Beach Buzzing Pilot convicted, March 24

A former U.S. Army helicopter pilot was convicted Thursday, March 20, of reckless flying on the Central Oregon Coast. Dean Edward Battersby was identified as the pilot of a single-engine Cessna that reportedly buzzed a charter boat on Yaquina Bay at Newport and beachcombers on the Bayshore Spit at Waldport. A six-member jury heard the case. The Lobster Valley resident had confrontations at the Newport Municipal Airport last July when he was banned from the operations area.