Capitol Hill gyrocopter: Postal worker Doug Hughes due in court after flight through restricted airspace

Mr Hughes wanted to draw attention to the amount of money involved in politics

Doug Hughes is due in court on Thursday (AP)

A friend of a postal worker from Florida who landed his gyrocopter on the lawns of the US Capitol Building to demand campaign finance reform, has said he feared the man may have been shot from the sky.

Doug Hughes, 61, is due to appear in court on Thursday afternoon, where he is to face federal charges, reports said.

Mr Hughes drew gasps on Wednesday when he flew through restricted airspace and landed his gyrocopter yards from Congressional buildings in Washington. He was carrying a letter for every member of Congress, urging them to do more to confront the issue of money in politics.

Mr Hughes had informed the media ahead of his stunt and even emailed the office of President Barack Obama, telling them of his plan and pointing out that he did not represent a security threat.

Yet when he called his friend on Mike Shanahan on Wednesday and said he was in the Washington area and preparing to take off, his friend feared that law enforcement officers might shoot him down.

“I was scared to death they were going to kill him,” Mr Shanahan told the Associated Press.

One report said Congress officials have said they were aware of Mr Hughes’s plan and that police had been warned of what to expect. However, another report said the Secret Serice were not aware of the scheme and officials at the Federal Aviation Authority said Mr Hughes had not informed them of his plan.

Doug Hughes is due to appear in court after he flew through restricted airspace (AP)

Mr Hughes, who is married and has four children, wrote on his website that he wanted to spotlight corruption in Washington and present what he believed were solutions.

“Let’s keep the discussion focused on reform - not me - I’m just delivering the mail,” he wrote. “As I have informed the authorities, I have no violent inclinations or intent.”

In an interview with the Tampa Bay Times before his flight, Mr Hughes said he saw himself as a showman patriot — a mix of Paul Revere and legendary circus owner PT Barnum.

According to his website, Mr Hughes was born and raised in Santa Cruz, California, where his first job was at a McDonald’s restaurant. Upon graduating from high school, he joined the Navy, he wrote, and then worked in restaurant management on the West Coast. He lived in North Carolina and then moved to Florida following a divorce.

He said that he had informed the newspaper about his plan because he feared being hurt. He said he had kept his Russian-born wife and 12-year-old daughter in the dark about his plan.

Mr Hughes has three other children, including one son who took his own life by driving his car head-on into another vehicle, killing both himself and the other driver nearly three years ago. Hughes said his son’s suicide was a catalyst for hi for him to act.

“He paid far too high a price for an unimportant issue,” Mr Hughes told the paper. “But if you’re willing to take a risk, the ultimate risk, to draw attention to something that does have significance, it’s worth doing.”