A pilot wanted on fraud charges parachuted out of his plane over the US state of Alabama and allowed the aircraft to crash in neighboring Florida in an apparent attempt to fake his death.
Authorities launched a manhunt for 38-year-old Marcus Schrenker, who survived and checked into an Alabama hotel under a false name, and then fled, a Florida sheriff's officer said.
He was the only person aboard the plane that took off last Sunday from Indiana.
The pilot made a fake emergency call, put the plane on autopilot and parachuted out over Alabama, according to police.
The empty plane, a Piper PA-36, crashed more than 354km away in northwest Florida near the city of Milton.
A man believed to be the pilot later approached police near the Alabama city of Harpersville on Sunday night, wet up to the knees and seeking help.
He told them he had been in a canoe accident, showed them a drivers license identifying him as Mr Schrenker and was taken by police to a hotel, police said.
By the time Alabama authorities learned about the plane crash, he had fled the hotel.
Mr Schrenker faces fraud charges in Indiana.
