Mid-Air in SFO Bay Area...

GypsyPilot

GypsyPilot

Mohawk Town
Hey everyone,

We just departed SMF around 1600L today (4/27), and heard an emergency in progress as soon as we switched over to NorCal. A Hawker Seafury and a Cessna 210 somehow collided, and the 210 went into the bay. The Hawker was dealing with some controllability issues, possibly attempting a return to an airport called CA20.

Hawker Reg:
N20SF

Cessna 210:
N4962U

Sounded like the Hawker pilot knew the 210 pilot, not sure if they were doing formation or what. Very sad situation, and as always very difficult listening to it unfold on freq.
 
Oh man. This mid air stuff is incredibly difficult to hear. Hope there is some good outcome after more is found out.

Praying.
 
Wonder if the Sea Fury pilot has bailout capability, if needed.

edit: See from the article that it appears he already landed.
 
Both aircraft are owned by:
Sanders Aeronautics, Inc. specializes in Airborne Self-Contained Smoke Generator Systems and is an industry leader in all aspects of Aircraft Restoration and Maintenance. Founded by Frank Sanders in 1970 in Long Beach, the company moved to Chino, California in 1976 and then to their current place of business at Eagles Nest in Ione, California in 1996...
...
The Sanders family are also well known throughout the warbird industry as the "Sea Fury Kings" and have been an air racing dynasty at the National Championship Air Races in Reno, Nevada, where they have successfully raced their Sea Furies "Dreadnought" and "Argonaut".
Sanders Aeronautics is the first to install the Pratt & Whitney R-2800 CB16/CB3, well known for its outstanding record of dependability, on the Sea Fury and are now offering conversion kits or in house conversions/restorations of the Sea Fury to Pratt & Whitney R-2800 power.
 
Ugh. What crap. I was up there yesterday, in fact. Just saw a feed from the search on the news here. Besides the 4 watercraft and helicopter from the Coast Guard, there are other boats and helicopters from other agencies looking. Damn. Not looking good though. Had a helo crash at 52CL today too. Sad business going on today.
 
Last edited:
mikecweb said:
English?
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A famous air racer...
1-a-hawker-sea-fury-tmk20-dreadnought-scott-germain.jpg
 
I think these are the same folks who bring out the Seafury to Aviation Nation at Nellis. Hoping the 210 pilot has a good outcome.
 
I am watching KPIX right now, 10 ships on the search for the 210. Not good... They were at Dream Machines in KHAF.
 
SeanD said:
I think these are the same folks who bring out the Seafury to Aviation Nation at Nellis. Hoping the 210 pilot has a good outcome.
Click to expand...

Yes, the Sanders family has been a prominent air show participant for 30+ years with numerous aircraft.
 
A Life Aloft said:
Ugh. What crap. I was up there yesterday, in fact. Just saw a feed from the search on the news here. Besides the 4 watercraft and helicopter from the Coast Guard, there are other boats and helicopters from other agencies looking. Damn. Not looking good though. Had a helo crash at 52CL today too. Sad business going on today.
Click to expand...

Search? In what part of the bay did it go down? There are some deep parts, but the average depth of the bay 10-15 feet with vast areas being measured in inches.
Hope everyone's ok.
 
Crop Duster said:
Search? In what part of the bay did it go down? There are some deep parts, but the average depth of the bay 10-15 feet with vast areas being measured in inches.
Hope everyone's ok.
Click to expand...

They are looking for the pilot and have not found him.

"Coast Guard Petty Officer Loumania Stewart told the Associated Press that debris was found in the bay, but there was no sign of the Cessna's pilot. Witnesses at Point San Pablo Yacht Harbor told the San Francisco Chronicle that the Cessna spiraled out of control and crashed into the choppy water after the collision." The planes collided about a mile north of the Brother Islands, near the entrance to San Pablo Bay.

The boats found only small bits of debris in the water.

Four Coast Guard boats and a helicopter searched the choppy bay waters, along with five boats from local law enforcement agencies, including Marin County Sheriff's Office and Sausalito Police Department, as well as a local helicopter. Divers from the San Francisco Police Department also were on the scene.

The search continued well after dark.


628x471.jpg
 
That's really unfortunate. The majority of San Pablo Bay is less than 6 ft deep, and was often a viable emergency landing spot (not ideal, but possible) while training for my private. As you can see from this nautical chart of the bay, there is a small section of deep water in the middle of the bay that narrows into a shipping lane for oil tankers to get from the San Francisco Bay into the Sacramento River Delta. Judging from the report, the Cessna 210 went down just west of the Brother Islands, which is the deepest part of the bay and could be 100 ft deep... which will extend the search time considerably.

I'm still confused by the decision to continue to their home base at Eagle's Nest, which is 73 nm away from the site of the midair according to skyvector. Gnoss field and the private airport in San Rafael were both within 10 miles, and CCR, APC and OAK would have been under 20.
 
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