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Before Boudin, Selya and Dyk, *fn1 Circuit Judges.

The government charged defendant-appellant Gerard Sasso with one count of interfering with the operation of an aircraft with reckless disregard for human life and one count of making false statements. See 18 U.S.C. §§ 32(a)(5), 1001. After a four-day trial, a jury found the defendant guilty as charged. The defendant was sentenced to serve three years in prison. On appeal, the defendant raises a gallimaufry of issues, only two of which need be discussed.

We begin with the defendant’s plaint that the district court should have granted his motion for a judgment of acquittal because the evidence did not suffice to support his conviction under 18 U.S.C. § 32(a)(5). See Fed. R. Crim. P. 29. We review de novo the denial of a Rule 29 motion. See United States v. Dwinells, 508 F.3d 63, 72 (1st Cir. 2007). In determining whether the evidence suffices to sustain a conviction, we take the facts and all reasonable inferences therefrom in the light most favorable to the jury verdict. United States v. Walker, 665 F.3d 212, 224 (1st Cir. 2011). The verdict must stand unless the evidence is so exiguous that no rational jury could conclude that the government proved all the essential elements of the offense of conviction beyond a reasonable doubt. United States v. Rodriguez-Velez, 597 F.3d 32, 39 (1st Cir. 2010).

 
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