Simard, the brother of former Saskatchewan health minister and MLA Louise Simard, was the pilot of a small plane that crashed in Panama City on Wednesday.
Originally from Meadow Lake, Sask., he had been living in Chame, in southwest Panama, with his wife. His two daughters and son live in Canada.
"He loved airplanes," Louise Simard told CBC. A former lawyer and politician, Simard served as an MLA with the Saskatchewan NDP from 1986 to 1995, and was the health minister for the latter four years. She also served as the president and CEO of the Saskatchewan Association of Health Organizations and later the Health Employers Association of British Columbia before returning to Regina, where she now works as a freelancer.
"That was a passion of his; he was doing what he really enjoyed…. As a kid, his ceiling at home was filled with model airplanes hanging from it. Ever since he was very young, he was working on model airplanes and then later on real ones."
Building planes longtime hobby
Ron Simard was an engineer and travelled the world for his work, his sister said. He had lived in Indonesia, England, France, Ireland and the U.S. before settling in Panama with his wife.
Most recently, he had been working as a racing technician with Red Bull Air Race, an international series of air races.
Building airplanes was a longtime hobby. He built a Glasair, which he flew all over North America, she said.
"These are very light planes — very, very light and very fast. That thing would go 300 miles an hour [483 km/h]."
'A large personality'
The plane he was flying at the time of the crash was a Nemesis NXT, which she said is even faster than the Glasair.
"He was going all the time. He was a large personality and he loved life. We're going to miss him a lot."
The plane crashed shortly after takeoff from the Marcos A. Gelabert airport in Panama City. At the time of the crash, he had been flying an experimental plane that he had built, and had had it for about five years.
The investigation is ongoing.
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El experimentado piloto canadiense Ron Simard, de 70 años, murió hoy al estrellarse con su avioneta en el aeropuerto de la capital panameña cuando trataba de despegar, informaron a Efe fuentes de la Autoridad Aeronáutica Civil (AAC).
El accidente tuvo lugar a las 13.24 hora local (18.24 GMT) en el Aeropuerto Marcos A.Gelabert, ubicado en el barrio de Albrook y en una antigua base militar estadounidense a orillas del Canal de Panamá colindante con la ciudad, detalló la fuente.
El director de la AAC, Alfredo Fonseca Mora, dijo a los periodistas que Simmard “residía desde hace años en Panamá, estaba habilitado como piloto y a la comunidad aeronáutica nos causa mucha consternación su pérdida”.
Aclaró que en la pequeña aeronave solo viajaba el piloto al momento del siniestro.
El fallecido fue descrito como un veterano ingeniero que viajaba frecuentemente en esa aeronave entre la capital y la localidad costera de Chame, a 100 kilómetros al oeste.
Vídeos aficionados muestran el momento en que la aeronave al despegar pierde el control y se voltea de cabeza a poca altura antes de precipitarse a tierra por razones desconocidas hasta el momento.
Fonseca dijo que todavía es “muy pronto” para dar con la causa del accidente aéreo.
Story, photo and video: https://www.lapatilla.com
Video published by local media show the aircraft plunging into the ground Wednesday after departing from the Marcos A. Gelabert airport, next to a shopping mall in Panama City.
Capt. Robert Katz of Panama's Civil Aviation authority says the man had sold the plane and planned to fly it to the U.S. for delivery.
Katz says he watched the takeoff and "obviously it was very shocking."
Aviation authorities have identified the pilot as retired Canadian aeronautical engineer Ron Simard.
A Facebook profile matching that name says the user lives in Chame in southwestern Panama and is from Meadow Lake, Saskatchewan.
Phone calls to the Canadian Embassy in Panama were not answered.
Ron Simard died Wednesday after his small plane crashed shortly after takeoff near Panama City.
PANAMÁ -- Un piloto canadiense aficionado a las carreras aéreas falleció el miércoles cuando la avioneta que volaba se estrelló tras despegar en un aeropuerto de la capital panameña, informó la autoridad de aeronáutica civil.
En videos de aficionados divulgados por los medios locales puede verse cuando la aeronave se precipita a tierra tras desplazarse a baja altura sobre la pista del aeropuerto Marcos A. Gelabert, el segundo más importante en la capital y aledaño a uno de los principales centros comerciales.
El capitán y único ocupante de la avioneta murió en el percance, registrado a las 13:24 horas, informaron las autoridades aeronáuticas en su cuenta de Twitter. Lo identificaron como Ron Simard, un ingeniero aeronáutico canadiense ya jubilado. No precisaron su edad.
El capitán Robert Katz, subdirector de Aeronáutica Civil y que presenció el accidente, dijo a los medios que el canadiense llegó a la capital para cargar combustible desde un sector del oeste del país, con el fin de llevarse la avioneta a Estados Unidos el 28 de diciembre. Agregó que la había vendido e iba a entregarla en ese viaje.
Katz aseguró que habló con el canadiense en el aeropuerto antes del percance y que habían planeado verse el domingo.
“Me quedé viendo el despegue y claro, fue muy impactante”, señaló.
El director de Aeronáutica Civil, Alfredo Fonseca Mora, dijo también en el aeropuerto que Simard, al que conocía, había armado antes la aeronave. Los funcionarios panameños también refirieron que el piloto competía en carreras aéreas.
The Associated Press telefoneó más temprano a la oficina de la embajada canadiense en la capital para conocer información sobre Simard, pero la llamada fue dirigida a un buzón de voz. Aeronáutica Civil dijo que investiga las causas del percance.
Did the pilot have any stick time in the Nemesis? Looking at the video it looked like the plane was at the edge of a stall at liftoff then settled back onto the runway at which time I would have aborted the takeoff. He pulled up and the right wing dropped and rolled to the right into a spin. Looks like a very tricky plane to pilot, not for the average weekend warrior. R.I.P.
ReplyDeleteHe spent years building that plane, and had a lot of stick time. He was a tech for Mark Hall Australian Red Bull Racing team, as well as crew chief for the Nemesis at the air races in Reno, Nevada.
DeleteThere are many YouTube videos of Ron and this plane during the last 10 years. He built it. The first flight by another pilot was posted in 2009. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=yTz1mKnQeqo
ReplyDeleteApparently he was delivering the airplane to the States from Panama. I suggest he was over weight. Extra fuel? 1100 miles to Miami, 1700 to Brownsville.
ReplyDeleteYes, going to deliver the plane to the states..Florida. Overweight ? Extra fuel?
ReplyDelete