France: Down and Out, Paris Style

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The treelined Champs-Elysees, one of the world's most fashionable boulevards, momentarily became a runway last week. The stunt occurred after the street had been closed to traffic for the shooting of a promotional film to aid Paris' bid for the 1992 Olympic Games. As the cameras rolled and 1976 Olympic Gold Medal Hurdler Guy Drut ran, torch in hand, up the deserted avenue, a blue, single-engine Rallye-Club suddenly zoomed in over the Arc de Triomphe and put down in a perfect landing.

The pilot, Albert Maltret, 50, a salesman for an oil company, was publicizing the plight of Frenchmen who, he said, have been unjustly arrested in Morocco. Maltret said he was mistakenly arrested and jailed for a day last year during a business trip to Casablanca.

The protest quickly landed Maltret at a Paris police station, where he was charged with flying at an altitude of less than 6,500 feet above the city without permission. The former navy flyer may face three months' imprisonment, a $10,000 fine and loss of his pilot's license.