jtrain609
Antisocial Monster
Be glad you're there to answer the phone. The last one of those I made was never returned.
Superstitions (PHX) Plane Crash
- Thread starter BobDDuck
- Start date
Be glad you're there to answer the phone. The last one of those I made was never returned.
Springer
Well-Known Member
My understanding is the ex wife is a DAL F/A and the pilot was a US Airways pilot.
melax
Well-Known Member
Possible new theory about this crash, medical issue ?
Pilot behind Superstition Mountain plane crash struggled with depression, bankruptcy. Rockwell Commander 690A, N690SM. Apache Junction, Pinal County, Arizona.
Pinal County court records for Shawn Perry, the 39-year-old pilot whose small commuter plane crashed into the Superstition Mountains on Thanksgiving eve, reveal Perry allegedly grounded himself from his job as a pilot for Safford, Arizona-based Ponderosa Aviation, Inc. due to severe depression in 2010.
Perry had also filed for bankruptcy last year after he and his wife Karen previously underwent wage garnishment from their jobs as a pilot and flight attendant for Delta Airlines.
A response filed by the lawyer of Perry’s wife during the couple’s divorce proceedings in Nov. 2010 claim Perry wrote an email to his wife a few months prior outlining the extent of his depression.
“Today I spoke to the chief pilot at US Airways and Ponderosa and officially grounded myself due to my depression,” the document reads. “I have kind of opened a box and don’t really know what to expect from here.”
The response filed by Angela M. Wilson-Goodman of Wilson-Goodman & Fong PLLC said Perry was bi-polar and extolled suspicions that he combated thoughts of suicide. Perry wrote a short email to his wife around the time of his alleged depression-leave that simply read: “I wish you the best, I will always regret. Goodbye.”
Documents also show Perry, who perished along with his three children and two other passengers in the nighttime crash on Nov. 23, 2011, had filed for bankruptcy in Oct. 2010.
Onboard the plane were Perry, his son Luke, 6; Logan, 8; his daughter Morgan, 9; pilot Russel Hardy, 31; and plane mechanic Joseph Hardwick, 22.
Investigators with the National Transportation Safety Board are expected to release a preliminary report on the cause of the crash in the coming days.
Pilot behind Superstition Mountain plane crash struggled with depression, bankruptcy. Rockwell Commander 690A, N690SM. Apache Junction, Pinal County, Arizona.
Pinal County court records for Shawn Perry, the 39-year-old pilot whose small commuter plane crashed into the Superstition Mountains on Thanksgiving eve, reveal Perry allegedly grounded himself from his job as a pilot for Safford, Arizona-based Ponderosa Aviation, Inc. due to severe depression in 2010.
Perry had also filed for bankruptcy last year after he and his wife Karen previously underwent wage garnishment from their jobs as a pilot and flight attendant for Delta Airlines.
A response filed by the lawyer of Perry’s wife during the couple’s divorce proceedings in Nov. 2010 claim Perry wrote an email to his wife a few months prior outlining the extent of his depression.
“Today I spoke to the chief pilot at US Airways and Ponderosa and officially grounded myself due to my depression,” the document reads. “I have kind of opened a box and don’t really know what to expect from here.”
The response filed by Angela M. Wilson-Goodman of Wilson-Goodman & Fong PLLC said Perry was bi-polar and extolled suspicions that he combated thoughts of suicide. Perry wrote a short email to his wife around the time of his alleged depression-leave that simply read: “I wish you the best, I will always regret. Goodbye.”
Documents also show Perry, who perished along with his three children and two other passengers in the nighttime crash on Nov. 23, 2011, had filed for bankruptcy in Oct. 2010.
Onboard the plane were Perry, his son Luke, 6; Logan, 8; his daughter Morgan, 9; pilot Russel Hardy, 31; and plane mechanic Joseph Hardwick, 22.
Investigators with the National Transportation Safety Board are expected to release a preliminary report on the cause of the crash in the coming days.
A
Adler
Guest
I hope not.
Wood wing hits mountain at cruise speed. Look where it failed. See the rust? That's steel.
Had it been a wood attach point, the wood would have failed as well. Just sayin. Wood might be better, but wood or steel equals broken when you hit a mountain. I would bet that a piece of steel that size, or aluminum would look the same.
Pilotforhire587
Lycra Man
God that makes me sick.... I sure as hell hope thats not true.
This all may be just all unrelated info. Reason being is we don't know if in fact he was flying the plane. And even if he was, there was another pilot onboard who likely wouldn't have allowed any kind of nefarious action to occur. So while this info is fact, as an investigator, I would consider it fact of no relation for the time being until I had any kind of corroborating evidence.
Pilotforhire587
Lycra Man
This is true...
fholbert
Mod's - Please don't edit my posts!
Please don't, the press says a lot of stupid things. I see no reason to tell such a stupid story here.
The plane was trying to stay out of class B and ATC in Phoenix is not user friendly. In the area of the crash Class B goes BELOW the surface. Mix that with some pilot error and we have an accident. Now that blood has been spilled I expect the FAA will change the class B airspace in that area.
Has this not be discussed here?
Story here: http://www.flyingmag.com/news/video-footage-captures-arizona-crash?cmpid=enews112911
melax
Well-Known Member
The FAA indeed in my opinion, after looking at the VFR Chart should have notched the area west of the peak (5057 elevation) to allow for a VFR GA plane to initiate the climb (or descent) early. I hope that the investigation will find the cause (s) and that this airspace gets redesigned.
Still, nothing keeps a pilot from deviating course SE or even NE, though NE is a little tighter, in order to avoid terrain also. Point being, know what's around you. The pilot was familiar with the PHX area and had just flown in past the same peak he hit earlier in the day.
FlyingScot
Spanish Proficient
It's one thing to here a story of an accident or CFIT, but to see a video of it happen is another thing. This video is a sobering reminder of why not to scud run or play it too close to terrain at night. It has made me rethink some of my strategies. I have a feeling my new boss will want me to be flying into VFR only airports at all hours. I'm going to show him this video and see if we can come up with another plan. At night to an unfamiliar airport I want an instrument approach.
fholbert
Mod's - Please don't edit my posts!
True it's still pilot error but the FAA should not set us up for massive failure. Why would class B go below the surface when the MVA, MEA is going to be at least 1000' above the highest peak? AOPA warned this would happen when class B was lowered a year ago. I suspect we'll see the FAA loose a lawsuit on this one.
FlyingScot
Spanish Proficient
Not sure of the details on arrival routes or approaches in the area, but 2000 foot clearance is the norm in mountainous terrain.
///AMG
Well-Known Member
Kind of the same reason I log all night time as actual instrument time.....
The night over east Mesa/Apache Junction was fairly clear and a good horizon with the city lights; not exactly IMC or anything near to it. Unfortunate accident.
As much as I hate lawsuits, I would hope that this would at least teach the FAA a lesson. Whether it be a little more friendly to pilots doing things VFR around the Phoenix area, or doing something about the way the airspace is designed. I did a ton of training out that way as a student, and getting services from Phoenix, even in the middle of the night VFR was to say it politely, a damn joke. I even went through there one VFR as a Tango November call sign about a year ago, and getting a transition through it at at 8500 was denied, RIGHT OVER THE TOP OF PHX! I had to climb to 10.5, then promptly got dumped when I was clear of PHX. Not the airspace, but on the other side of the airport.
A150K
Well-Known Member
I think it depends on the sector, but generally speaking they don't like VFR traffic very much. I've only ever been in that area IFR, but I heard them deny someone VFR services at 3 AM once.
rockman2343@aol.com
Well-Known Member
I'm not so sure this is simply a case of trying to duck the class B. If you look at the chart, the mountain is maybe just over a mile from the end of the shelf. Unless you initiated a very steep time climb it would be very difficult to avoid the Bravo and clear the mountain. My point is even if he was trying to duck the Bravo, I don't think he would have choosen that course on purpose. I think this might be more of a case of being off course. I was flying that night and infact was probably one of the first to fly over the crash site. There was no moon and while the city, AJ, Gold Canyon were clearly visible, the only part of the mountain that was visible was that lite by the fire.
Again, it's not like the pilot didn't know the mountain was there; he flew right past it on his way in in the daylight. That's whats disconcerting.