Brize: "Plane passenger 'jumps to his death'"
I just heard it was a male ex-SAS soldier who jumped. Which changes things somewhat.
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It's great to see so many funny/sick/poor taste postings in this thread. Since September the 11th it has been difficult to retain a sense of humour when faced with death, doom and destruction. Although a tragedy for those concerned this bizarre incident provides almost limitless scope for comedy amongst the great wits out there in ppruneland. The passenger was clearly a member of Al-Qaeda who mis-read his job title of 'aerial suicide bomber' as 'aerial suicide bomb'. I rest my case.
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Some reports indicate that the deceased was qualified on fixed wing and helicopters. Having experienced the effect of heavy icing on a 172 myself in this area some years ago I can say that at full power in cloud with two up we were going down fast. Perhaps he chose to sacrifice himself so that his loved one might survive. An aviator is dead what is there to joke about?
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According to the BBC website report:
"A Civil Aviation Authority spokesman said the man may have panicked - thinking the plane was going to crash - and decided to take his chances by jumping."
Did the CAA really say this? Who in the CAA said it? On what did he base this speculation, which is now winging its way about the public prints, backed by the authority of the Civil Aviation Authority and the BBC?
"A Civil Aviation Authority spokesman said the man may have panicked - thinking the plane was going to crash - and decided to take his chances by jumping."
Did the CAA really say this? Who in the CAA said it? On what did he base this speculation, which is now winging its way about the public prints, backed by the authority of the Civil Aviation Authority and the BBC?
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From Ananova...
The man who died after apparently jumping from a light aircraft has been identified as a former SAS soldier. Charles Bruce, an expert skydiver, died after plunging 5,000ft from the plane into fields near the village of Fifield, Oxfordshire.
The aircraft was being piloted by a woman understood to be 46-year-old Mr Bruce's girlfriend.
The man who died after apparently jumping from a light aircraft has been identified as a former SAS soldier. Charles Bruce, an expert skydiver, died after plunging 5,000ft from the plane into fields near the village of Fifield, Oxfordshire.
The aircraft was being piloted by a woman understood to be 46-year-old Mr Bruce's girlfriend.
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He was ex sas and had problems that are on public record,
Let me get this straight, he wasn't an airline pilot so he is fair game for a pisstake?What happenned to all the sanctimonious "my thoughts are blah blah claptrap" you normally get on these occasions.
if it will make you show a bit more respect he was a pilot as well.
For a bunch of fence sitters you lot sure are opinionated.
farewell pprune i'd rather play piano in a whorehouse
Let me get this straight, he wasn't an airline pilot so he is fair game for a pisstake?What happenned to all the sanctimonious "my thoughts are blah blah claptrap" you normally get on these occasions.
if it will make you show a bit more respect he was a pilot as well.
For a bunch of fence sitters you lot sure are opinionated.
farewell pprune i'd rather play piano in a whorehouse
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Speed Twelve
You are an inconsiderate, uncaring, foul, apology for a human being.
The perpertrator of that appalling act and the driver who was forced to witness it are the sad victims.
You, sir, are worthless.
You are an inconsiderate, uncaring, foul, apology for a human being.
The perpertrator of that appalling act and the driver who was forced to witness it are the sad victims.
You, sir, are worthless.
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O.K. here is the captains brief.
As you are new to flying in light aircraft I shall explain some of the rules.
1. Do not touch any of the controls.
2. If we get any icing on the wings I will ask you to unbuckle your seat belt and open the door and press this fuel tester gadget into the fuel drain on the underside of the wing just outside of your door (you see it ?)
This will enable us to dump enough fuel so as to make a safe emergency landing.
There will be some slipstream to contend wth but do not worry because I will bank the aircraft over to your side which will make it much easier to open the door.
As the window opens in an upwards direction there is no way to reach the fuel drain without opening the door so I am afraid that is the only way it can be done.
<img src="confused.gif" border="0">
As you are new to flying in light aircraft I shall explain some of the rules.
1. Do not touch any of the controls.
2. If we get any icing on the wings I will ask you to unbuckle your seat belt and open the door and press this fuel tester gadget into the fuel drain on the underside of the wing just outside of your door (you see it ?)
This will enable us to dump enough fuel so as to make a safe emergency landing.
There will be some slipstream to contend wth but do not worry because I will bank the aircraft over to your side which will make it much easier to open the door.
As the window opens in an upwards direction there is no way to reach the fuel drain without opening the door so I am afraid that is the only way it can be done.
<img src="confused.gif" border="0">
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Just don't rise to the bait PpruNers - it'll make everyone start SHOUTING at each other and the topic's been quite informative until now.
It has to be a very strange set of circumstances though - the "panic" idea (which was attributed to the CAA but I very much doubt it) seems quite plausible - otherwise why wouldn't P1 have informed Brize Approach of the problem - rather a problem with icing?
If the chap was ex-SAS, had jumping experience, was a little (allegedly) "unhinged", then maybe it all came together at the wrong time.
The work I do we deal with Sectioned patients all the time, and some of them seem to have been pushed over the edge by the slightest thing - although it's been a long combination leading up to it.
Must have been horrific for P1 though - glad she didn't lose it and managed to land safely, it's certainly not something that's covered in those very valuable 45 hours of instruction...
It has to be a very strange set of circumstances though - the "panic" idea (which was attributed to the CAA but I very much doubt it) seems quite plausible - otherwise why wouldn't P1 have informed Brize Approach of the problem - rather a problem with icing?
If the chap was ex-SAS, had jumping experience, was a little (allegedly) "unhinged", then maybe it all came together at the wrong time.
The work I do we deal with Sectioned patients all the time, and some of them seem to have been pushed over the edge by the slightest thing - although it's been a long combination leading up to it.
Must have been horrific for P1 though - glad she didn't lose it and managed to land safely, it's certainly not something that's covered in those very valuable 45 hours of instruction...
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From The Times:
THURSDAY JANUARY 10 2002
SAS man named as plane leap victim
BY OLIVER WRIGHT
A MAN who plunged to his death from a light aircraft at 5,000ft was identified last night as a former SAS man who had written an autobiography entitled Freefall.
An expert skydiver, Charles ‘Nish’ Bruce apparently leapt without a parachute from the twin-seater Cessna 172 aircraft into fields near the village of Fifield, Oxfordshire.
The plane, being piloted by a woman believed to be Mr Bruce’s girlfriend, had taken off from Spain and was bound for Hinton-in-the-Hedges, Northamptonshire.
Mr Bruce, 46, was the first special forces soldier to parachute into the Falklands in the 1982 conflict with Argentina, according to a former colleague. He was also awarded the Queen’s Gallantry Medal.
His 1998 book, written under the pseudonym Tom Read, was a testament to the destructive force of the SAS’s high-octane life-style and chronicled his mental collapse. He is believed to have suffered from post-traumatic stress syndrome.
After leaving the SAS in the 1980s, Mr Bruce worked as a security expert and had been employed as a minder for showbusiness personality Jim Davidson, who described him as one of the bravest people he had met.
A former comrade of who served with Bruce in B Squadron SAS said last night: “Nish had a history of mental problems. He was always very close to the edge.
“He was an eccentric to say the least and was bordering on the genius. He could do The Times crossword in 15 minutes.”
An inquest into the death is due to open in Oxford today.
THURSDAY JANUARY 10 2002
SAS man named as plane leap victim
BY OLIVER WRIGHT
A MAN who plunged to his death from a light aircraft at 5,000ft was identified last night as a former SAS man who had written an autobiography entitled Freefall.
An expert skydiver, Charles ‘Nish’ Bruce apparently leapt without a parachute from the twin-seater Cessna 172 aircraft into fields near the village of Fifield, Oxfordshire.
The plane, being piloted by a woman believed to be Mr Bruce’s girlfriend, had taken off from Spain and was bound for Hinton-in-the-Hedges, Northamptonshire.
Mr Bruce, 46, was the first special forces soldier to parachute into the Falklands in the 1982 conflict with Argentina, according to a former colleague. He was also awarded the Queen’s Gallantry Medal.
His 1998 book, written under the pseudonym Tom Read, was a testament to the destructive force of the SAS’s high-octane life-style and chronicled his mental collapse. He is believed to have suffered from post-traumatic stress syndrome.
After leaving the SAS in the 1980s, Mr Bruce worked as a security expert and had been employed as a minder for showbusiness personality Jim Davidson, who described him as one of the bravest people he had met.
A former comrade of who served with Bruce in B Squadron SAS said last night: “Nish had a history of mental problems. He was always very close to the edge.
“He was an eccentric to say the least and was bordering on the genius. He could do The Times crossword in 15 minutes.”
An inquest into the death is due to open in Oxford today.
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I like the theory cools put forward. It would fit the persona, and is more respectful than most other guesses here, especially if the survivor tells the same tale.
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A very odd one, it looks very much like he jumped when as they say in court 'the balance of his mind was disturbed'. (I'm not being flippant).
It seems to me that there is almost an instinct for experienced skydivers to abandon ship in an emergency. I remember reading of an experienced skydiver who had recently qualified as a jump pilot. He stalled the aircraft during the cut panicked and bailed out immediately leaving his hapless skydiver passengers to make their way out as best they could.
It's speculation but in the stress of the moment, icing is very scary at any time. He may have simply reacted by instinct. A panic attack perhaps. No doubt when we read the accident report , all will become clear. The pilot's testimony will be illuminating.
It seems to me that there is almost an instinct for experienced skydivers to abandon ship in an emergency. I remember reading of an experienced skydiver who had recently qualified as a jump pilot. He stalled the aircraft during the cut panicked and bailed out immediately leaving his hapless skydiver passengers to make their way out as best they could.
It's speculation but in the stress of the moment, icing is very scary at any time. He may have simply reacted by instinct. A panic attack perhaps. No doubt when we read the accident report , all will become clear. The pilot's testimony will be illuminating.
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Very sorry to see you go, Nish. RIP.
Somehow, I'm not surprised; it was almost inevitable that it was going to end like this in one way or another. But it is still a shock when it does, and very sad.
Somehow, I'm not surprised; it was almost inevitable that it was going to end like this in one way or another. But it is still a shock when it does, and very sad.
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>As a suicide method it's a bloody sight more >considerate than the uncaring b@$tard who >stepped in front of a train I was on a few years >ago and delayed it for an hour whilst they hosed >it clean afterwards.
I must say I agree entirely - people who do this are selfish scum...Make the families of the suicide "victim" pay all costs that'd make them a bit more considerate!
At least the SAS geezer had the decency to pick his moment. Does the AAIB investigate this?
I must say I agree entirely - people who do this are selfish scum...Make the families of the suicide "victim" pay all costs that'd make them a bit more considerate!
At least the SAS geezer had the decency to pick his moment. Does the AAIB investigate this?
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Kirstey. You have no idea about mental health issues.
Your stupid statements "more >considerate than the uncaring b@$tard who >stepped in front of a train I was on a few years >ago and delayed it for an hour - people who do this are selfish scum...At least the SAS geezer had the decency to pick his moment" make my blood boil.
This guy fought for you in the Falklands .
It's a very sad story , but he will always be a hero.(unlike your contribution to society!)
[ 10 January 2002: Message edited by: knows ]</p>
Your stupid statements "more >considerate than the uncaring b@$tard who >stepped in front of a train I was on a few years >ago and delayed it for an hour - people who do this are selfish scum...At least the SAS geezer had the decency to pick his moment" make my blood boil.
This guy fought for you in the Falklands .
It's a very sad story , but he will always be a hero.(unlike your contribution to society!)
[ 10 January 2002: Message edited by: knows ]</p>
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The light plane is to heavy holding two persons.
Ice is accumulating.
A beloved one to remain.
Probably his last thoughts, in my opinion.
A noble man / "Noblesse oblige".
Who dares wins.
Ice is accumulating.
A beloved one to remain.
Probably his last thoughts, in my opinion.
A noble man / "Noblesse oblige".
Who dares wins.