SAN DIEGO -- A man who stole a plane from Montgomery Field in San Diego, then flew the single-engine aircraft to Palm Springs and on to Los Angeles International Airport, pleaded guilty Monday to a felony charge of using an airplane without the owner's permission.

Skye Turner, 23, will be referred to a Behavioral Health Court program, said defense attorney Jill Kovaly.

The goal of the Behavioral Health Court is to promote public safety and assist in the recovery of eligible mentally ill offenders by offering high-intensity, individualized treatment, supervision and custody alternatives.

If the defendant is not accepted into the new program, he could be sentenced to 120 days in jail, the attorney said.

Turner -- who has no pilot's license but does have some training -- stole the keys to the plane on Feb. 18 and flew to Palm Springs.

The defendant refueled in Palm Springs and then flew to Los Angeles, prosecutors said.

Officials were concerned because Turner reportedly had been in a dispute with his girlfriend and had allegedly threatened to crash the single-engine, four-seat Cirrus SR22 into the ocean.

As Turner entered LAX airspace, he was flying so high -- in the clouds above 11,500 feet -- that he became disoriented, and air-traffic controllers helped talk him down, authorities said.

As he came in on final approach, he was going too fast and aborted at least one landing, but eventually landed the plane successfully on the south airfield about 3 a.m. on Feb. 19, officials said.

Turner stole the plane just hours after a man flew a small aircraft into an office building where federal tax employees worked in Austin, Texas, killing himself and another person.

FAA records show Turner got a student pilot license in September 2004, but it expired two years later, the Daily Breeze reported.