Another Philly fiasco

Well, as if the drunk Pottstown pilot busting Philly's Bravo wasn't
enough to thouroughly embarrass the local flying community, now we
have another incident. Last night, a local news chopper had to
perform evasive maneuvers to avoid a single engine plane that was,
according to the news report, flying at an illegal altitude and
without lights. The pilot was forced to land at Camden County Airport
and is currently under investigation by the FAA and local law
enforcement officials. Video is available at www.cbs3.com. I'd love
to know what he was up to.

Rich Russell

The video link didn't say anything about an illegal altitude. The a/c had
lights but not sure if any were missing. It looked low. The Cherokee could
have performed an evasive manuever to miss the chopper for that matter.

Actually it looked like responsible reporting that was unavoidable since
they had video. Not sure much happened here except 2 low VFR aircraft
surprised each other.

"Richard Russell" wrote in message
...
Well, as if the drunk Pottstown pilot busting Philly's Bravo wasn't
enough to thouroughly embarrass the local flying community, now we
have another incident. Last night, a local news chopper had to
perform evasive maneuvers to avoid a single engine plane that was,
according to the news report, flying at an illegal altitude and
without lights. The pilot was forced to land at Camden County Airport
and is currently under investigation by the FAA and local law
enforcement officials. Video is available at www.cbs3.com. I'd love
to know what he was up to.

Rich Russell

In article ,
Maule Driver wrote:
Actually it looked like responsible reporting that was unavoidable since
they had video. Not sure much happened here except 2 low VFR aircraft
surprised each other.

Time to coin an expression -- don't have a near midair with someone who
buys ink by the barrel!

--
Ben Jackson

http://www.ben.com/

On Wed, 05 May 2004 14:41:57 GMT, "Maule Driver"
wrote:

The video link didn't say anything about an illegal altitude. The a/c had
lights but not sure if any were missing. It looked low. The Cherokee could
have performed an evasive manuever to miss the chopper for that matter.

Actually it looked like responsible reporting that was unavoidable since
they had video. Not sure much happened here except 2 low VFR aircraft
surprised each other.


I went back to watch the video again because I was absolutely certain
that they accused the pilot of flying at an illegal altitude. Well,
they didn't, this time but I noticed that the time on the video was
6:33 this morning and the time on the clip that I saw was 5:02 A.M. I
don't know if there is any significance to the fact that the altitude
was not mentioned in the updated report. I noticed this time around
that the beacon and strobes were on but not the nav lights.

Rich Russell

Richard Russell wrote in message . ..
On Wed, 05 May 2004 14:41:57 GMT, "Maule Driver"
wrote:

The video link didn't say anything about an illegal altitude. The a/c had
lights but not sure if any were missing. It looked low. The Cherokee could
have performed an evasive manuever to miss the chopper for that matter.

Actually it looked like responsible reporting that was unavoidable since
they had video. Not sure much happened here except 2 low VFR aircraft
surprised each other.


I went back to watch the video again because I was absolutely certain
that they accused the pilot of flying at an illegal altitude. Well,
they didn't, this time but I noticed that the time on the video was
6:33 this morning and the time on the clip that I saw was 5:02 A.M. I
don't know if there is any significance to the fact that the altitude
was not mentioned in the updated report. I noticed this time around
that the beacon and strobes were on but not the nav lights.

Rich Russell


I like there new classification of aircraft - "small engine plane."
--
Gene Seibel
Hangar 131 - http://pad39a.com/gene/plane.html
Because I fly, I envy no one.

If I'm not mistaken, doesn't an airplane have right of way over a
helicopter? (Less maneuverable vs more maneuverable?)

--
Guy Elden Jr.


"Richard Russell" wrote in message
...
Well, as if the drunk Pottstown pilot busting Philly's Bravo wasn't
enough to thouroughly embarrass the local flying community, now we
have another incident. Last night, a local news chopper had to
perform evasive maneuvers to avoid a single engine plane that was,
according to the news report, flying at an illegal altitude and
without lights. The pilot was forced to land at Camden County Airport
and is currently under investigation by the FAA and local law
enforcement officials. Video is available at www.cbs3.com. I'd love
to know what he was up to.

Rich Russell

"Guy Elden Jr." wrote in message
...
If I'm not mistaken, doesn't an airplane have right of way over a
helicopter? (Less maneuverable vs more maneuverable?)


Perhaps, but I think the issue was that it was a rather low altitude over a
densely populated area.

"Guy Elden Jr." wrote:

If I'm not mistaken, doesn't an airplane have right of way over a
helicopter? (Less maneuverable vs more maneuverable?)

But he shouldn't be flying below 1,000' AGL (and it looks like he was), and he really
needs to have his nav lights on (and, IMO, every other light on the plane burning).

George Patterson
If you don't tell lies, you never have to remember what you said.

"Gene Seibel" wrote in message
om...


I like there new classification of aircraft - "small engine plane."

It's not the size, it's how you use it. :~?

Richard Russell wrote:

I went back to watch the video again because I was absolutely certain
that they accused the pilot of flying at an illegal altitude.

In an interview this AM, the helicopter pilot suggested the plane was
flying at 700 feet.