SDFTI loses two aircraft within 3 days

ladder360

Well-Known Member
http://www.fox6.com/news/local/story.aspx?content_id=670d1386-9188-4b10-83fb-19d6a69d6eb9

http://www.fox6.com/news/local/story.aspx?content_id=1f173a9c-bb2f-46cf-8ca2-d327e1de6e87

Apparently the two incidents were sheer pilot error (at least according to local guys familiar with the situations) and unrelated. The info I got was that the one from Sunday was the pilot initiating spins... with two passengers. WTFO? Sad.

I almost went to SDFTI but after advice from a few JCers I opted not to and went with an awesome part 61 group referred to me here on JC.
 
That's too bad. Despite being extremely overpriced, I always had the notion that SDFTI was a safe and well-run operation...
 
I've never even been to San Diego, but who says it isn't safe and well run? "Student pilot hits parked thing" and "dumbass kills self and associate" can happen anywhere.
 
I'm not really personally familiar with how it's run but they seem to keep their a/c in pretty good shape. But yes, VERY overpriced.

You are correct Boris - both these incidents had nothing to do with school management. It's unfortunate for them that they both happened within a couple of days. That's just coincidental misfortune.

I was glad that in the second incident the pilot walked away. I saw the plane after it was towed to a hangar and it was pretty sorry looking.
 
I got my PPL there. As far as I could tell the focus on safety was very good and I never really had any close calls while training there. But yes price there was $54 per hour (instructors were paid $10 of that amount) for instructors and over $100 per hour for an M model. Lets just say that the cost of getting my PPL makes me want to throw up.
 
That's too bad. Despite being extremely overpriced, I always had the notion that SDFTI was a safe and well-run operation...
I'll dispute that. I very nearly was run over from behind by one of their airplanes while shooting a practice ILS into MYF. The o After we both landed, I tore into the instructor for not keeping a better lookout, which he shrugged off and said "sh** happens".
 
Yep, that's what you wonder about...the culture that is perpetuated at any particular place. What they do and let you get away with paints a picture.
 
SDFTI never had a "culture" of unsafe practices, at least while I was a student or as an instructor. In fact, I never once felt unsafe in any of their airplanes, nor were any of the instructors subpar. The school had procedures every student was required to sign, and no students were dispatched outside of their limitations given to the dispatcher by that student's instructor.

The first accident was just plain stupidity on the part of the pilot, and the second unfortunate, as it was a student solo who lost control on a landing on 28L, which isn't the easiest runway to land on at MYF, its the same length as 28R but quite a bit narrower. When I had student's solo I always had my students request 28R, which gave more margin for error.
 
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