article: The 12-year-old daughter of the mailman who landed his gyrocopter on the lawn of the U.S. Capitol last week has said she was 'downright proud' of her dad. 'He's a patriot you know?' Kathy Hughes told ABC News. 'He did it for the country.' Her father, 61-year-old Doug Hughes, landed the aircraft on the West Lawn last Wednesday to protest campaign finance laws but was swiftly taken into custody. He is now under house arrest at their Ruskin, Florida home as he awaits a hearing to determine if he will go on trial for crossing a no-fly zone, a charge that could send him to prison for four years. On Monday, Hughes called his 80-mile journey to the Capitol 'a huge thrill' and shared footage of the flight from Virginia, across Washington D.C. and his safe landing on the West Lawn. Scroll down for video . Proud: Kathy Hughes, 12, said she is 'downright proud' of her father, who was arrested after landing his gyrocopter on the West lawn of the U.S. Capitol last week to protest corruption in Congress . Speaking out: Doug Hughes said the journey from Virginia to the U.S. Capitol was a 'huge thrill' as he spoke to Good Morning America on Monday morning. He is currently under house arrest in Florida . Journey: He also shared  footage (pictured) of his 80-mile flight from Virginia and across D.C. Speaking to Good Morning America on Monday morning, Hughes said he never feared he would be shot down, despite coming within feet of the guarded building. 'I'm a mailman, I was delivering the mail,' he said wryly. 'I don't think that the government is going to shoot a 61-year-old mailman in a flying bicycle who is not threatening anyone.' He added that he had made 'every effort to notify the administration' before his flight to let them know who he was and what he would be doing. Instead of worrying about being shot down, he was focused solely on landing safely, he said. 'This is different than any other landing I've made, and it had a very surreal nature to it,' he said. 'I didn't have a hand free to pinch myself to see if it was happening, but that’s what was happening.' Despite landing unscathed, he said that he believes the security in the city is 'ironclad' and that if anyone else tries to land on the West Lawn, they might not be so lucky. He pulled off the stunt to bring the public's attention to the 'the problem of corruption in Congress' and to spotlight his belief that campaign finance laws are too weak, he said. 'It's up to the American people to decide whether or not they're going to catch the ball that I threw,' he said. 'If they pick this up, it's in their power to fix the problem. Then it's worth it even if I lose my job or go to jail.' He is also calling for changes to Congress on his blog. By his side: Both Kathy and her mother Alena (right) have called Mr Hughes a 'patriot' for his flight . Hughes is on leave from his job and is under house arrest in Ruskin, Florida. He will attend a hearing in Washington D.C. in two weeks to determine whether his case will go to trial. If found guilty of the charges - violating restricted airspace and operating an unregistered aircraft - he faces four years in prison and fines. Speaking to GMA, he added that he does not expect to be reunited with his gyrocopter, but if he does, he plans to melt it down into beer cans. Hughes reportedly planned his trip for more than two years before flying through restricted airspace and a no-fly zone last Wednesday. He was carrying 535 letters - one for each member of Congress. Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson later admitted that the gyrocopter went undetected and under the radar as it flew 80 miles from Gettysburg, Pennsylvania to the building - in just the latest embarrassment for Secret Service security around the Capitol and White House. After a series of interviews, the Secret Service decided not to prosecute Mr Hughes' Belarus-born wife Alena, who claims she was not aware of his plan. Approach: The small gyro-copter (in red) lands on the West Lawn of the Capitol in Washington last week . Under the radar: A member of a bomb squad checks the small helicopter after Hughes landed on the West Lawn of the Capitol in Washington last Wednesday. He was carrying letters to every member of Congress . The couple met online and went on a few dates in Russia before she moved to the U.S. in 2002 and they married. Kathy is their daughter together while Mr Hughes has adult children from a previous marriage. She reportedly told officers that her husband said he was going to Virginia but did not elaborate on what he planned to do there. But following his stunt, Mrs Hughes defended her husband as a 'patriot'. 'I am very proud of my husband. He is a countryman,' Alena Hughes told the Associated Press. But for his part, when Mr Hughes was asked if he defined himself as a patriot, he responded: 'No, I'm a mailman.' See below for video .
highlights: Kathy Hughes called her dad Doug Hughes 'a patriot' for landing his gyrocopter on the West Lawn last week to protest campaign finance laws .
  Speaking out on Monday, Mr Hughes called the journey 'a huge thrill' and said he never feared he'd be shot down .
  He said it would be worth losing his job and going to jail if the country took note of his message .
  He faces four years in prison for crossing a no-fly zone and is under house arrest in Florida before a hearing in Washington D.C. next month .
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