The Florida mailman who caused a major security scare when he landed his gyro-copter on the US Capitol lawn on Wednesday afternoon was just seconds from being shot out of the sky. House Homeland Security panel Chairman Michael McCaul revealed that Capitol authorities had Doug Hughes, 61, in their sights and were prepared to open fire. 'Had it gotten any closer to the speaker's balcony they have long guns to take it down, but it didn't. It landed right in front,' McCaul said about the flight which was undetected until authorities actually saw the craft approach. However, Hughes claims he informed the Secret Service and Capitol police of his potentially lethal stunt into the no-fly zone, which was designed to draw attention to campaign finance reform and government corruption. Speaking prior to the flight and just days after a man shot himself dead in front of the Capitol on Saturday causing panic, Hughes appeared confident he would survive his 'insane' protest. 'I don't believe that the authorities are going to shoot down a 61-year-old mailman in a flying bicycle,' said Hughes of the latest embarrassment for White House and Capitol security. Indeed, NORAD reported that they did not scramble any assets and were not informed of the flight until it had landed. And local Washington D.C. response helicopter units designed to deal with slow moving targets admitted they did not react either. Scroll Down for Video . Investigation: The gyro-copter flown by Doug Hughes lies on the West Lawn of the Capitol building in Washington D.C after he landed it there on Wednesday afternoon . Approach: The small gyro-copter (circled in red) lands on the West Lawn of the Capitol in Washington as members of the public walk by . Stunned reaction: Doug Hughes brings his gyro-copter into land on the West Lawn of the Capitol in Washington in front of astonished tourists and office workers . Practice: Doug Hughes flys his gyro-copter  near the Wauchula Municipal Airport in Wauchula, Florida in March during a trial-run for his US Capitol stunt . Mission accomplished: Doug Hughes' single-seater craft sits on the West Front lawn of the US Capitol after his brazen flight . Practice: According to the Tampa Bay Times Mr. Hughes (pictured here on a practice run in Florida) has been planning his Capitol building landing for two years . Protest flight: Doug Hughes took off from an undisclosed location in Washington D.C. and landed his gyro-copter on the West Front lawn of the US Capitol building . Campaign for change: In these April, 2015, photos, Doug Hughes puts address labels on half of the 535 letters to Congress that he intended to deliver via gyro-copter at his home in Ruskin . Doug Hughes' close friend Mike Shanahan, said today that the Hughes is not a terrorist and did not mean any harm with his protest. 'I was scared to death they were going to kill him,' Shanahan said to the Tampa Bay Times. 'My thanks goes out to whomever it was who decided not to pull the trigger.' The mailman's flight to raise awareness for campaign finance reform and donation caps caused the Capitol to go into lockdown as stunned members of the public watched him land his single-seat gyro-copter around 2pm and breach the No-Fly 'P56-Zone'. 'He has no weapons or anything else,' said Michael Shanahan to CNN. 'I know him personally. He's like a pitbull when he has an idea. He wants to wake up the country.' Hughes, who has been planning his 'insane' D.C. flight for two years was promptly arrested by police and FBI teams moved in quickly afterwards with bomb disposal robots. Capitol Police didn't immediately identify the pilot or comment on his motive, but a Florida postal carrier named Doug Hughes took responsibility for the stunt on a website where he said he was delivering letters to all 535 members of Congress in order to draw attention to campaign finance corruption. 'As I have informed the authorities, I have no violent inclinations or intent,' Hughes wrote on his website, thedemocracyclub.org. 'An ultralight aircraft poses no major physical threat - it may present a political threat to graft. I hope so. There's no need to worry - I'm just delivering the mail.' Taking all precautions: A member of a bomb squad works beside a bomb disposal robot at the gyro-copter on Wednesday outside the US Capitol . Rush: A member of a bomb squad checks Doug Hughes' gyro-copter after he had landed on the West Front lawn of the US Capitol building . Security breach: The small helicopter sits on the West Lawn of the Capitol in Washington after it landed in front of stunned bystanders on Wednesday afternoon . Panic: An officer rushes to approach the single-seat helicopter after it landed on the West Front lawn of the US Capitol building . Resting: The gyro-copter sits on the West Front lawn with emergency vehicles surrounding it after it came down on Wednesday afternoon . Furious interest: Members of the media converge near Constitution Avenue on Capitol Hill in Washington . Evidence: The illegally landed craft  was piloted by Florida mailman Doug Hughes to protest against government corruption and to promote campaign finance reform . Embarrassment: A gyro copter that was flown onto the grounds of the U.S. Capitol is seen on the west front lawn in Washington . Witnesses said the craft approached the Capitol from the west, flying low over the National Mall and the Capitol reflecting pool across the street from the building. It barely cleared a row of trees and a statue of Gen. Ulysses Grant. John Jewell, 72, a tourist from Statesville, North Carolina, said the craft landed hard and bounced. An officer was already there with a gun drawn. 'He didn't get out until police officers told him to get out. He had his hands up'' and was quickly led away by the police, Jewell said. 'They snatched him pretty fast.' Elizabeth Bevins, a tourist from Atlanta, said she was standing across the street from the Capitol when the helicopter flew in around 20 or 30 feet high, and it 'just sort of plopped down on the lawn.' Downtown Washington is blanketed by restrictions on air traffic that generally prohibit aircraft from flying over the White House, the Capitol, the national Mall and key buildings without special permission. The Federal Aviation Administration said the pilot hadn't notified it of his plans to enter restricted airspace. The situation was under investigation and streets in the area were shut down. Emergency vehicles were dispatched to the area and a robot bomb detector was sent over to the craft. Amid the commotion, the small craft presented a strange sight sitting on the green lawn of the Capitol, its rotors slowly spinning. Landed: The gyro-copter sits on the West Lawn after it came to a halt having defied the no-fly zone over the US Capitol and White House . According to the Tampa Bay Times, 61-year-old Doug Hughes has been planning the stunt for two years saying, 'No sane person would do what I'm doing.' In a report published by the newspaper prior to this afternoon's unauthorized landing, Hughes said, 'I have got a plane, a gyro-plane. And I'm going to fly it, I'm going to violate the no-fly zone, non-violently,' he says in the video posted to the newspapers website. 'I'm going to land on the Capitol Mall.' Speaking to the Tampa Bay Times prior to his flight, Hughes said that he had phoned the Secret Service to tell them he would land in front of the Capitol and that he had emailed Barack Obama's public email too. He said that he flight would serve as a protest against rampant lobby and interest groups controlling the political process and a wake-up call for security. 'Again, I'm going to fly low and slow and these guys are going to have a full head of adrenaline. Eventually, I'm hoping the Blackhawk will catch up with me about the time that the authorities realize that I'm not a threat and knocking me down is not a politically savvy move, and I anticipate having an escort all the way in. I'm hoping for a friendly escort.' Recovery: Various officials take a close up look at the scene where a small gyro-copter landed on the US Capitol lawn . Authorities load the gyro-copter onto the back of a truck to remove it from the West Front of the US Capitol . Retrieval: People walk past the gyro-copter that was flown onto the grounds of the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday . While he got no escort and the authorities were not aware of his incoming flight, Hughes is aware of what the consequences will now be. He anticipates losing his job with the US Postal Service and expects to lose his freedom. He admits to not telling his Russian-born wife or his four living children for fear they would be implicated. At the bottom line of his protest is his belief that money has corrupted democracy. 'We're heading full-throttle toward a breakdown,' he said to the Tampa Bay Times. 'There's no question that we need government, but we don't have to accept that it's a corrupt government that sells out to the highest bidder. We can have a government that works for the people, that answers to the people, that can only take money from the people in small amounts.' Hughes became politically radicalized two-and-a-half years ago when his 24-year-old son from a previous marriage committed suicide by driving his car head-on into another car - killing the driver. Speaking to the Tampa Bay Times, Hughes says that 'something changed in me' and that he realized he had to commit to making a change in this world. He hit upon his daring gyro-copter plan and set up a website and began to email every TV station and newspaper he could. He also told the Secret Service. Indeed, Hughes claims an agent came to see him last spring to ask him about his stunt and left him his card. Before he set off today, Hughes told the Times, 'I have thought about walking away from this whole thing because it's crazy,' he said. 'But I have also thought about being 80 years old and watching the collapse of this country and thinking that I had an idea once that might have arrested the fall and I didn't do it. 'And I will tell you completely honestly: I'd rather die in the flight than live to be 80 years old and see this country fall.'
Florida mailman breaches no-fly zone and lands gyro-copter on US Capitol West Front Lawn .
Doug Hughes, 61, concocted the stunt to raise awareness of campaign finance reform .
Flew undetected from an undisclosed location near to Washington D.C and landed at 2pm .
Stunned bystanders just watched as the helicopter flew past the Gen. Ulysses Grant statue and came to a halt .
He has been planning the stunt for two years and said he kept his wife in the dark about it .