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Brother In Law walks away from plane crash
Yesterday, my brother in law and his wife were flying from Seattle to Vegas and experienced engine failure about 90 miles out of LV. I don't know a whole lot yet, but both of them walked away without injury.
What I do know - Engine temps suddenly started climbing - he suspects oil pump failure Mayday broadcast - no fields anywhere close. Military controller dispatched at least two aircraft to assist - F16's? The military pilots tried to assist by eyeballing potential landing areas. The only road had too much traffic to attempt an emergency landing. End result - once the engine seized, he had to go in wheels up on his belly in a brushy flat looking area near the road. Brush flying everywhere, couldn't see but plane maintained controlled skid until a large bush caught a wing near the end of the slide. Plane was spun and passenger door popped. They hustled out and away in case of fire, but I didn't hear of any. F16 pilots radioed location to emergency crews and circled at 2-300 feet until help arrived. If anyone local can find any news stories, I would appreciate it. I don't think his wife is going to let him fly anymore. Too bad, cause he really loved it and anyone with the skills to pull that off and walk away deserves to be in the air.
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Kevin 1972 T Targa |
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10-11-2007, 08:59 AM
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Non Compos Mentis
Join Date: May 2001
Location: Off the grid- Almost
Posts: 10,588
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The accident statistics tell that the ratio of fatal accidents to total accidents isn't that different from car wrecks. Most are non-fatal. The fatal ones get the press coverage.
Congrats to the pilot for good decision making under stressful conditions. |
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10-11-2007, 09:02 AM
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Registered
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: Houston (The Vintage), Texas
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Congrats too the Air Force also. Outstanding guys serving our Country well!
Isn't it kinda nice to hear a good story once or twice?
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-Tom '73 911T MFI - in process of being restored '73 911T MFI - bare bones '87 924S - Keep's the Porsche DNA in my system while the 911 is down. aka "Wolf boy" |
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10-11-2007, 09:14 AM
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Dog-faced pony soldier
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That is outstanding! Sounds like he did everything correctly. Here's hoping the paperwork won't be too much of a PITA. Assistance from the USAF - very cool. Great story!
Q. What do you do when the engine quits? A. Start the other one.  Tell him time to get a multi-engine rating.
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A car, a 911, a motorbike and a few surfboards Black Cars Matter |
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10-11-2007, 09:17 AM
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Did you get the memo?
Join Date: Mar 2003
Location: Wichita, KS
Posts: 32,133
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Great story. Sounds like he kept his cool, kudos for that. From what I hear, the FAA will probably make his life a living hell for the next few months.
Also nice to hear about the USAF assistance. Very cool. GA flying gets a bad rap, but most accidents are minor. It's not hard to find a pilot who's been through a belly landing, forced off airport landing, etc.
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‘07 Mazda RX8-8 Past: 911T, 911SC, Carrera, 951s, 955, 996s, 987s, 986s, 997s, BMW 5x, C36, C63, XJR, S8, Maserati Coupe, GT500, etc |
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10-11-2007, 09:48 AM
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Registered
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Location: Las Vegas, NV, USA
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Nothing I can find in the local news .... sorry
Nothing on the FAA database yet
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Jordi Riera '84 930 (modified) Last edited by jriera; 10-11-2007 at 10:05 AM.. |
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10-11-2007, 09:59 AM
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Senior Member
Join Date: Jun 2000
Location: N. Phoenix AZ USA
Posts: 28,943
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What kind of airplane and do you not the Registration number? That would help.
Glad to hear of a good outcome.
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2013 Jag XF, 2002 Dodge Ram 2500 Cummins (the workhorse), 1992 Jaguar XJ S-3 V-12 VDP (one of only 100 examples made), 1969 Jaguar XJ (been in the family since new), 1985 911 Targa backdated to 1973 RS specs with a 3.6 shoehorned in the back, 1959 Austin Healey Sprite (former SCCA H-Prod), 1995 BMW R1100RSL, 1971 & '72 BMW R75/5 "Toaster," Ural Tourist w/sidecar, 1949 Aeronca Sedan / QB |
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10-11-2007, 10:08 AM
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Registered
Join Date: Nov 2001
Location: Las Vegas, NV, USA
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Is this the one?? http://www.faa.gov/data_statistics/accident_incident/preliminary_data/events02/index.cfm
************************************************** ****************************** ** Report created 10/11/2007 Record 8 ** ************************************************** ****************************** IDENTIFICATION Regis#: 9612M Make/Model: MO20 Description: M20, M20A/B/C/D/E/F/G/J/L/R/S, M20K/M (T Date: 10/09/2007 Time: 1943 Event Type: Incident Highest Injury: None Mid Air: N Missing: N Damage: Unknown LOCATION City: ALAMO State: NV Country: US DESCRIPTION AIRCRAFT MADE A GEAR UP LANDING IN THE DESERT, 5 MILES FROM ALAMO, NV INJURY DATA Total Fatal: 0 # Crew: 2 Fat: 0 Ser: 0 Min: 0 Unk: # Pass: 0 Fat: 0 Ser: 0 Min: 0 Unk: # Grnd: Fat: 0 Ser: 0 Min: 0 Unk: WEATHER: VFR OTHER DATA Activity: Unknown Phase: Unknown Operation: OTHER FAA FSDO: LAS VEGAS, NV (WP19) Entry date: 10/10/2007
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Jordi Riera '84 930 (modified) Last edited by jriera; 10-11-2007 at 10:43 AM.. |
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10-11-2007, 10:37 AM
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Dog-faced pony soldier
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That one says two fatalities, so probably not the same.
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A car, a 911, a motorbike and a few surfboards Black Cars Matter |
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10-11-2007, 11:00 AM
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Super Jenius
Join Date: May 2002
Location: Syracuse, NY
Posts: 3,491
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POP -- it says 2 crew, zero fatals.
INJURY DATA Total Fatal: 0 # Crew: 2 Fat: 0 Ser: 0 Min: 0 Unk: # Pass: 0 Fat: 0 Ser: 0 Min: 0 Unk: # Grnd: Fat: 0 Ser: 0 Min: 0 Unk:
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2003 SuperCharged Frontier ../.. 1979 930 ../.. 1989 BMW 325iX ../.. 1988 BMW M5 ../.. 1973 BMW 2002 ../..1969 Alfa Boattail Spyder ../.. 1961 Morris Mini Cooper ../..2002 Aprilia RSV Mille ../.. 1985 Moto Guzzi LMIII cafe ../.. 2005 Kawasaki Brute Force 750 |
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10-11-2007, 11:12 AM
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Location: Linn County, Oregon
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They walked away? Then it wasn't a crash, it was a successful landing!
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"Now, to put a water-cooled engine in the rear and to have a radiator in the front, that's not very intelligent." -Ferry Porsche (PANO, Oct. '73) (I, Paul D. have loved this quote since 1973. It will remain as long as I post here.) |
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10-11-2007, 11:13 AM
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That has to be it. I can't imagine there would be two wheels up landings in the desert near LV on the same day. I believe the aircraft was a Mooney or something like that.
He was talking last week about selling it to get something with a bit more room and a bit faster.
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Kevin 1972 T Targa |
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10-11-2007, 11:20 AM
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Did you get the memo?
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M20 is a Mooney, so that's probably it.
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‘07 Mazda RX8-8 Past: 911T, 911SC, Carrera, 951s, 955, 996s, 987s, 986s, 997s, BMW 5x, C36, C63, XJR, S8, Maserati Coupe, GT500, etc |
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10-11-2007, 11:25 AM
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Senior Member
Join Date: Jun 2000
Location: N. Phoenix AZ USA
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Time showing was 19:43.... hope that this is zulu time otherwise they were landing dead stick at dusk or in the dark in the middle of no-where....
I would not want to be doing this myself. Personally if there is only one engine, I fly during the day, period.
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2013 Jag XF, 2002 Dodge Ram 2500 Cummins (the workhorse), 1992 Jaguar XJ S-3 V-12 VDP (one of only 100 examples made), 1969 Jaguar XJ (been in the family since new), 1985 911 Targa backdated to 1973 RS specs with a 3.6 shoehorned in the back, 1959 Austin Healey Sprite (former SCCA H-Prod), 1995 BMW R1100RSL, 1971 & '72 BMW R75/5 "Toaster," Ural Tourist w/sidecar, 1949 Aeronca Sedan / QB |
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10-11-2007, 11:29 AM
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Probably bad formatting ... Crew:2 Fat:0
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Jordi Riera '84 930 (modified) |
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10-11-2007, 11:46 AM
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Dog-faced pony soldier
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OK I think you're right - the way I read it it looked like:
Crew - 2 fatalities 0 serious injuries 0 minimal injuries. . . But yea, that could be it.
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A car, a 911, a motorbike and a few surfboards Black Cars Matter |
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10-11-2007, 01:00 PM
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Moderator
Join Date: Dec 2001
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Any landing you can walk away from is a good landing.
As far as his wife, what are the odds of him being in ANOTHER crash?
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'66 911 #304065 Irischgruen ‘96 993 Carrera 2 Polarsilber '81 R65 Ex-'71 911 PCA C-Stock Club Racer #806 (Sold 5/15/13) Ex-'88 Carrera (Sold 3/29/02) Ex-'91 Carrera 2 Cabriolet (Sold 8/20/04) Ex-'89 944 Turbo S (Sold 8/21/20) |
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10-11-2007, 01:54 PM
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MAGA
Join Date: May 2004
Posts: 10,762
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Thankfully, I have only experienced one "engine out" and that was over my own runway in my 2 cycle engined ultralight in a high speed dive and I simply pulled up, circled and landed on my runway. I refuse to fly over bodies of water that are big enough to prevent a glide to shore in the event of an engine out and I rarely fly at night in single engine airplanes. I live in flat farm country with lots of open spaces (NW Ohio). I don't know if I would fly much if I lived in an area that was hilly and covered with trees. In a single engine airplane, you always have to be prepared for an engine out situation. It sounds like this guy did a good job putting it down without any injuries. I have about 700 hrs in single engine certified airplanes and probably 300-400 hours in ultralights with only one engine out situation, so it is far too easy to become complacent. Stories like this are good to hear about every now and then to remind a pilot that "***** happens". It is too bad the guy trashed his airplane with a belly up landing, but he and his wife walked away, so he did good.
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German autos: '79 911 SC, '87 951, '03 330i, '08 Cayenne, '13 Cayenne 0% Liberal Men do not quit playing because they get old.... They get old because they quit playing. |
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10-11-2007, 02:02 PM
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Registered
Join Date: Oct 2006
Location: Colorado, USA
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True, but on the other hand, what are the odds of him SURVIVING the next crash!
That seems pretty darn scary. In a small plane like that, if an engine fails, is it major problem only if you don't have a suitable place to land? In other words, if a small single engined plane lost its engine over the middle of the Bonneville Salt Flats, would that be a life threatening situation for most pilots? |
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10-11-2007, 02:03 PM
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1.367m later
Join Date: Feb 2002
Location: small farm town Iowa..........at last
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Ask him if he happened to see Steve Fossit while he was out there.
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non velox ad propitiare, verisimile non oblivisci If it's not The Original Automotive Innovations and Restoration, then it's just hot AIR. |
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10-11-2007, 03:26 PM
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1972 Porsche 911 T Targa 2,2S
