Any more info on this??

http://m.localnews8.com/news/small-plan ... e/38496420

That area just south of my in-laws is becoming the Devils Triangle

Another one? How many is that in like the last year, 4 or 5 in that area.

Whoa.... first I've heard of this. I had loose plans to fly to Alpine for breakfast this morning, until getting up and looking out the window, fog and otherwise crappy. Yeah, that is getting to be a pretty crazy string of accidents in the area for sure. All I can add is I been flying there and Afton for breakfasts for around 35 years, starting with ultralights, and I've never had anything weird happen, anything inexplicable anyway, of course I'm doing it in at least decent WX. Sad deal.

Very sad news; tragic outcome. Condolences to their families and all who know them.

http://www.eastidahonews.com/2016/03/local-dentist-businessman-spouses-killed-in-plane-crash/

N2230G - Straight tail 182. Looks like it was sold recently and may have come from Billings, MT ??

http://www.kathrynsreport.com/2016/03/a ... north.html

Closing the bar, the pilot apparently the designated (dry) driver, then taking off over a black hole into bad weather and terrain at 3:30 AM in a borrowed plane, and between the two couples, 7 little kids at home.

It is hard to square any of that up with anything rational.
Forget judgment- don't people just get plain scared?

This comment about the crash was posted on the AOPA forum. Anyone have any info on this??


Another post said he had only been a pilot since Nov 7, 2015.

So astoundingly tragic and senseless, I'm in tears and feel like vomiting:



http://www.eastidahonews.com/2016/03/fund-established-for-children-of-parents-killed-in-plane-crash/

These type of accidents make me sad and very mad at the same time. This flying shit is deadly serious. Not a video game with a reset button. WTF is wrong with pilots.

RB

Makes my gut tighten and my heart sink. They look like any one of my neighbors families. Now those kids and the other couples are without parents. Two families devistated by one person, the pilots, lapse in judgement. Go or no go. Can't say I haven't had a close call, luckily I was alone with mine and I returned home alive and much wiser for the experience. I hope we all fly smart, and safe.

So sorry for those families.

Rich

SixTwoLeemer wrote:

Closing the bar, the pilot apparently the designated (dry) driver, then taking off over a black hole into bad weather and terrain at 3:30 AM in a borrowed plane, and between the two couples, 7 little kids at home.

It is hard to square any of that up with anything rational.
Forget judgment- don't people just get plain scared?

This comment about the crash was posted on the AOPA forum. Anyone have any info on this??

Do you have the link to that discussion?

My heart hurts for the 7 kids that lost their parents. I hope we all can be smart and use wisdom in the choices we make.

SixTwoLeemer wrote:

Closing the bar, the pilot apparently the designated (dry) driver, then taking off over a black hole into bad weather and terrain at 3:30 AM in a borrowed plane, and between the two couples, 7 little kids at home.

It is hard to square any of that up with anything rational.
Forget judgment- don't people just get plain scared?

This comment about the crash was posted on the AOPA forum. Anyone have any info on this??


Another post said he had only been a pilot since Nov 7, 2015.

Very sad. Alpine is not an airport I would want to tangle with at 3:30am, even on a clear night.

I've been trying to stay away from this thread altogether but something perverse keeps me coming back. What a sad tale for these poor people and their kids.

I recently fell off a ladder, or better to say the extension ladder I was standing on slid out from under me while my feet were about 7-8 feet above the ground. I don't personally know anyone who's had more ladder training than I've had but I did it anyway. Mine was not an accident in the truest sense of the word. For me, it was a complex set of willful avoidances of correct procedure over the space of several minutes with lot's of inner voice warnings not to do what I was doing. I walked up the ladder carrying tools and materials with no problems, then turned around and headed down the ladder and ended up breaking my back with a diagnosis of Lumbar 3 compression burst fracture. I'll make a more or less complete recover my surgeon tells me but she didn't say when. It's been a life changing event.

I reflect on this wreck at Alpine about that well known photo of the airplane in the tree and the warning that aviation is more intolerant of mistakes than even the sea. In my case, if I had obeyed my inner voice while working on the ladder I'd have avoided a bad injury, the final outcome of which is unknown. For these poor folks and their kids the cascade of poor decisions had consequences so far reaching and so dire that it will be a hundred years before it all settles. Meanwhile, for most of us, life goes on. Be careful friends. That still small voice you hear cares not for courage. It warns of good sense.

Mister701 wrote:I've been trying to stay away from this thread altogether but something perverse keeps me coming back. What a sad tale for these poor people and their kids.

I recently fell off a ladder, or better to say the extension ladder I was standing on slid out from under me while my feet were about 7-8 feet above the ground. I don't personally know anyone who's had more ladder training than I've had but I did it anyway. Mine was not an accident in the truest sense of the word. For me, it was a complex set of willful avoidances of correct procedure over the space of several minutes with lot's of inner voice warnings not to do what I was doing. I walked up the ladder carrying tools and materials with no problems, then turned around and headed down the ladder and ended up breaking my back with a diagnosis of Lumbar 3 compression burst fracture. I'll make a more or less complete recover my surgeon tells me but she didn't say when. It's been a life changing event.

I reflect on this wreck at Alpine about that well known photo of the airplane in the tree and the warning that aviation is more intolerant of mistakes than even the sea. In my case, if I had obeyed my inner voice while working on the ladder I'd have avoided a bad injury, the final outcome of which is unknown. For these poor folks and their kids the cascade of poor decisions had consequences so far reaching and so dire that it will be a hundred years before it all settles. Meanwhile, for most of us, life goes on. Be careful friends. That still small voice you hear cares not for courage. It warns of good sense.

Well said. Hope you heal quickly, friend!

gbflyer wrote:Well said. Hope you heal quickly, friend!

x2 on both.

X 3

+4

I have to admit that in my younger, foolisher years, there were times that I didn't listen to that small voice, and too often I had to use my superior skills to get myself out of predicaments caused by my inferior judgment. I think I hear the small voice more clearly now, and it's pretty close to never that I go against it.

However, a recent incident tells me that sometimes I still think I know more than the small voice. I was not night current, so I decided that it was a nice night to do that--clear, starry, nearly windless, and I was not tired. So I called the GXY AWOS as I left Fort Collins, and heard that the temp/dew point spread was 3 degrees. I've had a "rule" for eons that I won't go up at night with less than a 5 degree spread, but my thinking was, "I'm staying in the pattern for the obligatory 3 takeoffs and full stop landings, so I can just land if it starts getting foggy." I called the AWOS 2 more times on the way over, and the 3 degree spread hadn't changed. Now I was convinced that all would be well, although that small voice questioned my resolve.

When I pulled the airplane out of the hangar, the stars were bright--still a nice clear night--and I couldn't see any clouds. As I taxied toward 10, I listened again to the AWOS; still a 3 degree spread. I remained positive, and I looked forward to some night pattern work.

As I taxied into position, I turned on all of the lights. At 200' AGL, per my normal practice, I turned off the landing lights, which starts the Pulselites flashing. Suddenly at about 400' AGL, those flashing HIDs blinded me as I flew into a cloud that I hadn't seen! I got on the gauges, turned off the Pulselites and strobes, and continued in a climbing 180 degree turn. I leveled off at pattern altitude, and about halfway downwind, I came out of the cloud. I made a quick landing and called it a night. I am very thankful that I'm IR current and proficient; otherwise I'd be dead.

So while I don't ignore the small voice very often, I'm still capable of doing that, too. But that recent event is pretty persuasive--I'm even less likely to ignore it in the future.

Oh, and I don't climb ladders above the 2nd step any more--us TOFs don't bounce as good as we once did. I hope you heal quickly, too, friend.

Cary

X5 sir. Heal up fast. Perfectly articulated, should be required reading for student pilots and others learning risk management.

X6. Got my broken back after getting talked into flying something that turns out didn't even meet my definition of an airplane.

They administer too much in the way of narcotics, in my opinion. Tylenol works as well, as a placebo. Pain is a part of life. If you don't have it, you're dead.

So sad, 7 children lost their parents. Condolences to all their family and friends. My desire for flying will mirror my personal sailing, no schedules. I would always wait for a favorable weather window for a passage and will do the same when I'm flying again. For my professional sailing (merchant marine) had to adhere to schedules and experienced conditions I would never put myself in with my sailboat. I'll bet the same applies to the professional pilots on this forum.