Pilot Who Ditched Plane In Fraud Scheme Sentenced Man Transmitted False Distress Signal; Was Later Discovered In Hawaii

Bellevue pilot David Peter Novak, who vanished after ditching his plane in Puget Sound last spring, was sentenced Friday to a year and a day in prison and ordered to pay nearly $80,000 in restitution.

Novak, 34, pleaded guilty in September to transmitting a false distress signal and to mail fraud, a charge that concerned fraudulent insurance claims for allegedly stolen avionics equipment in 1995.

“This has been the most difficult event in my life,” Novak said. “I’ve hurt my friends, and I’ve hurt myself. I’ve hurt pretty much everybody in my life who’s reached out to help me.”

U.S. District Judge Carolyn Dimmick also ordered three years of supervised release for Novak after he serves the prison time, Assistant U.S. Attorney Mickey Brunner said.

“I don’t know what was in your head when you went down in the middle of the Sound. Nobody’s ever going to know. I’m not sure you know,” Dimmick told Novak.

More than half the restitution ordered - $45,067 - is to go to Avemco Insurance Co. to cover the value of the false claim.

The balance is for costs of the futile search after Novak issued the distress call: $31,067.28 assessed by the U.S. Coast Guard, $1,150 by King County police, $1,950 by the Air National Guard and $110 by the Seattle Police Department.

Novak ditched his plane on May 31 after radioing for help. Authorities found nothing but an oil slick.

Novak, who apparently was trying to escape financial problems at his business - Cavu Flying Club Inc. at Everett’s Paine Field - later surfaced in Hawaii. He turned himself in to federal authorities in June and was released on $62,000 bond provided by his sister, who lives in South Carolina. He is now working for a social club there, Brunner said.

He likely will be asked to report to federal prison early next year, she said.

At a September hearing, Novak admitted he was on a commercial flight to Los Angeles as the Coast Guard and other agencies searched for his downed plane.

He radioed the Boeing Field control tower on May 31 that his Piper Cherokee had lost power. A 12-hour search was mounted in response to his distress call.

He was accused of fraudulently causing the Coast Guard to attempt to save life and property, which carries a maximum penalty of six years in prison, a $250,000 fine and a $5,000 civil penalty.

The mail-fraud charge carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a $250,0000 fine.

Novak was accused of scheming to defraud Frederick, Md.-based Avemco by removing pieces of equipment from four planes owned by Cavu Flying Club, reporting them stolen, and then removing the serial numbers and putting the parts back on the planes.