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Piper Crash

DocT

DocT

Dean of Students
pilot
Wow, great you were able to walk away. That's an experience I hope to never have.
 
USFpilot06

USFpilot06

Registered User
pilot
Wow!

man I would have to say thats pretty much any aviators worst fear, Glad to hear that you are ok!!! However don't let that get you down, keep workin hard. Think about how many times fighter pilots have ejected and went back to fly. If its your true dream keep flying! You won't regret it. Besides you have a cool sea story now and you haven't een been to the fleet yet lol. Anyway glad to hear you are ok!
 
V

vanity

Zoomie
Thanks for the support everyone. I'll take a week or two off but I'll definatly be back in the cockpit.

And for those who want to know what happened, we lost our engine shortly after takeoff and never got more than a couple hundred feet off the ground. Tried turn back and land on the runway but we didnt make it. Ended up landing on the freeweay.
 
H

highlyrandom

Naval Aviator
pilot
Just remember, fly the plane all the way into the crash, just like you guys did, and it becomes a rollover or a fender bender or whatnot rather than an air disaster. Glad it was survivable, damn utility poles...good luck with the comeback, it's worth hanging in there for.
 
Gatordev

Gatordev

Well-Known Member
pilot
Site Admin
Contributor
vanity said:
Thanks for the support everyone. I'll take a week or two off but I'll definatly be back in the cockpit.
Click to expand...

That's good to hear. I'm glad you're not letting it get to you. For what it's worth, when I was in high school, I had a 152 do the exact same thing on take off, except the engine didn't die. The instructor did a quick 270 to an off-duty.

Later in life, I was flying w/ my parents just north of Charleston, SC along the shoreline at 1000 ft. Sure enough, engine rolled back and down we went. My dad was flying at the time, and he planted it nicely on the wet sand. An hour later (and a visit from the CG), he flew it off the beach with my mom and I in the back of the H-65. Turns out a castlenut on the throttle linkage wasn't pinned into place after the annual the week before. Oops.

Fast forward another year or two, and right over Tampa International, the engine coughed and rolled to idle (it actually sucked a valve). After a nice glide down to the runway, everything was okay. Despite all that, I wouldn't give any of it up ever. And we haven't even got to the occasional "hiccup" in the fleet birds. ;)
 
Steve Wilkins

Steve Wilkins

Teaching pigs to dance, one pig at a time.
None
Super Moderator
Contributor
vanity said:
Tried turn back and land on the runway but we didnt make it.
Click to expand...
I was always taught NOT to do that and have even watched a few videos why it isn't wise to attempt such a feat....especially only a few hundred feet AGL.

Anyway, glad you're ok dude. Nothing like a crash to scare the sh!t out of you.

I had the same problem....well ok, sort of....when I took off one day in Idaho. I was familiar with the airport and had flown out there many times before. HOWEVER, this particular time was in a 152 (trying to save the $$) and I was flying with my roomate's girlfriend. When I finally got airborne after a loooonnnnng takeoff roll, the plane refused to climb. I'm sitting there, like WTF? Check carb heat...yep, it's in....check the tach....hey, wait a minute, this engine sucks! I finally get up to pattern altitude about 2 miles past the runway threshold, turn back on downwind, base, final, land and taxi back to the ramp. I finally figured out a couple weeks later after thinking about it. The damn chick was too heavy! I wanted to strangle my roomate.
 
K

KBayDog

Well-Known Member
gatordev said:
That's good to hear. I'm glad you're not letting it get to you. For what it's worth, when I was in high school, I had a 152 do the exact same thing on take off, except the engine didn't die. The instructor did a quick 270 to an off-duty.

Later in life, I was flying w/ my parents just north of Charleston, SC along the shoreline at 1000 ft. Sure enough, engine rolled back and down we went. My dad was flying at the time, and he planted it nicely on the wet sand. An hour later (and a visit from the CG), he flew it off the beach with my mom and I in the back of the H-65. Turns out a castlenut on the throttle linkage wasn't pinned into place after the annual the week before. Oops.

Fast forward another year or two, and right over Tampa International, the engine coughed and rolled to idle (it actually sucked a valve). After a nice glide down to the runway, everything was okay. Despite all that, I wouldn't give any of it up ever. And we haven't even got to the occasional "hiccup" in the fleet birds. ;)
Click to expand...

Gatordev - you're...DANGEROUS. Do your studs know how "lucky" you have been? :D
 
Gatordev

Gatordev

Well-Known Member
pilot
Site Admin
Contributor
Yeah, once I started flying Navy aircraft, things seemed to smooth out. Just the occasional transmission chip light or bizarro vibration at 12am while flying. What are you going to do?
 
Schnugg

Schnugg

It's gettin' a bit dramatic 'round here...
None
Super Moderator
Contributor
Steve Wilkins said:
I was always taught NOT to do that and have even watched a few videos why it isn't wise to attempt such a feat....especially only a few hundred feet AGL.

Anyway, glad you're ok dude. Nothing like a crash to scare the sh!t out of you.

I had the same problem....well ok, sort of....when I took off one day in Idaho. I was familiar with the airport and had flown out there many times before. HOWEVER, this particular time was in a 152 (trying to save the $$) and I was flying with my roomate's girlfriend. When I finally got airborne after a loooonnnnng takeoff roll, the plane refused to climb. I'm sitting there, like WTF? Check carb heat...yep, it's in....check the tach....hey, wait a minute, this engine sucks! I finally get up to pattern altitude about 2 miles past the runway threshold, turn back on downwind, base, final, land and taxi back to the ramp. I finally figured out a couple weeks later after thinking about it. The damn chick was too heavy! I wanted to strangle my roomate.
Click to expand...

Her weight??? It's right at 105 pounds, is it important?

gwynethfat.jpg
 
Steve Wilkins

Steve Wilkins

Teaching pigs to dance, one pig at a time.
None
Super Moderator
Contributor
Schnugg said:
Her weight??? It's right at 105 pounds, is it important?

gwynethfat.jpg
Click to expand...
105 pounds my ass. I kept trying to turn to get back to downwind, and I sh!t you not, I had full yoke deflection to get that plane to turn left.

Moral of the story: When flying in mountainous terrain, choose your passengers wisely.
 
Schnugg

Schnugg

It's gettin' a bit dramatic 'round here...
None
Super Moderator
Contributor
vanity said:
I was in the plane and somehow made it out unhurt. Definatly an eye-opener to the perils fo aviation thats for sure. Being a senior in high school it has also put some doubts in my head about my future plans :(
Click to expand...

What was the cause of the engine failure. Usually you have a pretty good idea.

When I was Air Ops on a carrier we had an attrite from the HSL rag as an assistant working the ATO shop. He was building hours for a civilian career. He was used to flying C-172, but got checked out in a Piper Arrow that week. Took it up for night landings at Montgomery Field to stay night current.

Rather than fuel change tanks on deck between landings, he decides to change fuel tanks on downwind. He changed it like it was the Cessna and didn't look with a flashlight to see what the detents were. He turned it from LEFT to RIGHT to OFF. The plane he normally flew had OFF in the middle. (or something close to that...just making the point)

Engine sputtered and died abeam the field. What is lesson #1..undo what you just did last...he didn't. Although at 1000' in an unpowered Piper Arrow, you don't have a lot of time. He started a descending left turn to the runway....

He almost made the runway and pranged it in the grass field before the runway. Took out the gear and prop, some structural damage, too.

When he re-told the story that Monday morning at work, he was sort of acting like it was no big deal, since it was just a rental.

I guess there was a good reason he was attrited.

r/
G
 
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