Damn accidents !

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BrianL99
Posts: 314
Joined: Mon Jun 16, 2014 7:23 pm

Damn accidents !

Post by BrianL99 »

So after I got home from the Sport Pilot Expo, I hear about an accident the day before, at my home airport. An Instructor friend of mine, totaled a Cessna 150. The most beautiful Cessna 150 on earth, with pedigree. It was supposedly the last airplane that Charles Lindberg ever flew as PIC.

A Student is on her last lesson and the Instructor was going to have her solo that day or next. They were doing pattern work and he told her (3) more landings and she was ready. They're on approach and she's a little high and flairing (sort, narrow runway in the woods (6B6). He tells her to go around. She puts the throttle to the firewall a little too slowly. The nose slammed on the runway, before the Instructor could lower the nose. The Nose Wheel went through the cockpit, it hit so hard and the propeller went through the rear fuselage of a 150 parked on the ramp. Luckily, both the Instructor and Student walked away.

10 minutes ago, I got back to my house in Tampa. Apparently there was an accident a few hours ago at Lakeland (Sun & Fun Airport). An Instructor & student in an Apache, crashed it into a building full of dangerous chemicals. It took a couple of hours before authorities would go into the building, Instructor and Student both died.

Bad week for GA.
Lspilot82
Posts: 19
Joined: Thu Jan 07, 2010 8:46 pm
Location: Lakeland, Fl

Re: Damn accidents !

Post by Lspilot82 »

You guys aren't going to believe this, but I seen the plane that crashed today in lakeland probably about 10 seconds before it went down. I drive a truck for plastipak, I transport empty plastic bottles from the plant on county line road to our warehouse on 92. The plant is directly across from the new Amazon warehouse on county line, and the warehouse is pretty much due north of where the plane went down. The distance between where I was at and the crash site was about half a mile. We also sit just inside the north part of the class delta. Constantly planes are flying over us when entering the airspace from the north. Today was a normal day. Weather was nice, a few clouds, little wind. A day where I'd much rather be flying than working. About 9:15 9:30, I really don't remember, hell it could've been 9:45. I try not to look at my clock cause doing so slows the day down. Anyway, I noticed a twin flying to the SSW I would say. It seemed rather low than what I normally see, but I didn't really give it a 2nd thought. Sometimes, I'll see planes that low. I didn't see if a prop was stopped, nor could I hear the engines due to the noise that my semi was making. As he flew out of sight a went about what I was doing. About 2 minutes later I noticed the smoke coming from the direction of Key Industries. Knowing what they do there and knowing what they stored, I assumed they had a explosion in on of there little safety bunker things they use when working with that stuff. Again, I didn't think it was a plane crash. I was curious so I drove over there, it's literally about a 2 min drive. I noticed that the smoke was coming from way back on the property. The fire didn't look too severe, so I went back to work to report to my coworkers what was going on. I have a few friends on Facebook, so I decided to post on there what was going on over at Key. A few minutes later a buddy told me a plane had crashed. Still I didn't know it was the Apache I seen until I seen the pics of it. A buddy of mine over at the airport told me early in the day that Tailwheels had lost a plane, so I went on their website and there it was, the twin. I felt so bad and worried cause I know someone over there, plus I have other friends that are students there. Luckily they were all accounted for. Later in the day, this homeless guy I talk to from time to time came over to me. Knowing that I'm a pilot and he too being a old ultralight pilot back in the day, he knew that I would be able to understand what he saw. He said as the plane flew over he heard it sputter and it sounded like he lost an engine. He heard the engine restart, then quit again. As the plane flew SSW, he observed no sound at all, as if the plane lost complete power. He said it was already flying slow, as if trying to maintain altitude or stretch it's glide. He then said he witnessed the plane stall and go straight in. He said it appeared as if some grabbed the tail and threw the tail up. The plane fell out of his sight. He said the wings were level and it didn't appear to have spun. I got him in contact with the Orlando FSDO, and they took his statement. Anyway, has been a bad week for aviation in central Florida. Last week the Sebring crash and now this. Everybody please fly safe and thanks for reading.
Brian Newman
BrianL99
Posts: 314
Joined: Mon Jun 16, 2014 7:23 pm

Re: Damn accidents !

Post by BrianL99 »

You're right about that, not a good week in Central Florida.

I'm watching the news right now, but they don't have many details on the Lakeland crash.
Lspilot82
Posts: 19
Joined: Thu Jan 07, 2010 8:46 pm
Location: Lakeland, Fl

Re: Damn accidents !

Post by Lspilot82 »

BrianL99 wrote:You're right about that, not a good week in Central Florida.

I'm watching the news right now, but they don't have many details on the Lakeland crash.
They released both names that's really all they know. The plane was burnt beyond recognition. It's a sad day man. Always hits you hard when a fellow aviator goes down in your own back yard.
Brian Newman
User avatar
MrMorden
Posts: 2184
Joined: Fri Aug 17, 2012 7:28 am
Location: Athens, GA

Re: Damn accidents !

Post by MrMorden »

The sad fact is that aviation is dangerous enough that if you are around it long enough, you will personally know people who are involved in accidents. It's a lot like motorcycles in that regard; all of my friends who ride motorcycles (I personally do not) know at least one person who has been killed on a bike. But then cars are not too much different, we almost certainly all know at least one person who has been killed in a car crash.

Life is dangerous, and some activities are more dangerous than others. We should all work to stack the deck in our favor wherever we can, but it doesn't always work out. :cry:
Andy Walker
Athens, GA
Sport Pilot ASEL, LSRI
2007 Flight Design CTSW E-LSA
Wm.Ince
Posts: 1080
Joined: Sun Nov 17, 2013 3:27 pm
Location: Clearwater, FL

Re: Damn accidents !

Post by Wm.Ince »

MrMorden wrote:. . . :Life is dangerous, and some activities are more dangerous than others. We should all work to stack the deck in our favor wherever we can, but it doesn't always work out. :cry:" . . .
You are right Andy.

That withstanding, I do not consider running out of fuel as "stacking the deck in your favor." That's just plain stupid. In general aviation, that happens way too often. What gets me is, in that particular situation, the fix is so simple.

Most aviation accidents are avoidable. Accidents are the result of a chain of events that lead up to the crash. The great majority of them, could have been avoided, had the pilot in command intervened, somewhere along the chain, and returned the situation to a safe status. This can be said, even under emergency conditions, i.e. engine failure in a light twin.

Most accidents are not the result of one bad decision, they are the result of several bad decisions in succession, leading up to the disastrous event.

The point being here . . . break the damned chain.
Bill Ince
LSRI
Retired Heavy Equipment Operator
User avatar
MrMorden
Posts: 2184
Joined: Fri Aug 17, 2012 7:28 am
Location: Athens, GA

Re: Damn accidents !

Post by MrMorden »

Wm.Ince wrote:
MrMorden wrote:. . . :Life is dangerous, and some activities are more dangerous than others. We should all work to stack the deck in our favor wherever we can, but it doesn't always work out. :cry:" . . .
You are right Andy.

That withstanding, I do not consider running out of fuel as "stacking the deck in your favor." That's just plain stupid. In general aviation, that happens way too often. What gets me is, in that particular situation, the fix is so simple.

Most aviation accidents are avoidable. Accidents are the result of a chain of events that lead up to the crash. The great majority of them, could have been avoided, had the pilot in command intervened, somewhere along the chain, and returned the situation to a safe status. This can be said, even under emergency conditions, i.e. engine failure in a light twin.

Most accidents are not the result of one bad decision, they are the result of several bad decisions in succession, leading up to the disastrous event.

The point being here . . . break the damned chain.
Could not agree more. My only point is that even if you train and prepare the best you can, and are careful and cautious not to perform "stupid pilot tricks", there is still risk in flying that is unavoidable.
Andy Walker
Athens, GA
Sport Pilot ASEL, LSRI
2007 Flight Design CTSW E-LSA
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