Ariz. flight school's second fatal accident in six months

[SteveC]

Ariz. flight school\'s second fatal accident in six months

More sad news....
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PEORIA, Ariz. (AP) (San Diego Union-Tribune)– A single-engine plane crashed at a suburban Phoenix flight school Sunday afternoon, killing the pilot. The crash came less than six months after a fatal collision involving two other planes that had taken off from the school.

The plane had been towing a glider as part of a ride offered at the Turf Soaring School when it went straight up in the air, then fell nose first and crashed at the end of the school's runway, Peoria police Lt. Scott Lekan said.

The glider detached from the plane before the crash and landed safely.

Authorities did not immediately release the 24-year-old victim's name but said he worked at the school.

Investigators with the Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board were expected to look into the crash, Lekan said.

In December, four people, including the son of the school's founder, were killed when a glider and plane that had taken off from the school collided in mid-air.

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Full story is quoted above, link is here.

 

[Lima_Charlie]

Re: Ariz. flight school\'s second fatal accident in six months

Some times it seems like the a/c around here drop like flies...

Anyway, I saw an interview the night it happened and another pilot said he saw the airplane pitch up pretty significantly right after t/o and proceeded to stall the a/c and enter a spin about 150 agl. Needless to say it didn't end well.

The owner's son was killed a few months ago when a glider and his tow plane collided mid-air. :-(

 

[Acadia]

Re: Ariz. flight school\'s second fatal accident in six months

One of our summer glider pilots has worked at Turf as an instructor for a number of years and knew the pilots in both accidents. I was gripped when I heard it was a tow pilot as I do some towing in the summer. I does not sound like the accident was due to the tow itself, but I think I would pass on towing low time glider pilots. I’m glad that I only tow pretty high time pilots giving commercial rides.