Sunday Drivers Are Bad Enough
Sunday pilots?
Ugh.
At least this one crash-landed his antique plane on the Penmar golf course, not in some little girl's bedroom.
Sunday Drivers Are Bad Enough
Sunday pilots?
Ugh.
At least this one crash-landed his antique plane on the Penmar golf course, not in some little girl's bedroom.
It's a problem here in FL too.
For example:
http://www.wjhg.com/news/headlines/97715089.html
and the follow-on article:
http://www.wjhg.com/home/headlines/Last_Summers_2nd_Warbird_Crash_Cited_as_Pilot_Error_124327814.html
They come out during the tourist season, and fly near the beach. They do loops and play chicken. And sometimes they crash. Average is about one crash every year or two. Someday, they'll crash on land instead of over the water, and some poor innocent in the wrong place at the wrong time will be incinerated.
It's not the flying, that gets me. The flying banners and the tourist helicopters don't scare me - they fly routes over the water in what appears to be a safe manner (killing tourists is bad for business, right?). It's that these self-important jerks doing acrobatics over beach-side homes and businesses in privately-owned 50+ year old planes, that concern me.
flbeachmom at March 5, 2015 3:36 PM
apparently it was Harrison Ford:
http://variety.com/2015/biz/news/harrison-ford-plane-crash-1201447290/
SwissArmyD at March 5, 2015 3:45 PM
When was the last time YOU outran a giant boulder in a dank South American cave full of spiders and poison darts?
Crid [CridComment at Gmail] at March 5, 2015 3:52 PM
Harrison Ford -- that is just oh-so-LA.
Hmm, good point, Cridster.
My favorite Harrison Ford scene is the one where a guy's waving a sword and he shoots him.
Amy Alkon at March 5, 2015 4:10 PM
didn't he once rescue somebody with his helicopter?
Crid [CridComment at Gmail] at March 5, 2015 4:25 PM
The Deeb.
Crid [CridComment at Gmail] at March 5, 2015 6:29 PM
Why is there never a pontoon plane when you need one?
charles at March 5, 2015 7:32 PM
Cosh did many rounds on this last night, including this pearl.
Crid [CridComment at Gmail] at March 6, 2015 12:23 AM
Here we go again – the clucking that someone might actually pursue their interests.
Harrison Ford has more airtime than many commercial pilots. John Travolta actually flies his own Boeing 707.
The HORROR!
Radwaste at March 6, 2015 4:05 AM
A Puritan is someone who worries that someone, somewhere, might be having fun. If the risk upsets you, console yourself with the thought that you are far more likely to die in a car.
MarkD at March 6, 2015 5:36 AM
An experienced pilot, with many hours on vintage and antique aircraft, and multiple type certifications for both fixed- and rotary-wing, suffers a complete engine failure right after takeoff, and then performs a forced landing in the middle of a densely-populated residential area, with zero property damage and no injuries to anyone but himself - what, exactly, is the beef here?
Look at the aerial photographs of the crash site, and you'll be amazed at everything in Santa Monica that he managed to miss.
The fact that he happens to be a famous actor is neither here nor there. From his presentations at AOPA and elsewhere, I get the impression that Mr Ford is not a Sunday pilot, but an every-day-of-the-week pilot.
llater,
llamas
llamas at March 6, 2015 6:14 AM
Common sense says, if they crash relatively often (and they do - this is not my opinion but a documented fact), they should not be flying around the same places lots of people are.
It's not unreasonable to ask that they do their acrobatics in some less-inhabited place. Not asking them to "not have fun". Asking that they exercise a little more common sense around other people, while doing it.
There are vast stretches of uninhabited pristine forest not far from here. There are vast stretches of uninhabited pristine water not far from here. Why not fly nicely around inhabitants, and do the stunts elsewhere?
flbeachmom at March 6, 2015 6:30 AM
The residents of Santa Monica are damn lucky it was Harrison Ford, rather than an average recreational pilot. That was some good flying!
Jay R at March 6, 2015 1:58 PM
"Surviving pilot" is never a gig that gets a lot of respect.
I read a book about the Gimli Glider. Some passengers were grateful to the pilots for getting everyone to the ground safely. Others wanted to know who else could have been responsible for making sure there was enough fuel in the damn thing anyway.
Crid [CridComment at Gmail] at March 7, 2015 12:07 AM
This has been argued before.
My comments still stand.
Radwaste at March 8, 2015 9:39 PM
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