Accident in Arizona - Midair

[Gus Rasch]

Group,

Anyone have info on the midair between a J-3 and glider in Arizona this wkend?

GR

[Charles Petersen]

This, from the local press, at
http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/1229crash29.html :

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"The son of Turf Soaring School's founder and three other people died Sunday
afternoon when a glider performing an acrobatic loop collided in midair with
a plane at Pleasant Valley Airport, bringing both aircraft crashing to the
ground.

Keith Coulliette, 30, an employee of Turf Soaring School and the son of
school founder Roy Coulliette, was pulling the glider out of a series of
acrobatic loops about 1:15 p.m. Sunday when he collided with the
single-engine fixed-wing plane, cutting off the plane's wing, witnesses
said.

Matthew Broadus, 36, of Redmond, Wash., was a passenger in the glider, which
took off from the school at the airport near 89th Avenue and Carefree
Highway.

Carl Remmer, 82, a retired Marine Corps pilot living in Sun City, was flying
the plane, a Piper Cub. Bob Shaff, in his mid-80s, of Phoenix, was a
passenger in the plane, which had also taken off from the airport.

According to the school's Web site, Keith had flown more than 5,000 flights
since soloing at age 14.

"He was incredibly generous and would give you the shirt off his back. He
was an incredibly compassionate person," said Beth Golka, Keith's aunt, who
last saw him on Christmas Day at a family party. Along with his interest in
horseback riding, he enjoyed aviation and was active in flying competitions,
Golka said.

John Reynolds of California was watching the planes with his 4-year-old
granddaughter and saw the crash.

"The glider went straight down at a very high speed," he said. "The plane
lost its left wing and came down more slowly.

"It was a grim sight."

Dave Morris was also watching the flights and called 911.

"We were standing here and these planes just collided at about 600 feet up,"
he said. "We were awestruck. It sounded like two birds hitting."

The debris was spread across about 200 yards. The glider was mostly in small

pieces - a tire, the tip of a wing and strips of metal. The plane was mostly
intact, with the tail sticking out of the ground and then bent
perpendicular.

"This appears to be one of those tragic collisions that occurs when you have
two aircraft in the same airspace and they don't see each other," Peoria
fire spokesman Mike Tellef said.

Shocked Turf employees stood in small groups Sunday, crying and talking
quietly as they stared toward the crash site in the desert north of the
runway.

Turf Soaring School is the state's oldest and one of the nation's best-
known glider schools, founded in 1967 by Roy Coulliette. Gliders are
motorless aircraft, taken into the air and then released to glide by a tow
plane. The school offers lessons and rides."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This is saddening beyond comprehension to any of us who regard ourselves as
part of the extended Turf 'family'. My thoughts and prayers to Roy and the
gang at this fine school.

Charles Petersen



"Gus Rasch" > wrote in message
om...
> Group,
>
> Anyone have info on the midair between a J-3 and glider in Arizona this
wkend?
>
> GR

[Kilo Charlie]

The following link is the official statement from Turf Soaring School. All
of us that fly at Turf regularly personally feel the tragic loss of the
pilots and passenger and our thoughts and prayers are with the Turf family
and with the families of all of the persons involved.

http://www.asa-soaring.org/forum/topic.asp?topic_id=1150&forum_id=4&Topic_Title=A+Statement+From+Turf+Soaring

Casey Lenox
Phoenix