At 12:56 a.m., an air traffic controller at Washington National Airport noticed a blip on his radar scope; after realizing it was the stolen helicopter, the controller alerted the police. Preston then turned back toward Fort Meade in Maryland and left the restricted airspace; an old Bell 47 helicopter of the Maryland Police followed, but was too slow to keep up with Preston. The stolen helicopter soon appeared on the Baltimore–Washington International Airport's radar, and two Maryland State Police Bell 206 JetRangers were dispatched to intercept. Preston turned northeast, pursued by the two helicopters and police cars. He caused one police car to crash by executing a head-on pass just a few inches above its roof, briefly hovered above a doughnut shop, then followed the Baltimore–Washington Parkway once again toward Washington, planning to surrender personally to U.S. President Richard Nixon. Preston evaded one of the JetRangers with what its pilots described as "modern dogfighting tactics". With only one helicopter left chasing him, Preston flew along the Parkway at constantly changing speeds between , sometimes just inches above car-top level.