Emergency landing kills man on beach

[malc4d]

Lancair IV-P kills jogger

Plane crash-lands on Hilton Head beach, killing jogger


Plane crash-lands on Hilton Head beach, killing jogger - WIS News 10 - Columbia, South Carolina |

[overthewing]

Will probably be moved shortly, but this is sad news:

Beachgoer Killed In Emergency Plane Landing - Yahoo! News UK

[Dushan]

NBC News reports that the man had earphones in his ears and did not hear the plane approaching. Sad, bur shows how dangerous these things can be in some situations.

[Ryan5252]

"I've got a lot of issues going on right now," Smith said. "I've got a plane that's all torn up. And I've got a young man that I killed."

I hope that's not an accurate quote, but if so a bad choice of words.

[Pilot DAR]

News reports that the man had earphones in his ears and did not hear the plane approaching.

So the poor beachgoer couldn't hear the horn or the squealing wheels of the aircraft gliding in at him!? My sympathies....

I can see it now,

FAR 23.1463, External Warning Devices

(a) All aircraft shall be equipped with external aural warning devices, which are loud enough to warn persons on the ground of the aproach of the aircraft in any configuration,
(b) All such warning devices must be operable with requiring engine power,
(c) The actuation shall be by push force in the center of the control wheel, or stick. The force required to actuate the aural device shall not be such that a pitch change is commanded when actuated,
(d) No warning device shall emit noise levels exceeding those already approved for the aircraft model.

And we wonder why aviation is so heavily regulated!

[proplover]

Another arm chair expert comment;

"Even with oil smeared on the windshield, Schiavo, the former NTSB official, said Smith should have been able to see through a small window on the side of the plane and possibly yell out to anyone below. Still, there may have been little time to try to avoid hitting the jogger, she said"

The guys just lost the propellor, has oil all over the screen, is responsible for a passenger life and trying to bring the aircraft down to an emergency glide landing and she is commenting that he should of been able to land and avoid obstacles by looking out the side window and yelling out to anyone below!! Im

Hope she's not sitting on the Accident Investigation Board!

[sammypilot]

The remarks attributed to Ms Schiavo make some of the clowns produced by the BBC to comment on aviation matters sound almost sensible. Perhaps that is why she left the NTSB - nobody could take her seriously. Undoubtedly the pilot had enough to do just trying to achieve a safe landing. Presuming a glide speed of about 70 knots I don't think the jogger would hear a call, with or without earphones plugged in. Of some interest is that, of the photographs taken when the aircraft was in the sea, many show the flap accessing the oil filler cap to be open which may indicate that the filler cap had either not been replaced before flight or had come loose.

[Uncle_Jay]

Flap

Or, that the pilot opened it post crash to see where the oil may have come form

BTW the media got it as a 370 mph turbine Lancair IV-P.

[jimmygill]

FAR 23.1463, External Warning Devices

Now a days they call it 14 CFR Part 23
and that part has no section 1463 any more.

[B2N2]

I hope that's not an accurate quote, but if so a bad choice of words.

Why would that be a bad choice of words?
Because he happens to mention the airplane first?
Some people list things in order of severity in which case he is most concerned about the death.

[Torque Tonight]

"Even with oil smeared on the windshield, Schiavo, the former NTSB official, said Smith should have been able to see through a small window on the side of the plane and possibly yell out to anyone below. Still, there may have been little time to try to avoid hitting the jogger, she said"

Good God! Is that a genuine quote? Preumably by NTSB official, they mean tea lady.

[sammypilot]

If I had just hit and killed somebody, I'm not sure that my first concern would be opening the cowling to find out where the oil had come from but then that might just be a personal thing.

The information given about the aircraft was obviously lifted straight from the Lancair website which described the Lancair IV-P as having a variant with a turbine engine. This one had a Continental 350HP 6 cylinder.

[RatherBeFlying]

If I had just hit and killed somebody, I'm not sure that my first concern would be opening the cowling to find out where the oil had come from but then that might just be a personal thing.

Quite likely in the heat of the moment, he didn't realise he had hit somebody until some time later. The body could have been a considerable distance away and first thought to be a sunbather.

[Blues&twos]

If I had just hit and killed somebody, I'm not sure that my first concern would be opening the cowling to find out where the oil had come from but then that might just be a personal thing.

Some people can act very oddly or say unusual/inappropriate things immediately after an accident or other situation. They're on an adrenalin high, they're highly stressed and subconsciously "need to do something". A friend of mine was very badly injured after a car travelling at high speed on a country lane hit and killed her horse while she was riding. When the police arrived, the driver kept asking if his after-market fog-lamps would be covered under insurance...

Pilots may be in a better position than others when dealing with high stress, high workload situations, but checking the oil may have just been something the guy did because he couldn't do anything else - a displacement action maybe.