On Fri, 06 Mar 2015 16:00:14 +1300, george152 wrote:

Your media is as bad as ours for reporting real events

REAL news is hard to find these days. Agreed.

That said, focusing on what is portrayed in live video of the accident scene
and official activities surrounding the crash site, I was surprised by the lack
of visible evidence of a post crash fire or environmental fuel contamination
mitigation activities. This mishap is beginning to smell of fuel exhaustion.
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Aircraft registration he
http://registry.faa.gov/aircraftinquiry/NNum_Results.aspx?NNumbertxt=53178.

FAA REGISTRY
N-Number Inquiry Results
N53178 is Assigned
Data Updated each Federal Working Day at Midnight

Aircraft Description
Serial Number 1859 Status Valid
Manufacturer Name RYAN AERONAUTICAL Certificate Issue Date
11/19/2009
Model ST3KR Expiration Date 10/31/2015
Type Aircraft Fixed Wing Single-Engine Type Engine Reciprocating
Pending Number Change None Dealer No
Date Change Authorized None Mode S Code (base 8 / oct) 51533622
MFR Year 1942 Mode S Code (base 16 / hex) A6B792
Type Registration Corporation Fractional Owner NO
Registered Owner
Name MG AVIATION INC
Street 2140 S DUPONT HWY

City CAMDEN State DELAWARE
County KENT Zip Code 19934-1249
Country UNITED STATES
Airworthiness
Engine Manufacturer AMA/EXPR Classification Standard
Engine Model UNKNOWN ENG Category Normal
A/W Date 06/04/1998

https://www.facebook.com/pages/MG-Aviation-Inc/103414459734919
http://www.mgaviationinc.com/

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http://www.city-data.com/city/Camden-Delaware.html
Aircraft: RYAN AERONAUTICAL ST3KR (Category: Land, Seats: 2, Weight: Up to
12,499 Pounds, Speed: 105 mph), Engine: AMA/EXPR UNKNOWN ENG (Reciprocating)
N-Number: 53178 , Serial Number: 1859, Year manufactured: 1942, Airworthiness
Date: 06/04/1998
Registrant (Corporation): Mg Aviation Inc, 2140 S Dupont Hwy, Camden, DE 19934

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ryan_ST
T. Claude Ryan was the founder of the Ryan Aeronautical Company, the second
incarnation of a company with this name, and the fourth company with which he
had been involved to bear his name[1] (the first, Ryan Airlines, was the
manufacturer of the Ryan NYP, more famously known as the Spirit of St. Louis).
He began the development of the ST (for "Sport Trainer", and also known as
S-T), the first design of the company, in 1933.[2]

The ST featured two open cockpits in tandem in a metal semi-monocoque fuselage
of two main frames - one steel, the other half of steel and half of aluminium
alloy (alclad) - to take the loads from the wing spars and six more alclad
frames; and alclad skin.[3] It had wings in three sections of hybrid
construction; the center section integral with the fuselage had tubular steel
spars, the front spar a simple tube with an external brace to the upper
fuselage, and the rear spar in the form of a parallel chord truss.[3] The two
outer wing panels had wooden spars and alclad ribs, with diagonal rods bracing
the wings internally. Alclad sheet was used to form the leading edges, and
fabric covered the whole structure. When attached, the outer wings were braced
with flying wires to the fixed conventional landing gear and landing wires to
the upper fuselage.[3]

Five STs were built[4] before the follow-on ST-A (A for Aerobatic) was
developed with a more powerful engine. A single ST-B was produced, this being
an ST-A with only one seat and an extra fuel tank where the front cockpit
normally was; this aircraft was subsequently converted back to ST-A
standard.[5] The ST-A was further developed as the ST-A Special, with an engine
of increased power.

In 1937 the ST-A Special was developed into a military version, the STM (also
ST-M) series. Changes included wider cockpits to enable military pilots to
enter and exit while wearing parachutes, and provision for a machine gun on
some examples.[4] Variants in the series included the STM-2P single-seat
version armed with a machine gun delivered to Nationalist China; and the
STM-S2, which could be fitted with landing gear or with EDO Model 1965
floats.[3][6]

After the ST-M came the ST-3, a substantial redesign in 1941 partly brought
about by the unreliability of the Menasco engines fitted to STs to that point.
The United States Army Air Corps (USAAC) had purchased several dozen ST-M
variants under various designations and had Ryan Aeronautical re-engine most
with Kinner R-440 radial engines.[4][7] The USAAC found the modification to be
beneficial and asked Ryan Aeronautical to design a variant with this engine as
standard, and with airframe modifications considered desirable from in-service
experience. The ST-3 that resulted featured a longer and more circular wider
fuselage, this being suggested by the circular radial engine. Other changes
included a revised rudder, balanced ailerons and elevators, and strengthened
main landing gear with the legs spaced further apart. The streamlining spats
covering the mainwheels, found on ST series aircraft to that point, were
deleted as well.[1] The ST-3 served as the basis for military versions ordered
by the USAAC and the United States Navy (USN).[4][8]

The ST-3 gave rise to another model developed in 1941 and early 1942, this was
the ST-3KR (for Kinner Radial). The ST-3KR had a more powerful Kinner R-5
engine fitted and became the definitive model; more than 1,000 military
versions were built during World War II as PT-22 Recruits.[4] The final variant
was the ST-4, which was a version of the ST-3 with a wooden fuselage, developed
in case a shortage of "strategic materials" (i.e. of metal) developed. Such a
shortage did not eventuate and the ST-4 was not put into mass-production.[4]

Some U.S. Navy versions of the ST-3, the NR-1, were converted to specialized
ground trainers to teach cadets how to taxi aircraft when on the ground or
after landing, and especially in crosswinds. The main wing was clipped back to
the landing gear; a small nose wheel added to prevent ground loops; a roll cage
between cockpits to protect the pilot and cadet; and the throttle modified so
the engine could not go over a certain RPM.[9]

The first Ryan ST flew for the first time on 8 June 1934[1] and production
began the following year, when nine aircraft were delivered.[7] Except for 1937
(when 46 aircraft were built), production rates remained low for several years,
at about one aircraft every two weeks. This changed in 1940 when deliveries to
military forces began in earnest; production that year was just under three
aircraft per week.[7] Total production of civil and military aircraft prior to
the entry of the United States into World War II amounted to 315.[7][10]
Another 1,253 military versions were produced in 1942 and 1943, for a total of
1,568 aircraft of all models.[11] ...
------------------------------------------------------------------------

HARRISON FORD
Selected Airman Airman: HARRISON FORD
Personal Information
HARRISON FORD

3100 DONALD DOUGLAS LOOP N
SANTA MONICA CA 90405-3084
County: LOS ANGELES
Country: USA
Medical
Medical Class: Third, Medical Date: 5/2014
MUST WEAR CORRECTIVE LENSES.
Certificates
PRIVATE PILOT
Date of Issue: 3/13/2009
Certificate: PRIVATE PILOT Print
Ratings:
PRIVATE PILOT
AIRPLANE SINGLE ENGINE LAND
AIRPLANE SINGLE ENGINE SEA
AIRPLANE MULTIENGINE LAND
INSTRUMENT AIRPLANE
ROTORCRAFT-HELICOPTER

Type Ratings:
P/CE-525 P/CE-680

Limits:
ENGLISH PROFICIENT.

http://www.airsafe.com/events/celebs/ford.htm
----------------------------------------------------

http://www.dailynews.com/arts-and-entertainment/20150306/harrison-ford-battered-but-ok-after-crashing-plane-on-venice-golf-course

Harrison Ford ‘battered but OK’ after crashing plane on Venice golf course

A small plane lies where it crash-landed on Penmar Golf Course in the Venice
area of Los Angeles on Thursday, March 5, 2015. The course is near the Santa
Monica Municipal Airport, just west of a runway. According to media reports,
Harrison Ford was piloting the aircraft, which the NTSB said is a Ryan
Aeronautical ST3KR, a World War II-era aircraft. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)
By City News Service
POSTED: 03/06/15, 6:42 AM PST | 0 COMMENTS
LOS ANGELES - “Battered, but OK,” actor Harrison Ford was hospitalized today
with injuries he suffered when the World War II-era single- engine plane he was
piloting lost power and crashed on a Venice golf course shortly after takeoff
from Santa Monica Airport.

The single-engine plane, identified by the National Transportation Safety Board
as a Ryan Aeronautical ST3KR -- an aircraft built in the 1930s and used to
train military pilots from the United States and other countries -- went down
about 2:25 p.m. Thursday on a fairway at Penmar Golf Course at 1233 Rose
Avenue, said Los Angeles Fire Department spokesman Erik Scott. Area residents
said this was the second time in recent years that a plane crashed at Penmar, a
9-hole Los Angeles city course.

Scott said there was only one person aboard the plane. Authorities initially
declined to identify the pilot, saying only it was a man in his 70s who was
conscious and alert when he was treated by paramedics at the scene.

LAFD Assistant Chief Patrick Butler said the pilot was outside the plane when
crews arrived and was taken to a hospital, having suffered “moderate” trauma.

“Normally, the outcomes are fatalities, so we are very thankful,” he said.

Ford’s publicist said in a statement quoted by the Los Angeles Times that the
72-year-old actor is banged up, but his injuries are not life- threatening and
he’s expected to make a full recovery.

Ford’s son, Ben Ford, posted on his Twitter page that his father was “OK.
Battered, but OK!”

“He is every bit the man you would think he is,” Ben Ford wrote. “He is an
incredibly strong man. Thank you for all your thoughts and good vibes for my
dad.”

Dr. Sanjay Khurana, a spinal surgeon who had been playing golf, told reporters
he saw the plane clip a tree before coming down. He said he and others examined
the pilot, who had suffered soft-tissue injuries, made sure he was stable and
helped him out of the plane.

“We believe that he is going to survive,” NTSB Investigator Patrick Jones said
at the scene.

The airplane landed right-side up and was largely intact, and it left gouges on
the fairway.

Ford had just taken off, experienced engine trouble and was circling back to
the airport when he crash-landed on the golf course, according to the NTSB,
which is investigating the crash along with the Federal Aviation
Administration. Such investigations typically takes two months, with a final
report ready in about a year, Jones said.

“We go back to the basics. The initial report was a loss of engine power. We
are going to look at that but we are going to look at it all, at everything --
weather, man, the machine,” Jones said, adding that the aircraft will be
removed from the golf course today.

Ford, a longtime aviation enthusiast who has even piloted helicopters in
search-and-rescue situations and who owns several aircraft, is active with the
Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association and the Experimental Aircraft
Association.

He crashed a helicopter in the Lake Piru area near Santa Clarita during a
training flight in 1999, and a six-passenger plane he was piloting in 2000 was
hit by wind shear and crash-landed in Lincoln, Nebraska. He and his passenger
emerged from that crash unhurt.

The plane that crashed Thursday is registered to MG Aviation Inc. of Camden,
Delaware, according to the FAA’s online aircraft registry.

Thursday’s crash is likely to reinvigorate the debate over the future of Santa
Monica Airport. Residents and some city officials have been pushing to close
the airport, citing noise and safety issues. Federal authorities have insisted,
however, that the city is required to keep it open.

Ford has allied himself with the effort to preserve the airport, contributing
almost $26,000 to the campaign for a pro-airport ballot measure that went down
to defeat in November, The Times reported.

Valerie Davidson, who has lived in Santa Monica for 25 years, told the
newspaper that Ford “flies in and out of here all the time. He’s not a friend
of the residents of this neighbor hood,” the 55-year-old Davidson, who lives
one street away from Thursday’s crash site, told The Times.

“I’m pleased he’s OK ... but this might be a wake-up call,” she said.

Last year, Ford was seriously injured, suffering a broken leg on the set of
“Star Wars: The Force Awakens,” delaying filming on the much- anticipated
sequel. He is best known for playing Han Solo in three “Star Wars” movies and
Indiana Jones in “Raiders of the Lost Ark” and its sequels.