On 11/8/04 9:15 PM, in article , "F.L.
Whiteley" wrote:


"Bullwinkle" wrote in message
...
On 11/6/04 8:13 AM, in article , "Shawn"
wrote:

F.L. Whiteley wrote:
"Fred Blair" wrote in message
nk.net...

It was interesting to read the "student's " response that 'the tow
plane
did not rise up to take the slack out of the rope', apparently not
briefed on doing the tow, and what to expect.

Fred

There is some evidence that the tow was not going as planned and that
the
pilot may have been stricken. Sad and unfortunate series of events.

Frank


This is a quote lifted from the coroner's contribution to the NTSB
report.

"the likelihood is high that he did suffer some sort of cardiac event
which, while not immediately fatal, did so incapacitate him that he was
unable to control the plane or to even use his radio to alert anyone."

Shawn


The coroner initially called heart disease, and later she retracted that
diagnosis. While true that he had a Special Issuance for his heart
disease,
he did not have a cardiac event, and his heart was in no way related to
the
accident.

The young, inexperienced cadet IP made a mistake at a critical point in
the
flight, from which the older, experienced tow pilot was unable to recover,
due to the laws of physics. Yes, the student got out of position, but the
IP
made the problem even worse. The towpilot simply didn't have enough
altitude
to pull out of the dive that the IP put his plane into. Impact killed
him,
not heart disease.

The take-home point is that we hold the towpilots life in our hands on
each
and every aerotow. Think about that, not just about calling out "200
feet."

From someone with a little inside knowledge.
Bullwinkle

So I guess the old fart forgot to signup for SBP. Since this reversal must
be a matter of public record, where is it filed? From science to politcial
science. Let's see, coroner appointed or elected there

Frank




Public record: autopsy report revised. Also, a previous court proceeding, in
which the ME testified and publicly reported her changed opinion. See the
Colorado Springs Gazette article of about 2 weeks ago for details. (This
article also reports that it was tug upset, not heart disease.)

El Paso County Coroner: elected, but the medical examiner in this case was
not the Coroner, rather a hired pathologist.

By the way, I object to your flippant reference to the deceased tow pilot as
an "old fart." He was a veteran, and working in his retirement years helping
train the next generation of US warfighters. Have a little respect,
especially since Veteran's Day is Thursday.

SBP? What does Survivor Benefit Plan have to do with this? (for the
uninitiated, SBP is a mechanism for military retirees to allow their
surviving spouse to retain part of their pension if the sponsor dies first.
A pension insurance plan)

Bullwinkle