Pilot kills man during emergency landing

drunkenbeagle said:
There is also the matter of passengers you have some duty to protect. I wouldn't judge the actions taken, not being there myself. There is so little time to make a decision that doing what was briefed, or what you have already committed to is really the only option.

At pattern altitude in a Cherokee, the pilot had about 80 seconds before the aircraft was landing no matter what he did. Had it been a commercial flight with passengers, I don't think anyone would advocated a preferrence for a water ditching.
Click to expand...
Quite possible he didn't see them either. Shiz happens.
 
Roger Roger said:
Quite possible he didn't see them either. Shiz happens.
Click to expand...
Given what was reported, it sounded like it happened at the end of the landing roll. On sand with skinny tires, I doubt there would have been directional control to do anything anyway.

Crap situation, living with what happened will not be something any of us can imagine.
 
As someone partaking in a potentially risky activity, I believe we have a duty to ensure the people on the ground safety even if it means opting for a slightly riskier and more difficult egress for us and our passengers. I am almost certain he will be sued, as my piper, the engine manufacturer, etc for damages and would imagine criminal charges will be filed is there was any gross negligence. This is one we should all follow.
 
I've always seen the priorities as "Protect the public, save the passengers, save the crew, save the airframe, save the powerplant—in that order." Of course, I wasn't there, I haven't been there and I hope I'll never be there.

On-thread, the 9-year-old struck by the aircraft has died.
 
That would be an extremely hard thing to live with, especially knowing the little girl died now. It is hard for any of us to say what we would have done but I am in the "swim for it" party. It will be interesting to see what kind of negligence was involved (shotty MX or pencil whipped inspections). I agree with @I_Money on this one. Flying a single engine airplane is an unnecessary risk that we take for fun or hobby most of the time. Pilots should put safety of people on the ground first before their own.
 
ryanmickG said:
That would be an extremely hard thing to live with, especially knowing the little girl died now. It is hard for any of us to say what we would have done but I am in the "swim for it" party. It will be interesting to see what kind of negligence was involved (shotty MX or pencil whipped inspections). I agree with @I_Money on this one. Flying a single engine airplane is an unnecessary risk that we take for fun or hobby most of the time. Pilots should put safety of people on the ground first before their own.
Click to expand...

What if there were more people swimming in the water than people walking on the sand? None of us were there, and didn't see what the pilot was seeing. I hope he had a GoPro on the dash.
 
CFI A&P said:
Couple three years ago this happened to a runner on the beach in SC. Had an MP3 player in his ears and didn't even know that an airplane (either Columbia 300/ Cessna 400) was about to hit him.
Click to expand...

when the twirly thing quits cooling the pilot, airplanes all go into stealth mode.
 
Last edited:
TheFlyingTurkey said:
What if there were more people swimming in the water than people walking on the sand? None of us were there, and didn't see what the pilot was seeing. I hope he had a GoPro on the dash.
Click to expand...

Quite possible.

It was just a huge unfortunate accident and the biggest example of "wrong place, wrong time".

They will get sued though and we can't sit here and say we wouldn't do the same.
 
Why on these forums do people think it's ok to blame MX but not pilotage. The warriors I've flown required switching fuel tanks to avoid running one dry. But the obvious choice is to blame "shotty MX or pencil whipped inspections". Certainly not judging this pilots actions as I wasn't there, but the disparity bothers me.
 
knot4u said:
Why on these forums do people think it's ok to blame MX but not pilotage. The warriors I've flown required switching fuel tanks to avoid running one dry. But the obvious choice is to blame "shotty MX or pencil whipped inspections". Certainly not judging this pilots actions as I wasn't there, but the disparity bothers me.
Click to expand...
Maybe you've had the good fortune of working with a lot of good mechanics. At least from what I've seen, that is not the case for the vast majority of GA mechs. Small airplane GA does not generate enough profit for the wage/benefit packages to attract the best and the brightest. So what I've seen all too often is the guys who couldn't hack it as Harley mechanics. And I say this as an A&P/IA. Not saying it's right to jump to that conclusion, but I've seen enough terrible work by A&Ps who supposedly had experience that I can see how someone might do that.

Obviously I have no idea what happened here. Maybe he forgot to switch tanks, maybe the crank broke in two, we had that happen at my joint a few years back.
 
Last edited:
Roger Roger said:
Maybe you've had the good fortune of working with a lot of good mechanics. At least from what I've seen, that is not the case for the vast majority of GA mechs. Small airplane GA does not generate enough profit for the wage/benefit packages to attract the best and the brightest. So what I've seen all too often is the guys who couldn't hack it as Harley mechanics. And I say this as an A&P/IA. Not saying it's right to jump to that conclusion, but I've seen enough terrible work by A&Ps who supposedly had experience that I can see how someone might do that.

Obviously I have no idea what happened here. Maybe he forgot to switch tanks, maybe the crank broke in two, we had that happen at my joint a few years back.
Click to expand...
I worked at a place where a pretty sloppy 2nd shift mechanic figured the inlet to a jet was a good place to store some screws. It does happen. I'm probably being a bit over sensitive, but no one has questioned why this happened in the first place other than one member apparently making the assumption that it was poor maintenance. Very well could be, but we all know what people say about "assume".

Edit to add: You're right, I've had the good fortune to work with and learn from some really brilliant talented people. But I've also dealt with some people with questionable skills and even more questionable ethics.
 
Last edited:
knot4u said:
Yep, thanks for that. You should call the NTSB and tell them you figured it out. Must be MX.
Click to expand...

Oh hush! It could have been pilot error, sure, but lets not be naive. Shortcut MX and closed door inspections are VERY common practice in GA.
 
ryanmickG said:
Oh hush! It could have been pilot error, sure, but lets not be naive. Shortcut MX and closed door inspections are VERY common practice in GA.
Click to expand...
It might be common where you're from (I have no idea where you're from), if I were you I'd not fly the aircraft that you suspect aren't being maintained. The only SE airplane (helicopters don't count, that's a different game) I ever worked on had a 3350, and despite our finest efforts that thing ate engines at an alarming rate. Although at 500 mph with three runways directly beneath it got back on the ground in one piece.
 
There will be no shortage of defendants in the wrongful death lawsuits, and the jury awards won't necessarily reflect who/what was really at fault.

Many lives were changed that day, none for the better.

RIP to the deceased, and prayers for all of the survivors.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top