FARK.com: (7485468) Good: you're a flight instructor with a net worth of $12 million; Bad: you lose it all after training the 9/11 terrorist pilots; Worse: you hit rock bottom and get arrested last week for being a drug mule

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		Good: you're a flight instructor with a net worth of $12 million; Bad: you lose it all after training the 9/11 terrorist pilots; Worse: you hit rock bottom and get arrested last week for being a drug mule (chron.com)		115
		More: Sad, flight instructor, Homeland Security Investigations, Dodge Viper, cypress, flight schools, Alcohol Tobacco, Arturo Astorquiza, U.S. currency

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12590 clicks; posted to Main » on 14 Dec 2012 at 6:29 AM | Favorite | share:

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CruiserTwelve		2012-12-14 04:08:22 AM

~~Good~~ Suspicious: you're a flight instructor with a net worth of $12 million

homelessdude		2012-12-14 04:26:43 AM

hmmff....I vaguely remember all of this, but after 9/11, had to stop watching the news and TV for a while as it was just too gross - not the actual attacks but the bumbling media coverage and race to the bottom to be "the first to break the story" of whatever was the revelation du jour.

Anyway, this Dekkers character has had a lot of ink spilled on him over the years. Some by his own doing (if you read even a bit of what is out there he really comes off as a sleaze), and a lot because the media was having a cow over any smidgen of info they could capitalize on at the time.

A quick Google Search brings up all sorts of stories, many written by people who do not appear to be much more trustworth than Dekkers.

Whatever.

styckx		2012-12-14 06:33:02 AM

Hmpphhh, yeah. You don't just wake up one day and suddenly realize being a drug mule might be a good career change when the spotlight is on you.. He was probably doing this before 9/11 also.

fisker		2012-12-14 06:41:20 AM

I don't think you guys understand the lengths republicans will go to.

Bigdogdaddy		2012-12-14 06:42:29 AM

I NEVER feel sorry for anyone who has a fortune and then loses it all. That is not an excuse to do this. He didn't want to change his lifestyle when he lost his business and wife. He could have just found a damn job like the rest of us.

Merry Chrstmas?

KrispyKritter		2012-12-14 06:42:32 AM

hotrink

Bigdogdaddy		2012-12-14 06:43:47 AM

KrispyKritter: [damox.com image 400x300]

hotrink

Very few here were old enough to remember that. He got off though didn't he?

SkunkWerks		2012-12-14 06:44:49 AM

Worst: You live in a society that enjoys ruining people for even having the most peripheral and unintentional involvement in a global tragedy.

iron_city_ap		2012-12-14 06:49:05 AM

CruiserTwelve: Good Suspicious: you're a flight instructor with a net worth of $12 million

Very much THIS. The guy has dirtbag written all over him.

kradio		2012-12-14 06:49:58 AM

Unlikely: "you're a flight instructor with a net worth of $12 million"

DubyaHater		2012-12-14 06:50:17 AM

Sorry buddy. You'll never outrun the shadow of 9/11. People will probably line up to piss on your grave.

OrganLeroy		2012-12-14 06:53:22 AM

CruiserTwelve: Good Suspicious: you're a flight instructor with a net worth of $12 million

This.

Only way this could happen is if he'd inherited lots of money.

//second career CFI
//keeping day job

Mock26		2012-12-14 06:59:40 AM

"he lived in a tony, Florida"

Worst. Word. Ever.

Silly Jesus		2012-12-14 07:00:42 AM

This is what you get for being politically correct. If he'd called them suspicious, he'd have been labeled a racist by left wingers.

DiosDiablo		2012-12-14 07:03:23 AM

DubyaHater: Sorry buddy. You'll never outrun the shadow of 9/11. People will probably line up to piss on your grave.

I just don't understand the demonizing of everybody associated with the tragedy. Yes, it was terrible. But do people really think that he knew what was going to happen with his trainees? This kind of response encourages more prejudice because everyone is afraid to help out anyone lest they do something terrible via your help.

/it sucked, but just let it go, America
//hates extremist, all kinds

Onkel Buck		2012-12-14 07:04:39 AM

Twelve million and he lost it all? That's supposed to be good right? I mean he was an evil rich person who didn't deserve any of the wealth he had.

stellarossa		2012-12-14 07:05:15 AM

homelessdude: hmmff....I vaguely remember all of this, but after 9/11, had to stop watching the news and TV for a while as it was just too gross - not the actual attacks but the bumbling media coverage and race to the bottom to be "the first to break the story" of whatever was the revelation du jour.

Anyway, this Dekkers character has had a lot of ink spilled on him over the years. Some by his own doing (if you read even a bit of what is out there he really comes off as a sleaze), and a lot because the media was having a cow over any smidgen of info they could capitalize on at the time.

A quick Google Search brings up all sorts of stories, many written by people who do not appear to be much more trustworth than Dekkers.

Whatever.

This. Deckers courted the publicity at first, before it all turned on him. He has a checkered past and is far from a reliable witness to anything. I'd put him in the same group as Mike Vreeland; clearly they knew something about 9/11 and were tangentially involved, but any more than that we can't be sure.

SkunkWerks		2012-12-14 07:05:50 AM

CruiserTwelve: ~~Good~~ Suspicious: you're a flight instructor with a net worth of $12 million

iron_city_ap: Very much THIS. The guy has dirtbag written all over him.

kradio: Unlikely: "you're a flight instructor with a net worth of $12 million"

OrganLeroy: Only way this could happen is if he'd inherited lots of money.

The base Salary of an average flight instructor in this country is nearly six figures.

Millennium		2012-12-14 07:08:04 AM

OrganLeroy: Only way this could happen is if he'd inherited lots of money.

I don't know about that. How many years did he spend training people who (though he may not have known it) were being bankrolled by Osama bin Laden? They could have kept him very well paid, so long as he didn't question too hard as to why...

SuperDuper28		2012-12-14 07:08:21 AM

Well, in his defense they probably didn't present any warning flags and this was pre-Islamaphobia. Not really accounting for his downward spiral but I guess having your livelyhood ruined would do that to some people.

neenerist		2012-12-14 07:12:46 AM

Silly Jesus: This is what you get for being politically correct. If he'd called them suspicious, he'd have been labeled a racist by left wingers.

Jeb will fix this for him then. The Reps protect their own.

Dadoody		2012-12-14 07:13:52 AM

qualtrough		2012-12-14 07:15:19 AM

SkunkWerks: Worst: You live in a society that enjoys ruining people for even having the most peripheral and unintentional involvement in a global tragedy.

But if you have a direct link, such as those US military or intelligence officials who completely and utterly failed at their primary duty, maintaining the security of the USA, you not only do not lose your job, you get promoted.

Wodan11		2012-12-14 07:22:29 AM

There's no doubt this guy is a scumbag. However, from TFA I don't think they caught him with any actual drugs. It was a sting operation; they caught him with their planted drugs. And the reason they did that was because he told their undercover, who approached him with a job offer, that he had flown drugs before with no problems. I can easily see that being a lie in order to get the work. He was clearly desperate for income. I just wonder how much evidence they have of actual crimes he did.

stellarossa		2012-12-14 07:22:35 AM

qualtrough: SkunkWerks: Worst: You live in a society that enjoys ruining people for even having the most peripheral and unintentional involvement in a global tragedy.

But if you have a direct link, such as those US military or intelligence officials who completely and utterly failed at their primary duty, maintaining the security of the USA, you not only do not lose your job, you get promoted.

Deckers played hard & fast with the truth and that got him into trouble. He made shiat up, he claimed certain things happened, he denied other things that clearly did happen. In short, it's easy to see why he was a person of interest, even if the FBI got to Huffman Aviation very quickly. Very quickly.

OregonVet		2012-12-14 07:25:46 AM

Net worth of $12M is probably below the median for a business like that. I'm not sure some of you know what is the meaning of the term and what is included in that figure.

I sound fat		2012-12-14 07:28:06 AM

CruiserTwelve: Good Suspicious: you're a flight instructor with a net worth of $12 million

Well, its not so suspicious if you are a drug mule with ties to known terrorists...

Carth		2012-12-14 07:30:18 AM

It is pretty easy to make a small fortune as a CFI. The trick is to start with a large fortune.

I sound fat		2012-12-14 07:30:37 AM

Bigdogdaddy: Silly Jesus: This is what you get for being politically correct. If he'd called them suspicious, he'd have been labeled a racist by left wingers.

Do you ever get tired of spouting bullcrap? I mean, come on man, you can't be that daft.

yeah, its easy to sit back with perfect hindsight and say "NO WAY, there is no WAY a good leftie like me would claim racism for ratting out the 9/11 hijackers for being suspicious", except for... well, they average person would have. They would have at least THOUGHT it. Whats worse, even MORE people would have thought it AFTER 9/11.

petec		2012-12-14 07:30:59 AM

SkunkWerks: CruiserTwelve: Good Suspicious: you're a flight instructor with a net worth of $12 million

iron_city_ap: Very much THIS. The guy has dirtbag written all over him.

kradio: Unlikely: "you're a flight instructor with a net worth of $12 million"

OrganLeroy: Only way this could happen is if he'd inherited lots of money.

The base Salary of an average flight instructor in this country is nearly six figures.

only in the sense it's probably 5 figures, I'd be suprised if they gross over 40K

Honest Bender		2012-12-14 07:35:33 AM

It's all well and good to hate this guy for training those crazy people to pilot the planes. But the real criminals are as yet unpunished! The workers who assembled those planes haven't spent even a minute inside a jail cell. THAT'S NOT RIGHT!

SkunkWerks		2012-12-14 07:36:52 AM

stellarossa: Deckers played hard & fast with the truth and that got him into trouble. He made shiat up, he claimed certain things happened, he denied other things that clearly did happen.

In what way is that unlike what a lot of folks in politics and military intelligence were up to during and even months or years after 9/11?

I dunno. I honestly never looked into how "suspicious" this guy really was. But I'd still wager if he had any real idea what was going to come of it, he probably wouldn't have associated with them. They'd have found someone else and we'd be reading about some other schmuck whose life was ruined by it.

You don't have to be an angel in order to not be a devil. And you also don't have to have malicious intent to start playing it free and loose with the truth when you're under that kind of scrutiny.

gadian		2012-12-14 07:37:09 AM

SkunkWerks: The base Salary of an average flight instructor in this country is nearly six figures.

Really? My flight instructor charged $30 a lesson and most of that was a fuel charge. I don't see these guys making huge balls of money unless they're a contractor or trainer for a corporation or something.

SkunkWerks		2012-12-14 07:38:17 AM

petec: only in the sense it's probably 5 figures

90,000+. Keep trying though.

Harry Freakstorm		2012-12-14 07:44:43 AM

After his arrest, a judge ordered Dekkers to remain in custody pending trial, noting that he is a citizen of the Netherlands without legal status in the U.S.

When did he become an illegal alien?

SkunkWerks		2012-12-14 07:49:20 AM

Harry Freakstorm: After his arrest, a judge ordered Dekkers to remain in custody pending trial, noting that he is a citizen of the Netherlands without legal status in the U.S.

When did he become an illegal alien?

I'm guessing it's when this happened:

dejareviewer.files.wordpress.com

neenerist		2012-12-14 07:49:38 AM

SkunkWerks: petec: only in the sense it's probably 5 figures

90,000+. Keep trying though.

Net that's $12M in a quick 133 years.

here to help		2012-12-14 07:51:33 AM

I see the Storm Front meeting started early this morning.

Frothy Panties		2012-12-14 07:51:50 AM

Mock26: "he lived in a tony, Florida"

Worst. Word. Ever.

What the hell does that even mean?

OregonVet		2012-12-14 07:53:26 AM

This thread wreaks of poor people.

SkunkWerks		2012-12-14 07:54:15 AM

neenerist: SkunkWerks: petec: only in the sense it's probably 5 figures

90,000+. Keep trying though.

Net that's $12M in a quick 133 years.

Cause- if you have surplus cash lying around- there's certainly no way to make that work for you. None at all.

In other news, the guy ran a flight school, did he not? Not that we'd want to take into account being the owner of a lucrative business- the sort of business that tends to attract clients who also have some amount of disposable income- into this whole "zOMG Flight Instructor is just liek flipping burgers at McDonalds!" silliness, now would we?

KellyKellyKelly		2012-12-14 07:57:44 AM

Frothy Panties: Mock26: "he lived in a tony, Florida"

Worst. Word. Ever.

What the hell does that even mean?

ton·y
/ˈtōnē/
Adjective
Fashionable among wealthy or stylish people: "a tony restaurant".

Bruce the Deuce		2012-12-14 07:59:41 AM

Six figures for flight instructing? Low fives in a good year.

SkunkWerks		2012-12-14 08:03:17 AM

Bruce the Deuce: Six figures for flight instructing?

Don't look at me. Google it if you like. My Father-In-Law is a pilot and deals with those folk pretty regularly. Honestly a near-six figures doesn't surprise me much. It's not like the typical burger-flipper suddenly decides he's got a few thousand lying around that he doesn't need and decides to pursue that daydream he had the other day of becoming a licensed pilot.

Bruce the Deuce: Low fives in a good year.

Work harder?

ChrisDe		2012-12-14 08:03:31 AM

weave		2012-12-14 08:03:44 AM

He should have just moved to Belize with that money.

abhorrent1		2012-12-14 08:15:13 AM

he is a citizen of the Netherlands without legal status in the U.S.

1.Come to America Illegally
2.Start a Business
3.???
4.Profit!

inglixthemad		2012-12-14 08:16:40 AM

OrganLeroy: CruiserTwelve: Good Suspicious: you're a flight instructor with a net worth of $12 million

This.

Only way this could happen is if he'd inherited lots of money.

//second career CFI
//keeping day job

Well, if he built up his own flight school, and you're counting the airplanes (and probably something else l, like charter) he might have a net worth like that. I mean, I know not many schools use "new" planes, but if he had a couple of late model 172S, an Arrow III or two, a couple of sims, and a turboprop for training / currency / rent his FBO could have been worth 12 million easy.

/even fuel trucks aren't cheap
//don't know the guy's story
///pilot

orbister		2012-12-14 08:18:31 AM

FTFA: The complaint against Dekkers alleges he admitted to an undercover Homeland Security Investigations agent that he ferried drugs and cash in private aircraft in exchange for payment.

Was the CIA employing him?