly bold because instead of offloading the stolen goods outside the country, as McNutt was told usually happens, he owned and operated JWG International and JWG Aviation, where he sold the stolen merchandise. Earlier this year Mercier was sentenced to the maximum of 10 years in prison, his second stint for the interstate transportation of stolen property.

Thankfully, Mercier and Stokes aren’t common cases. Dan Armstrong, the insurance adjuster who worked McNutt’s case, said, “There isn’t a ton of it, to be honest.” He works all around the Northeast and has only handled a few avionics thefts in his career.

However rare or unusual, having to deal with the aftermath is never nice, so it makes sense to take a few minutes thinking about prevention. McNutt’s airplanes were unlocked, which some might think led to easy pickings. It only took about 30 minutes to steal 19 pieces of equipment, after all. But McNutt only had to replace radios and other equipment. At Tune, Stokes broke into hangars and used a crowbar to pry open locked airplane doors. Those owners had significantly more damage to deal with.

It’s for this reason that McNutt likes to focus more on airport security, which isn’t surprising for someone who works in that business. After the 2024 theft, he worked with the county to install 10 cameras with an 180-degree field of view, a license plate reader, and more at his airport. “My suggestion,” he said, “put up lots of cameras and let it be known. People worried about cameras at airports should know that they do good.”

Insurance is always an owner’s best security blanket, and McNutt has nothing but glowing things to say about his experience. The company gave him a reasonable used value for the GNS 430s and audio panels, and with that and a bit of help from club members he was able to approach Avidyne and buy all new IFD440s. Given that it was a bulk order and MacAir had a relationship with the company, they were priced right and shipped immediately. These slide-in replacements meant the aircraft were up in the air quickly and downtime was at a minimum. Just keep in mind that if something is taken from your airplane it’s labeled as used, so that’s what the insurance company is going to replace it with. You may be on the hook for the difference if you want to purchase new, as McNutt did.

Proper documentation is key with the insurance company. The adjuster will need to know the serial number of all the stolen items, so make sure you’ve noted those in your logbook. Otherwise, there’s not much you can do, except work with your local airport to make sure there is good gate security and proper surveillance. As McNutt said, “Everywhere is vulnerable as they hit both large and smaller airports, hangared aircraft, as well as those on the ramp.”

Former AOPA Editor Ian J. Twombly is a professor of aviation at the Community College of Baltimore County and the owner of a Piper J–3 Cub.