Pizza pilot arrested on return home

Mr Reese is led away at Miami airport

A pizza delivery man who flew across the Florida Straits on his first flight and crashlanded off Cuba has been sent back to Florida.

Milo John Reese, a student pilot from Marathon on the Florida Keys, was immediately arrested by FBI agents.

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We consider, after investigating it, that this person arrived in Cuba by mistake

Felipe Perez Roque
Cuban foreign minister

At the end of July, Mr Reese baffled US and Cuban officials when instead of circling the airport at Marathon on his first solo flying lesson, he headed off across the sea and ended up in Cuban air space.

He ditched his Cessna 172 plane near the Cuban port of Cojimar, east of Havana.

Uniform

He was recovered, still wearing his bright red and blue pizza delivery uniform, and taken to hospital, where he was treated for minor injuries.

After treatment for minor injuries he was kept at a hotel while Cuban and US authorities tried to discover the reason for his flight.

US State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said there was no apparent political motive behind the flight.

The Cessna ended upside down on the Cuban shore

The Cuban authorities appear to have reached the same conclusion.

Foreign minister Felipe Perez Roque told reporters: "We consider, after investigating it, that this person arrived in Cuba by mistake. It was an accident."

Manic depression

Reese's wife said her husband, aged 55, had a history of mental illness and was under medication for manic depression.

The Cuban authorities decided not to prosecute Mr Reese for violation of their airspace.

He was not so lucky in the United States, where he was arrested on charges of transporting a stolen plane in violation of state and foreign commerce laws.

He could also face charges under Florida law for theft of the plane.