From bad to worse....
Posted: Mon Nov 26, 2007 12:04 pm
PILOT FACES CHARGES IN ROADWAY TAKEOFF CRASH ( http://www.avweb.com/eletter/archives/a ... tml#196648 )Sometimes things just go from bad to worse. According to the Thunder Bay Chronicle Journal ( http://www.chroniclejournal.com/stories ... p?id=77039 ), a 25-year-old Timmins, Ont., pilot faces a fine of up to $10,000 in a chain of events that began with a successful emergency road landing and ended with his badly damaged Grumman American in a ditch after an aborted takeoff. The aircraft apparently had engine problems while on a flight to Thunder Bay and the pilot set it down on a gravel road near the hamlet of Hurkett, Ont., about 80 kilometers east of Thunder Bay. The pilot apparently fixed the problem to his satisfaction and that's when the real trouble started.
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A similar event occured to a good friend of mine...
Beryl had flown his Aztec to Ohio for his 50th H.S. reunion and was on his way back to Texas when one engine lost power. He descended towards the nearest airport when the other engine also lost power, and he made a successful emergency landing on a public highway.
As he rolled to a stop he noticed a circular driveway to his right so he turned into it and rolled to a neat stop in front of a man rocking on his front porch. "Howdy!", he said and the man tipped his hat.
After several hours it was discovered that mud dauber nests deep within the fuel vent system had blocked the vent system starving the engines for fuel. Beryl (a certificated A&P) cleared them and successfully performed a full run-up. He notified the state police, who blocked off a portion of the highway and he prepared to takeoff for the nearby airport.
A light rain began to fall and the police mis-judged where Beryl had indicated he wished to begin his takeoff roll, and placed their patrol car blocking traffic farther down the highway than Beryl had actually cleared during a preliminary taxy-run. With rain on the windshield, Beryl taxied to that car, did a "180" and began his takeoff...
Because the takeoff roll began earlier on the pavement than previously surveyed, and due to the poorer visibilty through the rain-studded windshield... (rain doesn't clear off a twin's windshield like it does on a single, until well into the takeoff... something I frequently found irritating when departing for work from the ranch in my Baron), ... some signage was missed during the back-taxi and during the takeoff roll his right wingtip caught the sign and turned the Aztec into the ditch.
No one was hurt but the airplane was totalled.
The insurance company claimed Beryl was "over insured" for an early Aztec and refused to pay the amount he'd purchased (I believe it was something like $90K.) Beryl pointed out that for 3 years they'd certainly not refused his premium payments which purchased that amount of overage.... and when he offered the contact info for his personal lawyer they acquiesed and paid him.
(I think he'd actually been "gifted" the airplane by a former employer for services rendered, so alls well that ends well.)
When another acquaintance also managed to land on a street (mistaking it for a narrow, street-like runway 200 yards further east at the D'Shannon/Pedersen windshield modification facility at Progresso, TX)..... I recommended he simply contact his insurance agent and let them deal with it themselves.
They did. They hired a local CFI who flew the Beech Debonaire to the nearest airport for them, and he avoided all risk. (Another bonus: The insurance agent hired a local security guard service to protect the airplane from pilferage during it's over-night stay on the street while awaiting transfer.)
==============
A similar event occured to a good friend of mine...
Beryl had flown his Aztec to Ohio for his 50th H.S. reunion and was on his way back to Texas when one engine lost power. He descended towards the nearest airport when the other engine also lost power, and he made a successful emergency landing on a public highway.
As he rolled to a stop he noticed a circular driveway to his right so he turned into it and rolled to a neat stop in front of a man rocking on his front porch. "Howdy!", he said and the man tipped his hat.
After several hours it was discovered that mud dauber nests deep within the fuel vent system had blocked the vent system starving the engines for fuel. Beryl (a certificated A&P) cleared them and successfully performed a full run-up. He notified the state police, who blocked off a portion of the highway and he prepared to takeoff for the nearby airport.
A light rain began to fall and the police mis-judged where Beryl had indicated he wished to begin his takeoff roll, and placed their patrol car blocking traffic farther down the highway than Beryl had actually cleared during a preliminary taxy-run. With rain on the windshield, Beryl taxied to that car, did a "180" and began his takeoff...
Because the takeoff roll began earlier on the pavement than previously surveyed, and due to the poorer visibilty through the rain-studded windshield... (rain doesn't clear off a twin's windshield like it does on a single, until well into the takeoff... something I frequently found irritating when departing for work from the ranch in my Baron), ... some signage was missed during the back-taxi and during the takeoff roll his right wingtip caught the sign and turned the Aztec into the ditch.
No one was hurt but the airplane was totalled.
The insurance company claimed Beryl was "over insured" for an early Aztec and refused to pay the amount he'd purchased (I believe it was something like $90K.) Beryl pointed out that for 3 years they'd certainly not refused his premium payments which purchased that amount of overage.... and when he offered the contact info for his personal lawyer they acquiesed and paid him.
(I think he'd actually been "gifted" the airplane by a former employer for services rendered, so alls well that ends well.)
When another acquaintance also managed to land on a street (mistaking it for a narrow, street-like runway 200 yards further east at the D'Shannon/Pedersen windshield modification facility at Progresso, TX)..... I recommended he simply contact his insurance agent and let them deal with it themselves.
They did. They hired a local CFI who flew the Beech Debonaire to the nearest airport for them, and he avoided all risk. (Another bonus: The insurance agent hired a local security guard service to protect the airplane from pilferage during it's over-night stay on the street while awaiting transfer.)