Who needs a pilot any longer ?
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Join Date: Dec 2001
Location: Rotterdam
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Who needs a pilot any longer ?
What about this one?
"Plane takes off from Two Rock ranch without pilot
Authorities fail to find craft, say it likely crashed after running out of fuel; search continues today December 27, 2001
An unmanned airplane broke free from its moorings Wednesday while the pilot was working on it, taking off from a Two Rock ranch and flying over southern Sonoma County without a pilot for at least two hours.
Authorities concluded the single-engine airplane eventually crashed, but a search for the wreckage was suspended because of darkness.
"This will be in the aviation history books," said Walt Smith, regional coordinator for the Federal Aviation Administration.
"It's pretty wild," he said. "We're all shaking our heads. We thought we'd heard everything."
The search began shortly after 3 p.m. when Paul Clary III of San Rafael called 911 to report that his airplane had taken off from his son's Middle Two Rock Road ranch with no one aboard and enough fuel to fly for two hours.
Clary, 67, said he was fixing a flooded engine when the plane broke free from its moorings.
"It's a nightmare," he said while waiting to see if authorities could locate his plane before it crashed.
Clary said he had owned the plane, a 1946 Aeronca Champion, for about six years.
Sonoma County sheriff's deputies dispatched a helicopter to find the pilotless plane, but after about four hours of searching they gave up without ever seeing the yellow aircraft for themselves.
CHP also dispatched an aircraft, and some private planes may have joined the search."
Great story !! There is <a href="http://members.brabant.chello.nl/~j.vanderschaar00/news.htm" target="_blank">more about this one</a>
[ 27 December 2001: Message edited by: avt100 ]</p>
"Plane takes off from Two Rock ranch without pilot
Authorities fail to find craft, say it likely crashed after running out of fuel; search continues today December 27, 2001
An unmanned airplane broke free from its moorings Wednesday while the pilot was working on it, taking off from a Two Rock ranch and flying over southern Sonoma County without a pilot for at least two hours.
Authorities concluded the single-engine airplane eventually crashed, but a search for the wreckage was suspended because of darkness.
"This will be in the aviation history books," said Walt Smith, regional coordinator for the Federal Aviation Administration.
"It's pretty wild," he said. "We're all shaking our heads. We thought we'd heard everything."
The search began shortly after 3 p.m. when Paul Clary III of San Rafael called 911 to report that his airplane had taken off from his son's Middle Two Rock Road ranch with no one aboard and enough fuel to fly for two hours.
Clary, 67, said he was fixing a flooded engine when the plane broke free from its moorings.
"It's a nightmare," he said while waiting to see if authorities could locate his plane before it crashed.
Clary said he had owned the plane, a 1946 Aeronca Champion, for about six years.
Sonoma County sheriff's deputies dispatched a helicopter to find the pilotless plane, but after about four hours of searching they gave up without ever seeing the yellow aircraft for themselves.
CHP also dispatched an aircraft, and some private planes may have joined the search."
Great story !! There is <a href="http://members.brabant.chello.nl/~j.vanderschaar00/news.htm" target="_blank">more about this one</a>
[ 27 December 2001: Message edited by: avt100 ]</p>
