Cessna SkyCatcher prototype crashes during test flight

aloft

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From AVweb:
SKYCATCHER PROTOTYPE CRASHES

Federal investigators are on their way to Douglass, Kansas to investigate the crash of a Cessna Skycatcher LSA prototype Thursday. The pilot of the test aircraft was able to parachute to safety and was reportedly taken to hospital with minor injuries.

Cessna media relations personnel were unable to immediately respond to AVweb's request for more detailed information, but KAKE Television is reporting the aircraft crashed into a treeline near the boundary of Butler and Cowley Counties. The television station is quoting witnesses as saying they heard a loud pop and then saw sparks and the plane spiraling down. The pilot landed in a field about 400 yards from the aircraft. The TV station quoted a Cessna spokesman as saying the crash aircraft had about 150 hours on it.

The prototype first flew on March 8, and Cessna is planning on delivering the first customer aircraft in the first half of 2009. What the crash does to that schedule is unclear. There are close to 1,000 orders for the aircraft, which will be built in China and reassembled in three plants in the U.S.
 
Thankfully nobody was seriously injured. Hopefully something is learned and corrected before they make it into the hands of the general public.
 
Overheard someone at the airport say they were waiting on this test pilot, said he was working on spins today. I dont believe he knew this had happened yet... crazy.
 
I'm glad the pilot is ok.


I was excited about this project until the production/distribution plan was announced. So, here are a few thoughts from a former Cessna kool aid sipper:

So I guess we just found out what the service life of an LSA is -- 150 hrs.

I guess they should have put the BRS in the test plane.

Finally (in David Letterman's Top 10 style)...
If this one was made in Kansas, just wait until the are made in China!
 
Glad no one was hurt...I am expecting more of these bumps in the roads considering it is "made in China." Hope it doesn't turn to crap like all the baby food, dog food, tainted toys etc China has been turning out these days....nice looking plane though.
 
Why made in China? Why not made in USA? I'm so sick of outsourcing.

Glad the pilot made it out of there.
 
It is quite a concept to me that something as quintessentially American as the Cessna single engine aircraft is being produced in China....I have been reading articles though that because of high fuel prices, a lot of companies are opting to fabricate and construct their products in the country to keep their costs down....
 
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