Possible Everglades crash

BCTAv8r

Well-Known Member
Got a call at the FBO last night from Miami asking if the Cessna was on our ramp (unfortunately it wasn't). Was hoping this was just someone who forgot to close their flight plans (we get calls from time to time inquiring about it) and landed safely somewhere else. I had a feeling I'd find this in the local papers this morning.

4 feared dead in plane crash in Alligator Alley

ALLIGATOR ALLEY - Four people are feared dead in two crashes of training flights in the Everglades, authorities said at a midday press conference today. Whether the crashes are related is not yet known.

Investigators are getting airboats out to the crash site, 2.7 miles southwest of Everglades Holiday Park, said Veda Coleman-Wright, spokeswoman for the Broward Sheriff's Office. Earlier, as thick fog blanketed the scene, a civilian team helped prepare airboats for the ongoing search by Sheriff's Office homicide detectives and federal and state investigators.

"It's terrible, I'm sure family members were expecting these four people to return home safely," Coleman-Wright said. "It's unfortunate their adventure turned deadly."

The two planes, a Cessna 172 and a Piper twin-engine, left North Perry Airport and Fort Lauderdale International Airport about 3:30 p.m. Saturday for flight training in western Broward County, Federal Aviation Administration spokeswoman Kathleen Bergen said. Each plane had two people aboard.
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/sfl-plane120708,0,4752512.story
 
Wreckage of two small planes found in Florida Everglades

The wreckage of two small planes was found early Sunday morning in the Everglades near U.S. 27.

Four people were killed when two small planes apparently collided in mid-air and then crashed into the Florida Everglades in western Broward County, officials said Sunday.

The entwined wreckage of the aircrafts was spotted at around 8 a.m. by a U.S. Coast Guard aircraft. Both planes had been reported missing Saturday afternoon.

Sunday morning rescue workers were trying to reach the desolate crash site nearly three miles southwest of Everglades Holiday Park.

''It's too soon to speculate what happened,'' said Veda Coleman-Wright, a Broward Sheriff's Office spokeswoman, speaking at a command site set-up near the site. ``There are no survivors.''

One of the dead was tentatively identified by a relative as Stuart Brown, 27, an instructor with Pelican Flight Training, a flying school based at North Perry Airport, The Miami Herald has learned.

''We heard that my nephew had taken off with a student at around 3 p.m. Saturday and that he was out in the Everglades in a holding pattern when the crash occurred,'' Brown's aunt, Sharon Burton-Lofton of New York told the newspaper in a telephone interview. She said Brown's parent lived in Jamaica and were desperately trying to get more detail about what had happened to their son.

''My nephew loved flying; that was his life,'' Burton-Lofton said.

Meg Fencome, vice-president of the school, confirmed Sunday that Brown was an instructor with the school and had a student passenger onboard the Cessna involved in the crash.

''We are not going to release any more information until tomorrow,'' Fencome said.

The bodies of the victims have not been recovered, Coleman-Wright said. Also unclear is what led to the collision.

Brown's plane, a 1979 single-engine Cessna 172R, and his student had taken off from North Perry Airport.

The second plane was a 1997 twin-engine Piper 44 with two people onboard, said Kathleen Bergen, a spokeswoman for the Federal Aviation Administration. That plane took off from Fort Lauderdale at around 3:30 p.m. on Saturday and was going to a practice area near Opa-locka Airport.

How the two planes collided is unclear.

Both planes were flying under visual flight rules, a common practice for that area, Bergen said.

But after they failed to reach their destinations, they were reported missing.

''Of course we gathered our radar data to help search and rescue efforts and the air craft was located this morning,'' Bergen said.

Brown's relatives say they also called for help.

The last reported position of the planes was about eight miles west of Fort Lauderdale. Sunday morning, the Coast Guard aircraft spotted the debris in the Everglades.

Investigators from the National Transportation Safety Board were on the scene and the FAA was assisting in the investigation.

Source: http://www.miamiherald.com/416/story/803067.html
 
That sucks. The practice area out there was one of the worst I've ever flown in. Combine the controlled (and busy) airspace along the cost, with the majority of the population centers being in one place you get a funnel that pushes all the training traffic in the same small piece of sky. I only flew out there a little bit compared to the amount of time I was in the Phoenix practice area (also very busy) but the two hardly compared. Maybe it has changed since, but at the time there was no common communication or standard reporting points over the Everglades.

I'm also wondering if the Seminole involved happened to be blue and white with red trim. There aren't too many GA operators out of FLL.

Condolences to all involved.
 
We were up looking for it earlier. It was one of ATP's. :mad: RIP

<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=574 align=center border=0><TBODY><TR><TD vAlign=top width="100%">Aircraft (FAA) N118TP

<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=3 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD class=tc1 width=200>Manufacturer:</TD><TD class=tt1 width=560>Piper</TD></TR><TR><TD class=tc0>Model:</TD><TD class=tt0>PA-44-180 Search all Piper PA-44-180</TD></TR><TR><TD class=tc1>Year built:</TD><TD class=tt1>1979</TD></TR><TR><TD class=tc0>Serial Number (C/N):</TD><TD class=tt0>44-7995065</TD></TR><TR><TD class=tc1>Mode S Code:</TD><TD class=tt1>50045642</TD></TR><TR><TD class=tc0>Aircraft Type:</TD><TD class=tt0>Fixed wing multi engine</TD></TR><TR><TD class=tc1>Amateur-Built:</TD><TD class=tt1>No</TD></TR><TR><TD class=tc0>Number of Seats:</TD><TD class=tt0>4</TD></TR><TR><TD class=tc1>Number of Engines:</TD><TD class=tt1>2</TD></TR><TR><TD class=tc0>Engine Type:</TD><TD class=tt0>Reciprocating</TD></TR><TR><TD class=tc1>Engine Manufacturer and Model:</TD><TD class=tt1>Ama/expr UNKNOWN ENG</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>Owner (FAA)

<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=3 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD class=tc0 width=200>Registration Type:</TD><TD class=tt0 width=560>Corporation</TD></TR><TR><TD class=tc1>Owner:</TD><TD class=tt1>Airline Transport Professionals Corp Of Usa</TD></TR><TR><TD class=tc0>Address:</TD><TD class=tt0>Wilmington, DE 19808
United States</TD></TR><TR><TD class=tc1>Region:</TD><TD class=tt1>Eastern</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>Top
Status (FAA)

<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=3 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD class=tc0 width=200>Certification Class:</TD><TD class=tt0 width=560>Standard</TD></TR><TR><TD class=tc1 width=200>Certification Issued:</TD><TD class=tt1 width=560>2000-02-07</TD></TR><TR><TD class=tc0>Air Worthiness Test:</TD><TD class=tt0>2000-04-05</TD></TR><TR><TD class=tc1>Last Action Taken:</TD><TD class=tt1>2007-09-18</TD></TR><TR><TD class=tc0>Current Status:</TD><TD class=tt0>Valid</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
 
Maybe it has changed since, but at the time there was no common communication or standard reporting points over the Everglades.

I usually tune in to both the Coral Springs and Lantana practice area frequencies and there are a few common reporting points such as pumping stations.

I'm thinking about heading further West now to practice manuevers. Anyone have any recommendations for some safe areas to practice?
 
I'm thinking about heading further West now to practice manuevers. Anyone have any recommendations for some safe areas to practice?

I'm always way out to the west. Just be careful staying low out there. I usually stay further north then south. I don't want to say you will bs safe at location X because as you know, no one is safe out there. Just remember the further west you go the more crop dusters you will come across.
 
I'm always way out to the west. Just be careful staying low out there. I usually stay further north then south. I don't want to say you will bs safe at location X because as you know, no one is safe out there. Just remember the further west you go the more crop dusters you will come across.

True. I guess the whole are is messed up and all you can do is take the preventive measures taught during training to minimize the risk. It sucks how this how flight training deal feels a lot like Russian roulette though.:D
 
I just went back and looked in my logbook. I've got two flights in that plane. The first (ironically enough) was from FLL to CRG and I really don't remember it. The second was 3 night landings in the pattern at CRG for currency when I was working the phones. I do remember that flight pretty well. What a shame.

Just serves as a reminder for everybody to keep their eyes open all the time. And sometimes, that's not even enough.
 
I usually tune in to both the Coral Springs and Lantana practice area frequencies and there are a few common reporting points such as pumping stations.

I'm thinking about heading further West now to practice manuevers. Anyone have any recommendations for some safe areas to practice?

When I was at Airborne Systems at FXE, I would take my students East of the shoreline between PMP and PBI airspace. There was never any traffic and always an airport to glide to if needed.
 
wow- I flew in 118TP when I was doing the multi-add on at CRG. And I did the CFI program as well and did my checkrides at FLL with Pinkston.
 
... really scary stuff. I've had my share of close calls out in that practice area. The really aggravating thing is that often guys (esp on the weekends) will fill 123.45 with stupid conversation - not position reports.
 
RIP.... I've flown 118TP a few times. Does anybody know if it was a training flight with an instructor or a CFI checkride?? ATP flies a lot of MEI rides out of FLL.
 
... really scary stuff. I've had my share of close calls out in that practice area. The really aggravating thing is that often guys (esp on the weekends) will fill 123.45 with stupid conversation - not position reports.


I HATE that!!!!!! :mad::mad::mad: If people are doing that, tell them over the radio to kindly shut the hell up, the radio is not a toy. Maybe they will get a clue.
 
... really scary stuff. I've had my share of close calls out in that practice area. The really aggravating thing is that often guys (esp on the weekends) will fill 123.45 with stupid conversation - not position reports.

:yeahthat:

On top of that, sometimes I hear people conversating in other languages.:banghead:
 
Why don't you guys go out over the ocean? That's what we do in Tampa. I'd rather take my chances having to ditch than circling around along the coast line, where everyone bypassing Tampa goes.
 
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