Bad Day for G.A.

[tundra_flier]

Just saw the news, a small aircraft just crashed into a high rise aparment building in New York City today.  No indication that it's related to any terrorist group yet.  The Govenment is calling it an accident for now.  But I think we can expect to see another rash of anti-GA legislation proposed again.   

Phil

[Gulfstream Driver]

Unbelieveable. 

[spacer]

I can feel my hindside puckerin' already.

[tundra_flier]

And with elections next month, do we want to take bets on which senator starts howling about little planes and national security first? 

[spacer]

And with elections next month, do we want to take bets on which senator starts howling about little planes and national security first? 

Hey! Keep it up and I'll need a shoehorn to... uh... heheheh.......

[TheSoccerMom]

ABC News just stated that the ballplayer they believe was piloting the small airplane said that flying was "no more dangerous than riding a motorcycle without a helmet".  They also said he had his pilot's license for 7 months.

It's a shame how this will be no doubt be viewed by the country -- another example of one incident making an enormous mark in the minds of the public, about GA safety, and the qualifications of GA pilots.

It's a hard row to hoe sometimes...  convincing people that GA is safe.   

[Baradium]

Last I heard was that he had 400 hours.    Cirrus SR20.... not a big fan of them...

[chuckar101]

WAtching the news this morning it seems that the media is concentrating on the death of the ball player.  Hate to say it but maybe that will take some of the heat off of the ga world.  I guess we'll find out as time goes on.

[Turbomallard]

I agree. The CNN web site has a video shot of him in a Cessna, talking about how much he loves flying and pointing things out on the ground. This should help. And, as a pilot, I'm sure that would have pleased him.

TM

[kkrummy1]

Hi Group,
Correct me if I'm wrong, but doesn't the Cirrus come standard with a Ballistic Recovery Chute?  Why would somebody ride an airplane into a building when pulling the handle would at least give you a fighting chance?  We may never know what happened on board the plane, but there are some serious questions about the training and the mental attitude it takes to sacrifice your aircraft to save your life. Hopefully the wiser heads in congress (if there are any) will prevail.

KK

[tundra_flier]

Hi Group,
Correct me if I'm wrong, but doesn't the Cirrus come standard with a Ballistic Recovery Chute?  Why would somebody ride an airplane into a building when pulling the handle would at least give you a fighting chance?  We may never know what happened on board the plane, but there are some serious questions about the training and the mental attitude it takes to sacrifice your aircraft to save your life. Hopefully the wiser heads in congress (if there are any) will prevail.

KK

I wondered about that myself, and see this morning that the news networks have finally discovered that.  The keep saying "the chute did not deploy after the crash"...??  Like it would do any good after the fact.  I'm starting to wonder if this is a CO related accident.  I can't imagine a pilot flying into a building, rather than a street or river if they had any kind of control left.

Phil

[chuckar101]

I've heard it was a sight seeing flight, which makes me speculate that he was at minimum safe altitude when conducting the flight.  When something went wrong the parachute not had enough tim to fully deploy, or in those circumstances he had waited to long and it was to late to deploy.  Again these are speculations and the official NTSB report will have more.

[leiafee]

makes me speculate that he was at minimum safe altitude when conducting the flight. 

What would the minimum altitude have been there?  Excuse my ignorance - I'm only familiar with Da Rules UKside.

Do you have an equivalent over the Pond of the 'alight clear' rule for flying over built up areas?

[tundra_flier]

I've heard it was a sight seeing flight, which makes me speculate that he was at minimum safe altitude when conducting the flight.  When something went wrong the parachute not had enough tim to fully deploy, or in those circumstances he had waited to long and it was to late to deploy.  Again these are speculations and the official NTSB report will have more.

It's a rocket deployed ballistic chute, it can be effectively deployed as low as 50' AGL.  However, the chute manufacturer recommends not using it if you still have control.  It brings the plane down, but not exactly gently.  The Cirrus is designed so the landing gear will collapse and absorb some of the inpact of the chute decent.

[chuckar101]

Well I guess I was completely off then.  I'm just learning this stuff but I think its 2,000 feet vertical and 1,000 feet horizontal away from the tallest structure in the area, but that is the regulation.  So rocket propelled how long until the chute is fully deployed and the aircraft is descending and is there a maximum speed for which the chute is designed for.  I'm just curious.