Air Crash @ Flathead

[WolfPtCat]

http://billingsgazette.com/news/state-a ... 002e0.html

Took rescuers 2 1/2 days to find the wreckage, sadly, no survivers. Pilot just graduated from UM, had his license for little over a year. He took a friend and 2 young ladies up on a sight seeing flight. My heart goes out to all the families involved. I feel terrible for the family of the pilot, because there has to be some level of guilt involved, knowing that their son was responsible for the deaths of the three others.

There is no right time for this, and I apologize sincerely if I offend anyone. Certain things need to be pointed out to hopefully stop this from happening again in the future. There is an old saying in the aviation industry that contains a lot of truth: "There are old pilots, and there are bold pilots. There are no old, bold pilots."

From what I've read, I've seen a couple of worisome facts. Two young men take up two young ladies for a flight. Natural instinct is to try to show them a good time, and to possibly show off a little. Witnesses said that the plane was flying as low as 300 ft along the river. Last radar info also placed them 300 ft off ground. Pilot only had 100 hours experience (absolute minimum to obtain private license is 40 hrs). Pilot had previous trouble with the law involving what could be considered a "thrill" crime. Temperature was around 80 degrees.

The 300 ft is particularily worisome. At that elevation you have NO room for error. Birds are still a problem at that height. Flying from above water to above land has downdrafts involved, so does flying near mountains. You can not absorb and adjust anything at that low of altitude. At 80 degrees the plane does not react like it does even 10 degrees cooler. Air is thin, climb/turn/bank are poor. If your engine goes out at 2000 ft, you can glide, pick a spot, slow the airplane down, and float it to the ground. If your engine goes out at 300 ft. you plant it in the ground like a lawn dart.

I have only had my license for 3 years, only around 500 hrs of experience. I have done some of the same, stupid things while giving joy rides (some on purpose, some on accident). By pure luck, or God's grace, I lived to tell about it. If you are a passenger, just like in a car, you HAVE to speak up, if you are not comfortable. If you are a pilot, you have to realize these are life & death decisions you are making....and not just your own life!

[GrizinWashington]

Sad story. And good post, Wolf.

[catatac]

That is terrible. I did now hear about the 300 ft thing, and question for Wolf, is it illegal to fly that low and if it isn't, why the hell not? From your post, it sounds as if though it's very dangerous.

[kcatz]

according to news reports from early wednesday anything below 500 feet is illegal.