Pilot dies as single-engine plane flies 300 miles past dest.

JEP

JEP

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Pilot dies as single-engine plane flies 300 miles past destination, crashes in W.Va. woods

Associated Press
Last update: July 31, 2009 - 1:09 PM



RAVENSWOOD, W.Va. - A single-engine plane crashed in a heavily wooded area of West Virginia after the pilot apparently lost consciousness and flew hundreds of miles past the airport in Indiana where he was supposed to land.

Pilot William Huff, 61, was killed, but it was not clear if he died before the crash or as a result of it. National Guard jets chased the plane after it overshot its destination.

Huff was the only person in the Cirrus SR-22, which crashed about 10 p.m. Thursday near Ravenswood, 50 miles north of Charleston.

The plane had left York, Neb., about 4:45 p.m. Thursday and was headed to Eagle Creek Airpark near Indianapolis. According to the FAA, the plane was registered to Sequoia Airways LLC of Avon, Ind. Huff was from Indiana, according to West Virginia State Police Sgt. Michael Baylous, who could not provide a hometown.

Federal Aviation Administration spokeswoman Laura Brown said air traffic controllers last talked to Huff about 7:25 p.m., when he requested permission to descend to a lower altitude. During that conversation, communication with Huff became "garbled," she said.

Controllers declared an emergency about 25 minutes later when they lost radio contact with him, she said.

North American Aerospace Defense Command spokesman Michael Kucharek said two National Guard F-16s were dispatched to track the plane when it failed to land at the airpark. "Our fighters went up and observed what we term an unresponsive individual who appeared to be unconscious," Kucharek said.

The fighters stayed with the plane until it crashed about 10 miles north of Ravenswood, 300 miles from its original destination.

The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating.
It was the third fatal air crash in West Virginia this year.
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Re: Pilot dies as single-engine plane flies 300 miles past d

Man that's tough. I hope he died quietly in his sleep for his own sake.
 
Re: Pilot dies as single-engine plane flies 300 miles past d

According to what I was reading on FlightAware earlier, it was cruising at FL250 for most of the trip, then requested 12,000. Supposedly, a center controller said the pilot sounded "out of it". Sounds like he maybe ran out of oxygen at altitude and couldn't maintain consciousness through the descent.

http://flightaware.com/live/flight/N581DS

http://discussions.flightaware.com/viewtopic.php?t=8884&sid=7a3f3874aabbe88dcf0348261a528875

RIP
 
Re: Pilot dies as single-engine plane flies 300 miles past d

RIP

I really am not trying to be smart, I really honestly feel terrible for him and his family, but I think that's the way I'd want to go. Fall asleep while flying, I'm sure it was painless.

Fly safe and thank God for each day you get :)
 
Re: Pilot dies as single-engine plane flies 300 miles past d

RIP. Is it just me or does it seem like a lot of SR-22s crash?
 
Re: Pilot dies as single-engine plane flies 300 miles past d

I feel bad that the guy is dead, but why would you ever want to take a Cirrus to 25,000? Because the sales guy said you could? Especially on a two hour leg.

Alex.
 
Re: Pilot dies as single-engine plane flies 300 miles past d

Citationkid said:
I feel bad that the guy is dead, but why would you ever want to take a Cirrus to 25,000? Because the sales guy said you could? Especially on a two hour leg.

Alex.
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I haven't taken it up that high or even high enough to use oxygen but from my understanding it performs more then fine up that high. He probably wanted the true along with a 50 knot tw. I can't tell exactly what was going on with the flight aware but it looks like he was planning on heading half way across the country back to Manassas(sp?) so I think it is justifiable.
 
Re: Pilot dies as single-engine plane flies 300 miles past d

jhugz said:
I haven't taken it up that high or even high enough to use oxygen but from my understanding it performs more then fine up that high. He probably wanted the true along with a 50 knot tw. I can't tell exactly what was going on with the flight aware but it looks like he was planning on heading half way across the country back to Manassas(sp?) so I think it is justifiable.
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It is not a performance issue, it is a pilot issue. He was not planning on landing in Manassas, he was landing somewhere in IN, the controllers changed his flight plan to show Manassas when he became unresponsive.

Alex.
 
Re: Pilot dies as single-engine plane flies 300 miles past d

PeterPilot said:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=200329364530

It certainly illustrates the importance of not relying solely on one's senses to warn of hypoxia.
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Having used those devices on patients for years, i can tell you that they work quite well. I have been told that the "non-medical" versions are not as accurate as the medical ones, but even if they are off by 5%, a pulse ox of less than 90% under any circumstances is a bad sign. It's a tool like anything else and should be treated as such. FWIW, the "medical" grade ones run about $250-$300.
 
Re: Pilot dies as single-engine plane flies 300 miles past d

The Cirrus attracts a "special" kind of person . . .
 
Re: Pilot dies as single-engine plane flies 300 miles past d

How do you know it was hypoxia? He could have had a stroke for all we know. Besides, wouldn't he regain consciousness in the descent if he passed out due to hypoxia?
 
Re: Pilot dies as single-engine plane flies 300 miles past d

Scary,

But I watched a guy have a seizure in a car last week and plow into a girl stopped at a red light. Made me wonder about what would happen if that happened to me in an airplane.
 
Re: Pilot dies as single-engine plane flies 300 miles past d

flyingwriter said:
How do you know it was hypoxia? He could have had a stroke for all we know. Besides, wouldn't he regain consciousness in the descent if he passed out due to hypoxia?
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I think you're boned once you pass out. Start getting brain damage followed by coma.

But I just watch too much golly durned House.
 
Re: Pilot dies as single-engine plane flies 300 miles past d

I'll take dying in a bed with my family by my side over alone in an airplane any day. I don't see what's so romantic about dying at the controls of an airplane.
 
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