The rainy weather led to some scary moments late Saturday morning when a private seaplane had to make an unexpected landing on a St. Joseph County lake.
Police and fire crews from several area departments were called out to Riddles Lake around noon, just south of Lakeville.
Neighbors called 911 after seeing the small plane touch down in the water.
The aircraft, carrying a family of four from Illinois, and another seaplane, were headed to Angola when they hit some rain.
For safety reasons, they decided to land on the lake and wait for things to clear-up, but things went awry when officials say one of the planes hit the water too hard, causing a cable underneath to break.
The pilot was able to maintain some form of control, steering the aircraft toward the lake's shoreline. A maneuver that allowed herself, her husband, and their two small children to safely escape.
“It was very easy, no injuries, no major damage, very fortunate. So I think her experience as a pilot and keeping the family and herself calm was very beneficial in helping the situation not become more serious.” Mark Richter, Indiana Conservation Officer, DNR.
Richter also praised the Lakeville Fire Department for its quick response.
Only a few small areas of smoke can be seen on Casper Mountain, nearly a week after crews managed 100 percent containment of the Sheep Herder Hill fire that burned more than 15,500 acres, and destroyed 37 homes and cabins.
K2 News Director Rich Denison was on a training flight for the Civil Air Patrol Saturday morning, and shared these aerial photos showing not only the heavy burned areas, but those areas that were unscathed within the firezone.
The Temporary Flight Restriction, or TFR was lifted earlier this week. It had been in place during the fire to allow for the massive air operations utilized to help contain the fire. Photo Gallery: http://k2radio.com/new-aerial-photos-of-casper-mountain-photos/
NTSB Identification: CEN12LA652 14 CFR Part 91: General Aviation Accident occurred Thursday, September 20, 2012 in Gulf of Mexico Aircraft: BEECH 95-C55, registration: N265Q Injuries: 2 Minor.
This is preliminary information, subject to change, and may contain errors. Any errors in this report will be corrected when the final report has been completed. NTSB investigators may not have traveled in support of this investigation and used data provided by various sources to prepare this aircraft accident report.
On September 20, 2012, about 1545 central daylight time, a Beech 95-C55 airplane, ditched into the Gulf of Mexico waters. The commercial pilot and one passenger sustained minor injuries. The airplane sank in deep water and was not recovered. The airplane was registered to and operated by Government Auctions Online LLC, Henderson, Nevada, under the provisions of 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 as a personal flight. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed for the flight, which operated on an instrument flight plan. The flight originated from the Baytown Airport (KHPY), Baytown, Texas, about 1400, and was destined to the Sarasota/Bradenton International Airport, Sarasota, Florida.
According to initial statements collected by the Federal Aviation Administration, the pilot was en route to his destination, when he detected smoke in the cockpit. The pilot attempted to troubleshoot the smoke, and saw a fire behind the cockpit panel. The pilot then elected to ditch the airplane in the water.
'Hopefully
this is the last recording because we will be rescued soon': Incredible
survival of two men whose plane crashed into Gulf of Mexico - and
filmed it on their iPad
HOUSTON—A pilot is talking about his, and a friend’s, survival after they both crashed into the open watersof the Gulf of Mexico. It happened on Thursday about 28 miles east of South Pass.
Theodore Wright and his passenger had taken off from a small airport
in Baytown and were on their way to Sarasota, FL. About halfway into the
journey, something went terribly wrong.
The two men began noticing smoke in the cockpit. They soon saw what
was causing the smoke when they opened the doors of the Beechcraft 55
Baron 11,000 feet in the air.
“It was about that time he yelled flames, flames, fire!” explained
Theodore Wright. “The fire in the cockpit is the number one nightmare
for a pilot.”
Wright said he had no choice but flip off the power and point toward the water.
“We bounced hard once. The next time we landed, the water stopped us
pretty quickly,” said Wright. “Just about the time we were clipping his
jacket on, we were about neck deep in water, airplane nose down first
and the tail sticking out.”
They two spent more than three hours in the water. The situation increasingly became more dire.
“I don’t know if we were stung by jelly fish or Portuguese man of
war. It was like a bee sting on our feet occasionally, two, three, four
times a piece,” he recalled. “I’m watching the sun go down and I know we
have only 30 more minutes of daylight, and I know if those guys don’t
pick us out in the next 30 minutes, we’re spending the night there.”
It didn’t look good.
Before hope faded entirely, a custom and border patrol plane spotted
the men. The Coast Guard was soon hovering overhead, hoisting the men to
safety.
“I said they’re here, they’re here, and my friend [asked] where,
where, where are they?[I said] 12 o’clock! It was an emotional moment
for us,” added Wright.
Wright and his friend were taken to a Coast Guard Center in New Orleans. Both were sore, but escaped with no injuries.
Wright said he couldn’t be happier to be back home in the Clear Lake,
TX, area. However, he is upset about what happened to his twin-engine
plane. He was planning on using the plane to fly around the world and
visit children who have cancer.
Wright said he still hopes to make that happen in 2013.
TORONTO - Action star Jackie Chan is a man on the move who wings his entourage to gigs around the world in luxury and comfort.
The
star, who is busy with acting and charitable work, flew to Toronto
earlier this month in his personal $20 million jet to make special
appearances at TIFF.
Chan’s brightly decorated Brazilian-made
Embraer ERJ-135 jet can carry up to 37 people while cruising at 37,000
feet and hitting speeds of 1,335 kms an hour. It has a large galley that
is geared for fine dining on those long flights.
The aircraft
features white leather couches, large chairs and all the electronic toys
to keep Chan connected as he was traveling here to be a guest of
honor at TIFF’s first Asian film summit on Sept. 10 to promote
collaborations between Asian and North American film makers.
The
star, who is known for his death-defying stunts, was only in town for a
couple days before returning to Asia, where he is an icon with a number
of charities to his name.
The co-star of the ‘Rush Hour’ movie
series spends a lot of time in the air and this year alone his plane has
flown multiple times to Singapore, China, Bejing, U.S. and Canada. He
was out of dodge after about 72-hours in the TIFF limelight. See full article: http://www.torontosun.com
A Nevada man used a "Find my iPad" application to track an iPad he lost on a flight to the residence of an Oregon City flight attendant.
Wendy Dye, 43, allegedly kept the man's iPad after another passenger turned the device over to her on a Horizon Airlines flight she was working September 11.
The man had installed the theft-prevention application several days before the flight and activated it Wednesday when he remembered he had downloaded it, according to an Oregon City Police press release.'
Dye was arrested Friday night and charged with Theft II by receiving and computer crime. Her bail in Clackamas County Jail is set at $12,500. Story and photo: http://www.eurasiareview.com
The engine of the Monarch plane sits just above the grass while the wheel is sunk into the mud
Fireman signal to colleagues as they secure the aircraft. No passengers were injured
Terrified passengers were evacuated from a plane after it overshot an airport runway and skidded onto grass as it came in to land.
Holidaymakers experienced the hair-raising landing when the Monarch flight arrived at Birmingham Airport from Nice.
The Boeing 737 carrying more than 100 tourists span off the runway – leaving the nose wheel and main undercarriage buried in mud.
Emergency crews raced to the scene to rescue the stricken passengers
and all flights at the airport were suspended yesterday afternoon. It’s the second time the plane has been involved in a major incident
in the space of a month after the 25 year-old aircraft broke down in
Tenerife in August. An engine fault meant 140 passengers were unable to leave the Spanish
island for two days and were instead put up in a hotel while spare
parts for the plane were sought.
A hundred worried, angry pilots are protesting a new federal rule that beginning Oct. 1 will limit takeoffs and landings at Pearson Field Airport in Vancouver, in turn reducing private planes' access to the airspace near Portland International Airport.
The rule, issued Thursday by the Federal Aviation Administration office in Renton, Wash., will reduce the times private aircraft can fly inside a new "Pearson Box," a 1-by-8-mile area of airspace that commercial airliners cross when approaching Portland's 10L and 10R runways on the airport's west side.
The rule says one airplane at a time can be in the box. More than 10 airliners an hour pass through the box daily when weather conditions require the use of 10L or 10R. Those runways are used about half the time, when the 28L and 28R runways on the airport's east side aren't in use, airport officials said.
Pearson has no control tower, so Portland traffic controllers will call the shots on who can be in the airspace, and airliners will have priority, according to Portland airport officials.
Concerned pilots had a heated but civil two-hour meeting with sympathetic Portland-based Federal Aviation Administration officials Thursday night. They are scheduled to meet again at 11 a.m. Sept. 29 in the pilot lounge at Pearson.
The pilots fear the "Pearson box" rule will force incoming pilots and the public below into harm's way and cost the Vancouver airport a lot of money.
"Part of the issue is requiring small aircraft to be circling over populated areas at low altitudes for indeterminate periods of time," said Paul Speer, chairman of Vancouver's Aviation Advisory Committee. That will increase noise, waste fuel, endanger the public and make the airport less desirable for "transient aircraft," he said.
In addition, the rule will make it extremely difficult for maintenance shops and flight schools to use Pearson for "touch-and-go" flights, or quick up-and-down hops. The field is supported financially by such businesses' use of the field, Speer said.
Speer said the FAA decided Pearson was operating outside its safety standards and the problem could be fixed only by installing a control tower or by limiting traffic. The FAA chose to limit traffic, apparently because it would cost less, Speer said.
Pearson's airport manager, Willy Williamson, said Friday he'd heard varying cost estimates for a control tower, from a few hundred thousand dollars to $8 million. No one has made a solid estimate, he said.
The FAA order said the changes were necessary because "wake turbulence" from passing jet aircraft could make navigation difficult for nearby small aircraft and because traffic control incidents occur when PDX uses its west runways, forcing airliners to circle before landing.
Speer and Williamson said there never had been a near-miss incident in Pearson airspace. They said there had been seven near-misses reported out of PDX and none had involved Pearson aircraft or Pearson airspace.
"The new procedures will reduce the chances of Pearson Field traffic being exposed to wake turbulence from Portland arrivals, and will reduce the chances of Portland arrivals receiving conflict alerts from their proximity to Pearson Field traffic," said Allen Kenitzer, spokesman for the FAA Northwest Mountain & Alaska Regions.
At Thursday's meeting, Portland FAA officials Laura Schneider, Scott Speer (no relation to Paul Speer) and Robert Verburg said they oppose the new rule but are working to make it succeed.
U.S. Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler, R-Wash., whose district includes Pearson, issued a statement in support of delaying the rule.
"I've heard from a unified coalition of pilots, officials and stakeholders from Clark County and Portland, and they believe a more reasonable solution is possible," the statement said. "I hope the FAA will listen to their concerns before making a decision that could impact hundreds of jobs."
Vancouver Mayor Tim Leavitt, City Manager Eric Holmes and the Vancouver City Council also support delaying the rule and want to see Pearson get a control tower, said city spokeswoman Barbara Ayers.
She said a temporary control tower operated successfully at Pearson last year while work was being done on Portland International Airport runways.
Ayers said Pearson was the only U.S. airport of its size without a control tower and that a permanent tower had support from the Port of Portland, Portland air traffic controllers, the Air Line Pilots Association, and Horizon, Alaska and Delta airlines.
"We'll have much more to say about this next week," said Ayers.
In the interim, Craig Allison, manager at Scappoose's airport, allowed it was possible the new rule could drive business to other airports.
"This is the first I've heard of it," he said Friday. "It's possible that a pilot might have done touch-and-gos at Pearson and now they might come up to Scappoose and wait around until they can come home."
WASHINGTON - The FAA has ordered immediate inspections to prevent the
failure of a critical component on GE engines that power Boeing 787
Dreamliner jets, adding that failure of the component could cause
"possible loss of the airplane."
The order was issued after one
of the GE engines failed during a ground test in South Carolina and
cracks were found in the fan mid shaft of another engine of the same
type two weeks later.
"We are issuing this (directive) because
we evaluated all the relevant information and determined the unsafe
condition ... is likely to exist or develop in other products of the
same type design,"says the FAA order, issued Friday.
The
order requires an inspection of the fan mid shaft on all GE GEnx-series
turbofan engines installed on 787 Dreamliners before their next flight.
Periodic re-inspections are required every 90 days or less to check for
possible cracking of the mid shaft.
"This condition, if not
corrected, could result in failure of the (fan mid shaft) resulting in
one or more engine failure(s) and possible loss of the airplane," the
FAA directive said.
Due to the urgency of the problem, the FAA
bypassed the usual 30-day public comment period before an airworthiness
directive takes effect.
"The FAA has found that the risk to the
flying public justifies waiving notice and comment prior to adoption of
this rule based on the reported engine failure, the crack find, and that
the root cause is still somewhat unknown," the FAA's directive said.
The
problem was first noticed when a GE engine failed on a new Dreamliner
as it was undergoing runway tests at the Charleston, S.C., airport on
July 28. Debris was ejected from the engine and fell on the runway,
sparking a small fire and forcing the airport to shut down for about an
hour.
Then on Aug. 14, an ultrasonic inspection on the same part in another 787's engine found cracking.
The
cause of the cracking is not yet determined, but according to the FAA
it "is likely due to environmentally assisted cracking; a type of
corrosive cracking that is time-dependent." The agency is requiring
repetitive inspections at an interval of not more than 90 days.
The FAA said it is working closely with General Electric to resolve the problem.
It
was not immediately clear how many Dreamliners have been equipped with
the GE GEnx-series engines. The FAA's directive said it will affect 11
engines installed on planes of U.S. registry.
The Dreamliner jet
is one of Boeing's most critical products. The company delivered the
first 787 last year following several years of design and production
delays. Airlines set record orders for the jet, as its lightweight,
high-tech design was expected to offer travelers more comfort, provide
airlines significant fuel savings and open up new routes.
NTSB Identification: CEN12FA654 14 CFR Part 91: General Aviation Accident occurred Saturday, September 22, 2012 in Roanoke, TX Aircraft: PIPER PA-28R-180, registration: N4567J Injuries: 2 Fatal.
This is preliminary information, subject to change, and may contain errors. Any errors in this report will be corrected when the final report has been completed. NTSB investigators either traveled in support of this investigation or conducted a significant amount of investigative work without any travel, and used data obtained from various sources to prepare this aircraft accident report.
On September 22, 2012, about 1330 central daylight time, a Piper PA-28R-180 airplane, N4567J, impacted terrain and trees approximately one-quarter mile south of the Northwest Regional Airport (F52), Roanoke, Texas. The commercial rated pilot and certificated flight instructor (CFI) were fatally injured and the airplane sustained substantial damaged. The airplane was registered to and operated by a private individual. Day visual meteorological conditions prevailed and no flight plan was filed for the 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 personal flight.
Initial reports from witnesses indicate that the airplane departed the south runway; however, the takeoff roll was noticeable longer than airplanes typically perform, with an unusual engine sound. The airplane was observed to start a left turn, before it descended towards a grove of trees and disappeared out of sight.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and National Transportation Safety Board responded to the accident site. The airplane impacted several trees off the south end of runway 17. Both the left and right wings separated near their roots and remained suspended in the trees. The fuselage was located about 60 feet beyond the wings, nestled amongst the base of several trees.
After documentation of the crash site, the airplane was retrieved for further examination.
CBS 11/Doug Dunbar A Piper Cherokee PA-28 R180 crashed Saturday during takeoff
Christopher Pratt
Christopher Pratt, 41, of Argyle, Texas, passed away on September 22, 2012. He was born on July 14, 1971 in Farmington, Maine to Marshall Pratt and Ita O’Hanlon Pratt. He married Sarah Smitherman in Lake Tahoe, California in 2006.He was a Nuclear Engineer at Enercon Services.
He graduated from St. Charles Catholic High School in LaPlace, Louisiana, and studied his undergraduate and masters work at LSU. He loved to play soccer and was a long time member of the Baton Rouge Soccer Association.
He lived with his family in the Denton, Texas area and was attending Argyle United Methodist Church. He played soccer through Stampede Sports in Southlake and was a member of AOPA Pilots Association.
Visitation will be on Tuesday, September 25, 2012 from 6-8 pm at DeBerry Funeral Directors. The funeral service will be on Wednesday, September 26, 2012 at 3:30 at Argyle United Methodist Church with Rev. Kory Knott officiating.
Christopher was a loving husband and father and is survived by his wife, Sarah; daughters, Taylor (5) and Victoria Pratt (2); sisters, Marsha Pratt, Carolyn Holton, and Sharon Pratt; and brother, Jason Pratt.
IDENTIFICATION
Regis#: 4567J Make/Model: PA28 Description: PA-28 CHEROKEE, ARROW, WARRIOR, ACHER, D
Date: 09/22/2012 Time: 1830
Event Type: Accident Highest Injury: Fatal Mid Air: N Missing: N
Damage: Substantial
LOCATION
City: ROANOKE State: TX Country: US
DESCRIPTION
AIRCRAFT CRASHED UNDER UNKNOWN CIRCUMSTANCES, THERE WERE 2 PERSONS ON
BOARD, 1 WAS FATALLY INJURED, 1 WAS SERIOUSLY INJURED, 52 MILES FROM
ROANOKE, TX
INJURY DATA Total Fatal: 1
# Crew: 2 Fat: 1 Ser: 1 Min: 0 Unk:
# Pass: 0 Fat: 0 Ser: 0 Min: 0 Unk:
# Grnd: Fat: 0 Ser: 0 Min: 0 Unk:
OTHER DATA
Activity: Unknown Phase: Unknown Operation: OTHER
FAA FSDO: FORT WORTH, TX (SW19) Entry date: 09/24/2012
The family of a flight instructor who was one of two men killed in a plane crash near Roanoke is speaking out abut Saturday's tragedy.
Charlie Yates and Chris Pratt were killed when their plane went down shortly after taking off from Northwest Regional Airport.
Yates, 63, was a decorated and experienced pilot who had a 20-year career in the U.S. Air Force — including duty in the Vietnam conflict — and a second career as a Delta Air Lines captain.
More recently, he served as a flight instructor, and that's what he was doing on Saturday in Pratt's Piper Arrow single-engine aircraft.
At the family's Grapevine home, Diane Yates said her husband had been working with Pratt for the past week or so. Yates told her that Pratt had the fundamentals down and knew what he was doing.
Smedley Yates remembers his dad always flying. "He was a hero — not only in the Vietnam War, where he flew OV-10s — but in the cold war, where he flew F-15 Eagles," he said.
It was in the genes.
Charlie Yates flew, as did his father and son. It was a family passion.
"We used to own a plane when we lived in Alaska, and we used to land on the beaches and go fishing," Diane Yates recalled. They were married for 42 years.
It was a lifetime spent in the sky. Yates' 20 years of flight in the Air Force is chronicled in a book he wrote.
Yates also loved teaching others how to soar on their own. "He would let me pretty much do what I wanted with the plane," Mrs. Yates said.
But on Saturday afternoon, Diane Yates got the call every pilot's wife prays to never receive. When information was hard to come by, she suspected he had died.
Charlie Yates was taking off in Christopher Pratt's Piper Arrow single-engine aircraft. They lost altitude at takeoff and crashed a half-mile from the south end of the runway at Northwest Regional Airport in Denton County.
Pratt, a nuclear engineer and father of two little girls, was working toward becoming a flight instructor like Charlie.
Pratt's family said Yates was helping him "brush up." Pratt leaves a wife and two young daughters.
"Whether he was at the controls, whether someone else was at he controls... God is in control," Smedley Yates said, underscoring the importance of faith in the Yates household.
"He was my best friend. I knew he needed me, and I needed him," Diane Yates said.
Charlie Yates was said to have had three passions in life: His family; flying; and studying Scripture.
He had been scheduled to teach at an assisted living facility on Sunday. His topic: "Heaven."
In addition to his wife, Yates leaves an adult son, a daughter, and seven grandchildren.http://www.wfaa.com
CBSDFW.COM - Diane Yates got the call no pilot’s wife ever wants to get.
Her husband, Charlie Yates, 63, was the passenger in a plane crash that took place Saturday just after take off near Northwest Regional Airport.
“That’s something I’ve thought of before since I’ve been married to a pilot for 42 years,” Diane Yates said.
Seconds after the crash four of Charlie Yates’ good friends arrived to help.
Two of his co-workers had heard a plane take off with a strange noise coming from the engine so they went outside to see what was happening.
What they saw was a single engine plane take off and clear the runaway, then clip the tops of the trees just south of the airport, and crash.
They didn’t know their friend and fellow flight instructor, Charlie Yates was in that plane until they got to the wreckage and heard him moaning.
“I’m glad it was us that showed up first to be there with Charlie,” said Glenn Harrington, Director of Operations for MarcAir Aviation, where Charlie Yates worked as the chief flight instructor.
Yates was conscious when they arrived. He was a man of God. To keep him awake, his friends asked him to recite his favorite scripture.
Knowing he was surrounded by close friends gave Diane Yates some solace.
“Such a relief because I know his boss and the pilots that are his instructors, right away, they were praying for him. They were saying scripture verses and Charlie was saying scripture to them,” Diane Yates said.
Friends and family members say God was his first passion, his family and helping others were a close second.
Friends say Yates was on the plane to help the pilot, Chris Pratt, who was working toward becoming a certified flight instructor.
Pratt died at the scene.
Family members say even as Yates was fighting for his life, he was thinking of others.
“They tell us at the hospital, he was comforting those who were working on him, the trauma team and the chaplain, who was a brand new chaplain,” said Diane Yates.
“He was always putting others first, their interests first. He was very selfless,” said his daughter, Angela Guthrie, who is also married to a pilot.
Charlie Yates was a decorated Air Force pilot who spent 15 years flying commercial planes for Delta Airlines and after retiring became a flight instructor.
Along with a passion for photography and flying, Yates loved to waterski. He would often hit the water at sunrise before he went flying.
Charlie Yates was a prominent member of Countryside Bible Church.
Family member say he spent every minute be-friending others and teaching them about God.
Even the neighborhood kids wanted to hang out with Charlie, Diane Yates said.
“They would come to the door and say, ‘Can Charlie come out to play?’ and he’d go out and throw the football with them,” Diane Yates said.
Days before the fatal crash, Yates was preparing to teach a lesson about heaven, something his family now says was a calling from God.
“He was doing what he loved,” said Diane Yates. “He could have done other things but he loved flying and he loved people.”
The family expects hundreds to attend his funeral. Arrangements are pending.
The FAA and NTSB are investigating the cause of the crash.
Flight instructor Charlie Yates, 63, was on board a plane that crashed near Northwest Regional Airport in Roanoke on Saturday, September 22, 2012.
On a perfect Sunday morning to fly... people took off from and touched down at Northwest Regional Airport... some while grieving. Del Hester flew with Charlie Yates just a few weeks ago. "I didn't know whether to even come fly today and then I got to thinking he'd be the first one to tell you to get out here and go do it," Hester said. On Saturday, Yates, 63, and pilot Christopher Pratt, 41, had just taken off in a plane when it crashed in the woods south of the Roanoke airport. Pratt died at the scene. Yates died at John Peter Smith Hospital in Fort Worth. Yates was a fixture at the small airport for the past decade. "Everybody turned to Charlie," said Hester. "He was the lead flight instructor and just everybody did turn to him. That was Charlie." Fellow flight instructor Brooks Higginbotham was here Saturday and said the single engine Piper Arrow Yates was in sounded strange on it's take off run. "The acceleration was slow and when it got to a point on the runway where an airplane of that type typically takes off," said Higginbotham. "They were still firmly on the ground and they got well down the runway before they finally lifted off." Investigators do not yet know what if anything that had to do with the plane immediately losing altitude and crashing in the woods. Pilots around here just know they've lost a friend in Charlie Yates. "When it came to his flying he was serious but when you were on the ground checking the plane out or something he was always cutting up trying to catch you off guard," said Higginbotham. http://www.nbcdfw.com Updated at 10:12 p.m: CBS 11 News has revived the following statement from the wife of Christopher Pratt regarding the death of her husband in today’s crash. “It is with great sadness that we say goodbye to a wonderful husband, father and friend. Chris had a passion for life, and loved to fly and spend time with his family. We love him and will miss him every day.”
Updated at 7:53 p.m. CBS 11 News has confirmed the passenger who was transported to the hospital has died. He has been identified as Charles Yates. The pilot identified as 41-year-old Christopher Pratt of Argyle died before paramedics arrived at the scene.
ROANOKE (CBSDFW.COM) - One man is dead another was critically injured in a plane crash just south of the Northwest Regional Airport near Roanoke in Denton County.
The crash happened just after 1 p.m. as a single engine four passenger Piper Cherokee PA-28R-180 was taking off.
Witnesses heard a strange noise from coming the plane as it took off and went outside to see what was going on.
“You could see he wasn’t climbing very well,” said Glenn Harrington, Director of Operations for Marcair Aviation. “It was starting to clear the trees and the end, made a bit of a left turn and pancaked down into the trees.”
The crash site is about a half mile from the end of the runaway.
CBS 11 News’ Doug Dunbar, who is also a pilot, was at the airport shooting another story.
Harrington told Dunbar and two others a plane went down at the end of the runaway and the four jumped into a vehicle and rushed to the scene.
“We saw the airplane. It was in the trees canted to the right side, wings were gone. We couldn’t see wings anywhere,” Dunbar said. “A friend of mine was in that airplane.”
The pilot was unconscious when they arrived on the scene. The passenger, a flight instructor, was conscious and talking.
Paramedics arrived a short time later and a PHI medical helicopter transported the passenger to John Peter Smith Hospital in critical condition.
The FAA was on the scene investigating. NTSB is taking over the investigation.
The crash happened just after 1 p.m. as a single engine four passenger Piper Cherokee PA-28R-180 was taking off.
Witnesses heard a strange noise from coming the plane as it took off and went outside to see what was going on.
“You
could see he wasn’t climbing very well,” said Glenn Harrington,
Director of Operations for Marcair Aviation. “It was starting to clear
the trees and the end, made a bit of a left turn and pancaked down into
the trees.”
The crash site is about a half mile from the end of the runaway.
CBS 11 News’ Doug Dunbar, who is also a pilot, was at the airport shooting another story.
Harrington
told Dunbar and two others a plane went down at the end of the runaway
and the four jumped into a vehicle and rushed to the scene.
“We
saw the airplane. It was in the trees canted to the right side, wings
were gone. We couldn’t see wings anywhere,” Dunbar said. “A friend of
mine was in that airplane.”
The pilot was unconscious when they arrived on the scene. The passenger, a flight instructor, was conscious and talking.
Paramedics
arrived a short time later and a PHI medical helicopter transported the
passenger to John Peter Smith Hospital in critical condition.
The FAA was on the scene investigating. NTSB is taking over the investigation.
One
person died and another person was injured in a small airplane crash
just south of the Northwest Regional Airport in Roanoke on Saturday
afternoon.
The FAA said the crash involved a Piper PA 28
aircraft. The wreckage is in the woods south of the airport in Denton
County. It went down shortly after take off around 1:30 p.m.
"The
aircraft, when it crashed, the wings tore loose from the fuelsage,"
said Department of Public Safety spokesman Lonny Haschel. "The fuelsage
was what actually went into the ground. There was not fire because the
fuel was actually on the wings."
The injured person was taken to the hospital. The identity of both victims has not been released publicly.
People at the Northwest Regional Airport said the plane's owner and a flight instructor were aboard when the plane crashed.
A
young flight student knew one of the crash victims. "I saw him about
15-20 minutes before he went up," said Alexander Vanover, flight
student. "He said a couple of words and I said goodbye, shook his hand,
and was out the door. I'm thinking of him. I remember that plane taking
off, went inside to get my sunglasses and when I came out, there were
ambulances running down the runway."
The FAA told NBC DFW that National Transportation Safety Board has been notified and investigators are headed to the scene. http://www.nbcdfw.com
ROANOKE (CBSDFW.COM)- One man is dead another was critically injured in a plane crash just south of the Northwest Regional Airport near Roanoke in Denton County.
The crash happened just after 1 p.m. as a single engine 4 passenger Piper Cherokee PA-28R-180 was taking off.
Witnesses heard a strange noise from coming the plane as it took off and went outside to see what was going on.
“You could see he wasn’t climbing very well,” said Glenn Harrington, Director of Operations for Marcair Aviation. “It was starting to clear the trees and the end, made a bit of a left turn and pancaked down into the trees.”
The crash site is about a half mile from the end of the runway.
CBS 11 News’ Doug Dunbar, who is also a pilot, was at the airport shooting another story.
Harrington told Dunbar and two others a plane went down at the end of the runway and the four jumped into a vehicle and rushed to the scene.
“We saw the airplane. It was in the trees canted to the right side, wings were gone. We couldn’t see wings anywhere,” Dunbar said. “A friend of mine was in that airplane.”
The pilot was unconscious when they arrived on the scene. The passenger, a flight instructor, was conscious and talking.
Paramedics arrived a short time later and a PHI medical helicopter transported the passenger to John Peter Smith Hospital in critical condition.
The FAA was on the scene investigating. NTSB is taking over the investigation.
One
person died and another person was injured in a small airplane crash
just south of the Northwest Regional Airport in Roanoke on Saturday
afternoon.
The FAA said the crash involved a Piper PA 28
aircraft. The wreckage is in the woods south of the airport in Denton
County. It went down shortly after take off around 1:30 p.m.
"The
aircraft, when it crashed, the wings tore loose from the fuelsage,"
said Department of Public Safety spokesman Lonny Haschel. "The fuelsage
was what actually went into the ground. There was not fire because the
fuel was actually on the wings."
The injured person was taken to the hospital. The identity of both victims has not been released publicly.
People at the Northwest Regional Airport said the plane's owner and a flight instructor were aboard when the plane crashed.
A
young flight student knew one of the crash victims. "I saw him about
15-20 minutes before he went up," said Alexander Vanover, flight
student. "He said a couple of words and I said goodbye, shook his hand,
and was out the door. I'm thinking of him. I remember that plane taking
off, went inside to get my sunglasses and when I came out, there were
ambulances running down the runway."
The FAA told NBC DFW that National Transportation Safety Board has been notified and investigators are headed to the scene. http://www.nbcdfw.com
Update 3:20 p.m.: The Department of Public Safety is reporting that the pilot of a small airplane that crashed just south of the Northwest Regional Airport in Roanoke on Saturday died on impact.
The crash happened at around 1:22 p.m.
The pilot was flying a Piper Arrow PA-28R, which is a single-engine plane that seats four. Authorities said there was one other person in the plane at the time of the wreck. That passenger was taken to John Peter Smith Hospital in Fort Worth with serious injuries.
Authorities were unable to immediately release the identities of the pilot or the passenger.
DPS also was able to release more details about how the crash happened. Trooper Lonny Haschell said the pilot was taking off from the airport’s runway “and, for reasons as yet undetermined, lost altitude and crashed into a wooded area south of the runway.”
DPS troopers are on the scene waiting for Federal Aviation Administration investigators to arrive. The FAA will be responsible for determining the cause of the crash.
Original: At least one person has been hospitalized in a small plane crash just south of Northwest Regional Airport in Roanoke.
Firefighters from Denton and Roanoke are still on the scene trying to process information. Lt. Doug Parks of the Roanoke Fire Department said the plane that crashed was a small, single-engine general aviation plane.
It’s not immediately clear what caused the crash, but the plane seems to have come to the ground near the runway. Parks said the wreckage is in a wooded area about a half a mile from the southern tip of the runway.
The number of people in the plane and the extent of their injuries could not be immediately confirmed. Parks said that one patient has been transported by helicopter to John Peter Smith Hospital in Fort Worth.
The Federal Aviation Administration has been called the scene to investigate.
OBETZ, Ohio --
Authorities have responded to a field near Rickenbacker International Airport on a report of an ultra-light aircraft down Saturday afternoon. According to the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office, the plane was reported down in the field near Rohr Road and Creekside Parkway shortly after 1:30 p.m. Saturday.
It was not immediately clear if there were any injuries, but initial reports indicated that the occupant of the aircraft was seen walking from the scene.
The Franklin County Sheriff’s Office was unsure whether the aircraft landed in the field or crashed.
A former gun distributor and firearms consultant from California, Bruce Jennings was sued by a man injured by a gun when he was a child. When asked how much child pornography he had, he answered, "A lot." By Lyda Longa A 63-year-old Volusia man accused by the federal government of possessing and distributing child pornography told agents that he did not feel guilty about downloading and looking at such images, a federal complaint released by the U.S. Attorney's Office shows. A former gun distributor and firearms consultant from California, Bruce Jennings was sued by a man injured by a gun when he was a child. When asked how much child pornography he had, he answered, "A lot." Bruce Lee Jennings, who lives in the Spruce Creek Fly-In even had a computer hidden in his Chrysler Sebring loaded with hundreds of images and movies of children engaged in sexual acts, said the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent who authored the complaint. A former gun distributor and firearms consultant from California, Jennings was sued by a man injured by a gun when he was a child. Brandon Maxfield, 25, of Willits, Calif., was injured at the age of 7 by a gun that misfired when it was being cleaned by Maxfield's babysitter. The weapon had been distributed by Jennings and manufactured by the company Jennings operated in California and Nevada called Bryco Arms. Shot in the face, Maxfield was left paralyzed from the neck down; he sued Jennings and Bryco in 2001, court records show. In the current criminal case, Jennings told ICE agent Joseph Grey that he had been looking at child pornography for at least five years and that he was aware that the children he was viewing were "real children who had been sexually abused," the complaint says. When Grey asked Jennings how much child pornography he possessed, the suspect answered, "A lot," the complaint says. Jennings then told Agent Grey that he had a laptop computer hidden in his Chrysler. When ICE investigators searched the car, they found the laptop which contained hundreds of images and movies, the complaint shows. Jennings was arrested Sept. 14 at his Spruce Creek Fly-In house on Spruce Creek Boulevard. He is being held without bail at the John E. Polk Correctional Facility in Sanford because he is considered a flight risk, federal officials said. If convicted, he faces a mandatory minimum of five years in federal prison for each count of distribution of child pornography, said Will Daniels, a spokesman with the U.S. Attorney's Office. The maximum he could face is 20 years, Daniels said. Jennings is also looking at a maximum of 10 years in federal prison for possession of child pornography. In the gun case, Jennings' company manufactured firearms in the early 1990s in California and Nevada commonly known as "Saturday Night Specials," court records show. In his lawsuit, Maxfield claimed that the gun that injured him and was designed by Jennings was defective. Soon after Maxfield and his family filed the suit against Jennings in California Superior Court, Jennings met with a bankruptcy attorney in Boca Raton in 2002, court records show. That same year, he also put in an offer to purchase his Spruce Creek Fly-In residence for $925,000. After he obtained the house, he spent $84,000 to refurbish it, court records show. In addition, Jennings wanted to expand the airplane hangar next to his house and he paid a contractor $130,000 in advance of the work being done, court records show. On May 13, 2003, after hearing the case against Jennings and Bryco in three different phases, the California court entered a judgment against Jennings for $24 million. The day after the judgment — May 14 — Jennings and Bryco filed for bankruptcy, court records show. Jennings then appealed the California court's decision on the Maxfield lawsuit. But the Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit, affirmed the California court's decision, saying in part that Jennings had paid the contractor $130,000 with the intent to defraud his creditors (Maxfield), court records show. The Court of Appeals said the $130,000 "greatly exceeded the amount then due under the contract." Then in 2004, Maxfield himself tried to buy the Bryco Arms company at auction for $505,000. His plan was to melt all the weapons and turn them into a sculpture. Maxfield was outbid however by a Bryco employee who paid $510,000 for the company, court records show. Brandon's Arms — a nonprofit corporation — was then founded to promote public safety with an emphasis on reducing and eliminating injuries and deaths from the accidental or criminal use of firearms. According to the group's website, Maxfield — who could not be reached for comment — has yet to be compensated by Jennings for his injuries and medical bills.
The
Indianapolis Airport Authority's massive maintenance facility has lost
money for most of the past 10 years, yet it has only conducted one audit
to ensure the building's biggest tenant is paying its fair share.
The
lack of audits is a sore spot for bondholders who helped finance
construction of the $600 million aircraft repair center in the
mid-1990s. Bondholders haven't been paid since a bankrupt United
Airlines abandoned the facility in 2003, and are still owed $170 million
plus interest from the $220 million bond issue.
The airport's
biggest tenant today is AAR Corp., an Illinois-based aircraft
maintenance firm. The airport signed a 10-year lease with AAR for 10 of
the maintenance center's 12 hangar bays in 2004.
The lease
includes a profit-sharing arrangement that requires AAR to turn over to
the airport a third of its operating profits that exceed 9.25 percent of
gross sales at the facility. The lease also allows the airport to audit
AAR annually to make sure it's following the profit-sharing
arrangement.
Airport and AAR officials say the company's profits have never met the profit-sharing threshold.
Chris
Mason, a spokesman for AAR, declined to provide The Star with financial
information about the facility, but said the Indianapolis maintenance
center is more costly to operate than any of the company's other
facilities.
"As such, we have never met the annual threshold for
operating profit or as a result owed payments under the provision," he
said.
But some bondholders are suspicious of that claim. Scott
Connelly, a California investor who owns about 500 bonds, points to
AAR's corporate-wide financial statements. Since it began leasing the
Indianapolis facility in 2004, the firm's overall revenues have shot up
217 percent, from $652 million to $2.1 billion. The company's financial
statements also show that in 2008, its operating margin exceeded 9.25
percent.
None of that proves that AAR would have owed the airport
money, but it should be enough to prompt the airport to conduct regular
audits, especially since the maintenance center has lost $23.4 million,
Connelly said.
"If a company is growing at this type of rate,
how can (the airport authority) just decide to not audit AAR every
single year?" he said. "It should be like clockwork."
The only
profit-sharing audit the airport has conducted is five years old. The
report from that audit is less than a page in length and contains only
three paragraphs. It is not signed or dated, provides no financial or
accounting information, and does not explain how the airport arrived at
its conclusion that AAR did not meet the profit-sharing threshold.
Experts who reviewed the audit at The Star's request said it doesn't comply with governmental or public accounting standards.
"As
near as we can tell, this was not an audit conducted with professional
standards, and therefore we can't judge the value of this audit," said
Steve Sossei of the Association of Government Accountants. "The reason
you conduct audits in accordance with professional standards is so you
can rely on the quality."
Troy Janes, an accounting professor at Purdue University, agreed.
"The
report as presented here doesn't follow the standards an external
auditor would follow," he said. "If there are concerns about the
thoroughness of the audit, I can understand how that would be the case,
since it was not done by an external auditor."
In an attempt to
determine how airport auditors reached their conclusion, The Star
requested on Sept. 13 any working documents associated with the audit.
Airport officials have not provided those records.
Airport
spokesman Carlo Bertolini said airport auditors examined AAR's general
ledger, which provided access to information about gross margin, net
sales, direct labor costs, professional fees, and other itemized
expenses. He said auditors also contacted other airports for assurance
that AAR's reported results were within market norms.
Still, bondholders question why the airport hasn't conducted additional audits since then.
"The
airport is using a facility that we paid $220 million to help build,
and in return they provide us with literally a one-page 'percentage rent
audit' for AAR that was done one time in 2007, and they expect us to
take that seriously," said Barry Swenson, a developer in California who
owns nearly a third of the bonds. "Someone needs to be accountable to
us."
Tensions between bondholders and the airport authority have
been high since the airport tried twice to buy the bonds this summer for
pennies on the dollar. Bondholders overwhelmingly rejected those
offers.
Airport officials have argued that bondholders aren't
likely to get repaid. Even though the facility is beginning to make
money, the airport must be repaid for its past losses before bondholders
can be paid, according to the terms of the settlement agreement that
came out of the United Airlines bankruptcy.
Bondholders accuse
the airport of putting politics ahead of fiscal responsibility.
Taxpayers contributed more than $280 million to build the maintenance
center, and 1,500 jobs were lost when United abandoned the facility. To
save face and keep jobs, airport officials rented space at below-market
rates that didn't cover expenses, bondholders say.
A 2011 financial review obtained by The Star confirmed that some leases at the maintenance center fell well below market value.
At
the request of bondholders, financial advisory firm Deloitte analyzed
airport accounting records to determine if any information contradicted
the airport authority's reported operating and financial results.
Deloitte also compared tenant lease rates to market estimates.
In
a nine page report, Deloitte found no problems with the airport's
financial reporting, but it found that the terms of five of the eight
maintenance center leases it reviewed were 45 percent to 55 percent
below market rate. AAR's lease was within 10 percent of market range,
the report said.
The airport's losses would have been cut by $14.3 million if not for the below-market rate leases, the report said.
Eric Anderson, the airport authority's property director, questioned how Deloitte arrived at those figures.
"I don't know where they got their comps," he said. "We're confident of what we've been doing."
Leather seats - comfortable, reasonably wide and far enough apart that your knees don't hit the seat in front.
But there's no TV screen in the "seatback" and the single washroom is tiny.
Welcome aboard the Q400 turboprop airliner. If you fly in or out of Regina, then you'll probably board one in the next few years. "I think that's a reasonable assumption," said Jim Hunter, president and CEO of the Regina Airport Authority.
What's at work are economics and the advancing years of other airliners.
The Bombardier Regional Jets flown into Regina by airlines like Jazz were designed in the late 1980s and are showing their age. Also, there are no jet replacements for them on the production lines.
So as these small jets get older, the betting in the aviation industry is that airlines will replace them with turboprops like the Bombardier Q400.
Jazz, which is being "rebranded as Air Canada Express, has 15 Q400s and just signed options for six more, according to its website, which also says it's taking a number of jets out of service.
The nationwide feeder for Air Canada does not currently fly Q400s into Regina, but has started operating one flight into the city using the Q400's precedessor, the DeHavilland Dash 8. Jazz deferred questions about aircraft deployment to Air Canada, which said Friday it hasn't made a decision.
Meanwhile, Calgary based WestJet recently rocked the Canadian airline world by announcing plans for a short-range regional airline using the Q400, beginning next summer.
Gossip in the airline business holds there will be two main bases, Calgary and Toronto, with Q400s breaking into new markets unserved by WestJet (or other airlines), but also operating alongside its Boeing 737 jets on certain routes.
An example offered by Hunter (who emphasized he hasn't had any official communication on this) could see a route flown by a 737 in the morning and a Q400 in the evening. "Ultimately, they'll be flying on both sides of the country and I think we can expect to see some of them here," he said.
The Q400 is no slouch. Jazz's website says it cruises at 414 mph, compared with 484 mph for the 50-passenger Bombardier CRJ 100 regional jet flown into Regina by Jazz and the regional arms of United Airlines and Delta.
Airline executives say its slightly slower speed is balanced by a shorter climb to cruising altitude. "So the difference in flying time to Calgary, Edmonton or Winnipeg is almost negligible," Hunter said.
The Q400 offers two more advantages over Regional Jets. It carries 74 passengers (compared with 50 in the smallest RJs) and being powered by turboprops, as opposed to jet engines) it burns much less fuel, so it makes more money.
Regina might see the Q400s from yet another airline. Toronto-based Porter has been steadily working its way outward from Ontario, recently reaching Thunder Bay and Moncton. Rumours are flying that Winnipeg might be Porter's next stop, then Regina and Saskatoon.
"That's a huge 'if '", Hunter said. "I don't think they're going to come west of Thunder Bay for the time being."
MUSCAT
— Ayla Aviation Academy is organizing seminars on pilot training in
various locations in Oman. The seminars are scheduled to be held in
Muscat, Salalah and Sohar on the September 24, 25 and 26 respectively;
and are planned to take place in the following venues: Hotel Muscat
Holiday — Muscat, Haffa House-Salalah and Crowne Plaza — Sohar, sessions
will start at 7 pm.
A representative from Ayla Aviation
Academy Jordan and its sister Academy Atlantic Flight Training UK will
be giving presentations on the versatile features and aspects of Pilot
Training. Ayla, through Atlantic Flight Training is the first EASA
approved facility in the Middle East; it is approved for both flight and
ground training. Ayla, in collaboration with Atlantic offer a full EASA
license.
Ayla’s flight and ground instructors are all
highly-qualified, fully certified trainers with teaching experience from
all over the world. All aircrafts and simulators are maintained
in-house by Ayla's maintenance department, which is a manufacturer
authorized service center for Diamond, Cirrus and Cessna.
The
Academy’s Ground School facility includes computer based classrooms
equipped with the latest educational aids and technologies; student
lounge, instructor lounge, ground instructor offices, management offices
and meeting rooms, fully equipped gym, Cafeteria, Library, and wireless
Internet connectivity. Ayla is also the regional pioneer in adopting
Ipad based learning system.
Cadet accommodation units are located
throughout the city and include: Fully furnished 2 bedrooms — 2
bathroom units, twice a week housekeeping service, Satellite TV,
washer/dryer, microwave, oven, refrigerator and air conditioning. Also
included in the fees is transportation from and to the Academy.
VT-UPN Premier 1A Government of Uttar Pradesah, India
delivered new N33805 Apr 2008 to Germany as D-IIBE to IBE Trade Company, based in Ukraine registration changed to UR-USA May 2010, aircraft sold May 2008 to N3186C RangeFlyers LLC
Exported to India June 4 2008 New
Delhi: SP chief Mulayam Singh Yadav‘s brother and UP Minister Shivpal
Singh Yadav and five others had a close shave today when their plane
skidded off the runway on landing at the IGI airport here.
The
nosewheel of the state government-owned six-seater Beechcraft broke as
the plane skidded off Runway 27 in high speed after landing. The
nose-wheel got stuck in the mud, airport sources said.
Civil
aviation regulator DGCA ordered a probe into the accident in which
Yadav, PWD minister in the Uttar Pradesh government, SP general
secretary and spokesperson Rajendra Chaudhary and four others, including
two pilots and a cabin crew, received minor injuries. The accident
occured around 11.30 hours.
A
medical emergency team rushed to the aircraft minutes after the
accident and took all of them to the airport medical facility where they
were administered first-aid for minor injuries and discharged later,
the sources said.
The Runway 27 was closed for several hours
after the accident, but air operations were not affected as the two
other runways were made operational.
The airport authorities issued a NOTAM (Notice to Airmen) informing all incoming aircraft about the closure till 2000 hours.
“It
was an accident. We have ordered a probe and our people have reached
the site,” Director General of Civil Aviation Arun Mishra said.
The
preliminary findings show that the pilots had not called for an
emergency landing as they experienced a problem with the nose-wheel only
while landing, the sources said.
“At around 11.30 AM, the
aircraft VT-UPN (Beechcraft Premier 1A) belonging to UP Government was
damaged upon landing on Runway 27 of IGI airport. Emergency services at
the airport swung into action and we can confirm that there was no fire
or casualties of any kind in the incident,” a DIAL spokesperson said.
He
said that there was no affect on the operations at the airport as there
are three runways but “DIAL’s emergency services are at work to ensure
return of services at the earliest.”
Yadav was on his way to Masuri in Ghaziabad, where six people had died in violence last week. See full article: http://www.firstpost.com
AM Live host Kam Merzlak speaks with Harry Brandt and Dave Shepard about the Wings and Wheels event that will be happening at Westover Field on September 29th.
NTSB Identification: ERA12CA592 14 CFR Non-U.S., Non-Commercial Accident occurred Thursday, September 20, 2012 in New Haven, CT Probable Cause Approval Date: 04/10/2013 Aircraft: LEARJET 36A, registration: C-FEMT Injuries: 5 Uninjured.
NTSB investigators used data provided by various entities, including, but not limited to, the Federal Aviation Administration and/or the operator and did not travel in support of this investigation to prepare this aircraft accident report.
According to the pilot, during the takeoff roll, he noticed two deer on the right side of the runway that were moving into the path of the airplane. He aborted the takeoff and applied maximum braking, but the airplane subsequently struck a deer with the right wing, resulting in substantial damage to the spar. The pilot reported no preimpact mechanical malfunctions or failures with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation. Airport personnel indicated that deer are not a known problem at the airport and that postaccident discussions between airport personnel and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) are underway to install a full airport perimeter fence. In addition, the airport readjusted the agreement with the United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Management Division in order to improve wildlife hazard mitigation strategies.
The National Transportation Safety Board determines the probable cause(s) of this accident to be: An inadvertent collision with a deer during the takeoff roll.
IDENTIFICATION
Regis#: CFEMT Make/Model: LJ36 Description: LEARJET 36A
Date: 09/20/2012 Time: 1814
Event Type: Incident Highest Injury: None Mid Air: N Missing: N
Damage: Unknown
LOCATION
City: NEW HAVEN State: CT Country: US
DESCRIPTION
AIRCRAFT ON DEPARTURE ROLL STRUCK A DEER, NEW HAVEN, CT
INJURY DATA Total Fatal: 0
# Crew: 1 Fat: 0 Ser: 0 Min: 0 Unk:
# Pass: 1 Fat: 0 Ser: 0 Min: 0 Unk:
# Grnd: Fat: 0 Ser: 0 Min: 0 Unk:
OTHER DATA
Activity: Unknown Phase: Take-off Operation: OTHER
FAA FSDO: WINDSOR LOCKS, CT (EA63) Entry date: 09/21/2012
NTSB Identification: ERA12FA572 14 CFR Part 91: General Aviation Accident occurred Saturday, September 22, 2012 in Land O'Lakes, FL Aircraft: CESSNA 172S, registration: N21750 Injuries: 1 Fatal.
This is preliminary information, subject to change, and may contain errors. Any errors in this report will be corrected when the final report has been completed. NTSB investigators either traveled in support of this investigation or conducted a significant amount of investigative work without any travel, and used data obtained from various sources to prepare this aircraft accident report. On September 22, 2012, about 0155 eastern daylight time, a Cessna 172S, N21750, was substantially damaged following a collision with trees and terrain near Land O’Lakes, Florida. The certificated private pilot was fatally injured. The airplane was registered to a corporation and was operated by the pilot as a personal flight under 14 C.F.R. Part 91. Night, visual meteorological conditions prevailed and no flight plan was filed. The flight originated at Pensacola, Florida (PNS) about 2247 eastern daylight time on September 21, 2012, and was destined for Tampa Executive Airport (VDF), Tampa, Florida.
According to preliminary air traffic control (ATC) data, the pilot was in contact with Tampa approach control under visual flight rules. The airplane was observed on radar descending out of 7,500 feet mean sea level on a southerly heading, toward Tampa. Reportedly, the pilot did not respond when queried by controllers. The airplane continued in a gradual descent until radar contact was lost about 400 feet mean sea level, or about 300 feet above the ground.
The accident site was situated on private pasture land located about 17 nautical miles north-northwest of VDF. The main wreckage came to rest, inverted, on a heading of 140 degrees. The cockpit and cabin sections of the airplane were consumed in a post-crash fire. The wreckage path from the initial impact with trees to the final resting place was oriented on a 160-degree heading and was about 400 feet in length.
IDENTIFICATION
Regis#: 21750 Make/Model: C172 Description: 172, P172, R172, Skyhawk, Hawk XP, Cutla
Date: 09/22/2012 Time: 0550
Event Type: Accident Highest Injury: Fatal Mid Air: N Missing: N
Damage: Destroyed
LOCATION
City: BROOKSVILLE State: FL Country: US
DESCRIPTION
AIRCRAFT CRASHED INTO A FIELD UNDER UNKNOWN CIRCUMSTANCES, THE 1 PERSON ON
BOARD WAS FATALLY INJURED, 14 MILES FROM BROOKSVILLE, FL
INJURY DATA Total Fatal: 1
# Crew: 1 Fat: 1 Ser: 0 Min: 0 Unk:
# Pass: 0 Fat: 0 Ser: 0 Min: 0 Unk:
# Grnd: Fat: 0 Ser: 0 Min: 0 Unk:
OTHER DATA
Activity: Unknown Phase: Unknown Operation: OTHER
FAA FSDO: TAMPA, FL (SO35) Entry date: 09/24/2012
Deputies responding to the scene early Saturday morning found debris spread out for about one-half mile.
(VIDEO STILL/Sky 9)
A Cessna 172 crashed in Land O' Lakes early Saturday, and at least one person is dead.
The plane's debris field stretched for about a half-mile.
LAND O'LAKES — The man who died
Saturday morning after crashing a small plane was a Swiss citizen and
pilot for Edelweiss Air, the Pasco County Sheriff's Office said.
Andreas
Wendel, 48, from Bassersdorf, Switzerland, died after crashing the
private plane in a field near Lake Irene Drive and Bexley Road.
He had no relatives in the United States, authorities said, but his family in Switzerland has been notified of the death.
The
flight originated from Pensacola, but the plane was registered to a man
in California, said Pasco sheriff's spokesman Kevin Doll.
At
about 3 a.m. Saturday, air traffic control lost track of the plane on
radar, and someone on the Suncoast Parkway reported seeing a flash in
the woods, Doll said.
Investigators believe Wendel was flying a
Cessna 172. The plane's wreckage was spread over an area that is about a
quarter to a half mile wide.
The Federal Aviation Administration is still investigating what caused the plane to crash.
LAND O' LAKES -- One man is dead after a small plane crashed in rural Land O' Lakes early today, authorities said.
The
2004 Cessna 172S single-engine aircraft went down in a field not far
from Lake Irene Drive and Bexley Road about 3 a.m. It clipped trees on
the way down, lost part of its tail in a tree and left a debris field
that stretched for about a half-mile.
Although the plane is
registered to Stephen Morrissey of Ojai, Calif., it wasn't known whether
Morrissey was the pilot. There were no passengers.
According to
Pasco County Sheriff's Office spokesman Kevin Doll, the plane was coming
from Pensacola. The pilot received clearance to land at Tampa Executive
Airport but suddenly dropped off the radar.
No witnesses to the
crash have come forward. Air Traffic controllers from Tampa
International Airport alerted the FAA to the plane disappearing from
radar.
Investigators from the National Transportation Safety Board were headed to the scene.
LAND O' LAKES --
At least one person is dead after a small plane in Land O' Lakes early today, authorities said. The plane reportedly was coming from Pensacola and went down some time before 3 a.m. in a field not far from Lake Irene Drive and Bexley Road. A debris field stretched for about a half-mile.
Pasco County sheriff's deputies said there is at least one casualty, but they haven't said how many people were aboard the Cessna-style plane. They also haven't said where the aircraft was headed.
Investigators from the National Transportation Safety Board are in transit to the scene, authorities said.
Land O Lakes, Florida -- The Pasco County Sheriff's Office says one person was killed after his Cessna 172 went down in a rural area of Land O Lakes.
The Sheriff's Office tells 10 News it received a call from Tampa International Airport before 3am, alerting them they had lost an aircraft from their radar.
The PCSO aviation unit was able to located the crashed plane in pasture land off Bexley Road.
A FAA investigator is on scene.
We are told the plane was headed from Pensacola to Tampa Executive Airport, formerly known as Vandenberg Airport.
Pasco County Sheriff's Office spokesman Kevin Doll says they have learned the plane is registered to a man in California.
