Anyone want to guess why this happened?

main link:

http://www.connpost.com/Stories/0,14...79708,00.html#


printable:

http://www.connpost.com/cda/article/...279708,00.html

TEXT:
_____________________
Connecticut Post


Pilot makes emergency landing at Sikorsky after engine failure

By MARIAN GAIL BROWN
Sunday, July 18, 2004 -

STRATFORD (CT)

Ten stories high minutes after his takeoff, a private pilot was forced to
make an emergency landing at Sikorsky Memorial Airport Saturday.

The engine of his Mooney M20J plane failed at 1:03 p.m., FAA spokeswoman
Holly Baker said. "He lost the engine and was about 100 feet up when he
decided to land," Baker said. "And the landing gear
failed."

That failure forced the pilot to belly-land the aircraft on the runway,
Baker said, adding that neither the pilot nor any of the passengers was
injured. The aircraft sustained minor damage. Neither the FAA nor Sikorsky
Memorial Airport officials would release the identity of the pilot.

The pilot and his passengers were bound for Block Island, according to
Bridgeport Fire Department Battalion Chief William Haug. "Emergency
personnel responded to the runway. But there was no fire or any fuel
spilled. We didn't have to put down any foam."

According to FAA records, the ill-fated Mooney M20J is 22 years old. It is
owned by Carney Aviation, Inc. A message left with Carney was not returned.

The FAA impounded the plane at the airport and intends to investigate what
caused the aircraft's engine and landing gear to fail.

Kurt Sendlein, Sikorsky's superintendent of aircraft operations, said he
knew the pilot was a recreational pilot with some years of experience.

"I'm not a pilot," Sendlein said, "but as far as I can tell, this guy
appears to have done a good job. Everyone was able to walk away from this
plane."

You mean other than the "fact" that "minutes after his takeoff" he'd only
climbed 100 feet?

Why in the world would anyone make any guesses based on a press account of
the incident?

It happened becausae the engine quit.

NO

"Jeremy Lew" wrote in message
...
It happened becausae the engine quit.



Oh, I don't know about that. Perhaps it was more of a "labor stoppage."