Microlight crash at Wairoa (Merged)

[mattyj]

http://www.stuff.co.nz/4560080a10.html

You have got to be kidding..drunk, flying a microlight..at 3:15am with strong winds, fog and CBs

[ju7ez]

Yeah there are some idiots around. Aviation already looked dumb after some guys went on Campbell Live bragging how they ran out of fuel in their microlight over Marlborough sounds and made a successfull landing.

[Capt Wally]

sad & stupid obvioulsy but we do it all the time in cars & at all hrs of the night drunk or otherwise.
I feel more for the relies left behind, they died whilst being foolish, not nice to leave that with the families:bored:
I love it when the authorities throw in the words experienced, experienced at what? stupidity!

CW

[sleemanj]

I feel more for the relies left behind

I think the guy that let them go only to call the cops an hour later when they didn't come back will have the hardest time here. I hope for his sake that he at least tried to dissuade them from this insanity.

[buggaluggs]

It does make you wonder how many other guys were at the club/bar at the time, who knew they were planning to go flying! One at least ! :{ Wairoa is not a nice place to tool around at low level at 3am in ****ty wx in an IFR aircraft,(I still hear that pager in my sleep!) let alone a microlight! Very sad

Buggs out

[airman1]

This indeed is very sad, but I don’t know what does go through peoples mind!!! I am pretty sure in OZ ultra lights cant be flown at night regardless of nav lights radio ect. The two pilots weren’t setting a good example for the young student pilots currently training at their club.

Very sad …. Rest in Peace

[sleemanj]

I am pretty sure in OZ ultra lights cant be flown at night

Same in NZ, if it's registered as micro then it's daytime VFR only. Breaking the law was the least of these guy's worries though.

[Capt Wally]

yr quite right there 'slee' the guy who knew they where off out being foolish but didn't report it 'till it was too late will have the hardest time although it's quite possible he too was intoxicated & therefore not having rash thoughts.


CW

[slackie]

You gotta wonder why you'd go flying (for fun one presumes) in any aircraft in those conditions during the day let alone at night...

Sounds like it was this aircraft (different location, different owners)...
http://photos-a.ak.facebook.com/photos-ak-sf2p/v285/233/2/707881562/n707881562_926848_7331.jpg

...and even though it LOOKS like a "full panel" being a microlight I don't think the instruments are certified
http://photos-b.ak.facebook.com/photos-ak-sf2p/v285/233/2/707881562/n707881562_926849_7556.jpg

[MCKES]

That is a zenith Ch601. I wouldn't regard it as a microlight. Ultralight yes but it is comparable to a c152.

[Stationair8]

And spare a thought about the poor bastard's who risk their life to go out searching for these two dumb c@$ts.

[bin b'archin]

They won't go doing that again in a hurry now, will they..

[Sunfish]

From the ABC website:

????????????????



Men dead after 3am microlight joyride

By New Zealand correspondent Kerri Ritchie

Posted 13 minutes ago

Two experienced pilots have been killed after they took a microlight plane for a joyride in the middle of the night in appalling weather in New Zealand.

Despite lightning strikes and thick fog, the two men decided to go for a flight around 3:00am yesterday in the North Island town of Wairoa.

A friend who stayed on the ground called police when they did not return after an hour. The microlight was found 150 metres from the end of the airstrip.

Police believe the pair had been drinking at a party.

Civil Aviation Authority spokesman Bill Summer says investigators are back at the crash site this morning.

"Well yesterday wasn't good. The weather was pretty poor, very wet, ankle deep in mud," he said.

"Today they'll get down to a more detailed look at the site."

The men were aged 30 and 39 years old and were senior members of the local aero club.

Flying microlights at night is not allowed under New Zealand's aviation rules.

[slackie]

THis is already covered in "Microlight crash in Wairoa" http://www.pprune.org/forums/showthread.php?t=328267

[Barkly1992]

Two exeprienced pilots - so what they are both dead. Experience doesn't equate to judgement.

Sad - but inevitable.

[Atlas Shrugged]

Stupidity kills... Absolute stupidity kills absolutely

[buthowcouldthisbe]

and the Darwin award goes to........

[NZFlyingKiwi]

I don't know which is the worse scenario - that they were stupid enough to think flying in these conditions was a smart idea, or that they were drunk enough to think that... Condolences to their families.