Lancair IV-P down at Hilton Head

Anybody hear about this one?

http://www.ajc.com/news/cherokee/woo...in-374815.html

News article says the plane lost a prop and couldn't make Hilton Head.

tom c

"tom c" wrote in message
...
Anybody hear about this one?

Yes, it was called to my attention this morning by a non-pilot. Bummer! Folks
killed on the ground is absolutely the worst kind of publicity.

Sounds like the pilot did everything right, just terribly bad luck resulting in
a tragedy.

Vaughn

"vaughn" wrote

Yes, it was called to my attention this morning by a non-pilot. Bummer!
Folks killed on the ground is absolutely the worst kind of publicity.

Sounds like the pilot did everything right, just terribly bad luck
resulting in a tragedy.

I hope that the pilot was not trying so hard to save the plane, that he
chose a safer landing place with people on it, rather than a place that
would have torn up the plane, and perhaps injured himself and the passenger,
but that was unoccupied...

I sure do not want to second guess the pilot's choice. I guess I am though.
Human nature and all, when a death is involved. Perhaps the one person was
not visible until it was too late. Perhaps one person was a better choice
than several people.

I can only hope that if I was given the choice he had to make, I would
sacrifice the plane and my safety, over the life of a person on the ground;
even if it would mean putting the plane into the surf, or the dunes, or
zooming at the last moment and touching down very hard after that. I can
only hope.

My prayers go out to the man who died and his family, and to the pilot. Sad
thing, indeed.
--
Jim in NC

At any rate, even if the pilot did make the best choice, it is going to be a
very tough thing he will have to live with, forever.

"Morgans" wrote in message
...


I sure do not want to second guess the pilot's choice. I guess I am though.
Human nature and all, when a death is involved. Perhaps the one person was
not visible until it was too late.

According to the article, his windshield was covered with oil... Yes, possibly
the surf would have been a option, but who can say he wouldn't have hit a
swimmer? We weren't there.

I can only hope that if I was given the choice he had to make, I would
sacrifice the plane and my safety, over the life of a person on the ground;

Since he had a passenger, the moral decision wouldn't have been that simple.

Vaughn

In article ,
vaughn wrote:

"Morgans" wrote in message
...


I sure do not want to second guess the pilot's choice. I guess I am though.
Human nature and all, when a death is involved. Perhaps the one person was
not visible until it was too late.

According to the article, his windshield was covered with oil... Yes, possibly
the surf would have been a option, but who can say he wouldn't have hit a
swimmer? We weren't there.


The article says the crash happened just after 6pm and sunset is
listed as 7:30pm, so the shadows where probably getting long.
Unknown what color clothes the jogger was wearing, but even without
the windshield being covered in oil, it would probably have been
hard to see a person until the plane was very close.

We weren't there.

John
--
John Clear - http://www.clear-prop.org/

"vaughn" wrote

According to the article, his windshield was covered with oil... Yes,
possibly the surf would have been a option, but who can say he wouldn't
have hit a swimmer? We weren't there.

Yes, I had not considered that. He may not have seen anyone infront of him.
Any you are right; we were not there. I was only saying that given a choice
of a chance of a death on the ground, or wrecking the plane, I hope I choose
the wreck.

Since he had a passenger, the moral decision wouldn't have been that
simple.

Hitting the surf should not be fatal, if close to shore. And again, we were
not there and these were hard choices made in seconds. Tough situation.

As far as hitting a person in the water, doubtfull at that time of the
evening in March. Very few (read practically none) are in the water. The
water is too cold for swimming without wet suits. Many more people are
strolling or jogging on the beach, though.

I considered not posting about this accident. I hope my post is food for
thought, in the possibility that this could happen to you or me. I hope I
remember the old saying, "when the engine (or prop) fails, the plane
instantly belongs to the insurance company. The plane's only remain job is
to save everyone's life."
--
Jim in NC
--
Jim in NC

Photo I saw on the web news, the airplane was in the water.

There have been two times I've had to deal with loss of power.

One was climbing out in Florida (mentioned before).

The other, I had 2000 feet of runway ahead of me.
Basically a quick (correct) decision and a non-event.


Like the man said, we weren't there.

A friend of mine is building a Lancair 4P and knew the pilot of the
airplane. He says the prop wasn't "lost"... probably just blew the
forward seal.

John

tom c wrote:
Anybody hear about this one?

http://www.ajc.com/news/cherokee/woo...in-374815.html

News article says the plane lost a prop and couldn't make Hilton Head.

tom c

On Tue, 16 Mar 2010 13:49:58 -0700, John Ammeter
wrote:

A friend of mine is building a Lancair 4P and knew the pilot of the
airplane. He says the prop wasn't "lost"... probably just blew the
forward seal.

John


and you know what causes that?

a blocked breather tube.

my aircraft had a cheap tube made from auto heater tube.
trouble is it isnt fuel proof and had softened to the point of closing
over with airloads.
I replaced it with the proper tube and it is still in pristine
condition 10 years later. ...for all of $20.

lets hope it wasnt a dumb mistake that took someones life.

Stealth Pilot

"Stealth Pilot" wrote

and you know what causes that?

a blocked breather tube.

my aircraft had a cheap tube made from auto heater tube.
trouble is it isnt fuel proof and had softened to the point of closing
over with airloads.
I replaced it with the proper tube and it is still in pristine
condition 10 years later. ...for all of $20.

lets hope it wasnt a dumb mistake that took someones life.

This was a turbine engined plane, wasn't it?
--
Jim in NC