guess us idaho guys are weird, but we take care of the plane "behind" us...when i fly w/slower birds, i just slow down and keep it fun and safe. my bird flies just fine at the bottom of the green or lower.
10 deg flaps and any one can keep up...i think they call it responsibility....tacky thing to do, just leave em down on the ground when u know better....jo

I think you misunderstood me. That was the question posed, and the answer given, by the local county sheriff. The sheriff's office told the others not to turn around because they don't know how to conduct a SAR operation. That's the sheriff's job, or someone the sheriff appoints. I cringe at the thought of a bunch of planes circling around trying to find someone in a heavily forested area that don't have any idea what they're doing. The lead plane is the one that is supposed to report a plane down, and that is what he did.

ASW.

Sounds like the pilot who was paired with the missing plane did the right thing by landing immediately and reporting to the local authorities. According to the article posted, the local Sheriff in turn told him to continue his trip, while well trained, well-equipped SAR teams still needed three more days just to locate the downed plane in poor weather.

What more could the other pilots in the group have done to help out, without putting themselves at risk of another crash in marginal weather ... which would have put even more SAR teams at risk in the search and recovery work? Not to mention the resulting worry and grief for their families.

It's too easy - and wrong - to judge others in the absence of facts or understanding.

I have some mountain flying experience. Not enough to give advise though. I am trying to visualize a bunch of hay hens circling two hundred feet below the clowds and 100 ft agl looking for sombody. Not me. Like diving into the rapids 50 ft before Niagra Falls to rescue a swimmer.

If I got it right, the reson he went down was cus he was just getting under the clouds and he hit a tree. I would say that is a bit below my minimums. I talked to a guy that was that low going under clowds and he noticed some high tention wires above him

Tim

WTFO!!
I really want to rant and rave on here but I think I'll just shut mostly up!!
But if I radio to my partner that I'm on the ground and have hit a tree.
I sure would be pissed to be dead 3 days later when someone who doesn't know where I was finally finds my sorry ass!!
Yes Blame Eapis and the Sheriff!
Sure as hell wouldn't want to piss off the government,sheriff, and the trip leader! Hell might screw up there the whole schedule!!!
I sure as hell hope never to fly with anyone like said group!
SHEEP!!!
AW Hell, I was going to shut up!!

Thought he died on impact. Where did I get the idea that he hit a tree. Did not know he radioed. Did he also radio a position report. If so, did that not get passed to the sheriff. I am so confused. Maybe I made a few too many asumtions.

In my youth I have jumped into dangerous waters to save a live. He would have done the same for me. My military training taught me that. Not all have the same background as others nor the will to not give up.

Tim

The pilot radioed a friend that he was having engine trouble at 9:23 a.m. Four minutes later, the pilot reported he had hit a tree, Dutton said.

The men were flying as part of a flying group of about a dozen planes headed to Cranbrook, British Columbia. Dutton said one of the planes stopped to alert authorities and then the joined the rest of the group on the way to Canada. The group had had a stopover in Helena before heading north.


I've got to add!!
If the weather was so bad at the time the plane went down??
What the hell was this Gaggle of planes doing headed for AK?
And Why did the Buddy have to land to phone the police?
Shit did he not have a radio and know how to dial it to 121.5
or even 122.00
I am flabbergasted!
I just can't fathom what I have read!!
I think I'll just go!
Sorry for the rant!!!

M6RV6 wrote: Sorry for the rant!!!

Good and just rant.

Tim

M6RV6 wrote:I've got to add!!
If the weather was so bad at the time the plane went down??
What the hell was this Gaggle of planes doing headed for AK?
And Why did the Buddy have to land to phone the police?
Shit did he not have a radio and know how to dial it to 121.5
or even 122.00
I am flabbergasted!
I just can't fathom what I have read!!
I think I'll just go!
Sorry for the rant!!!

I think the point for us on this board is that none of us has all the facts, or the answers to your questions.

I do a lot of flying in the empty areas of New Mexico (which is most of the state), and there are lots of places where you can't raise ATC on the radio here, or show up on ATC radar ... and forget cell phone calls in the mountains ... I expect the same is true in many parts of backcountry Montana too.

Why were they flying in conditions of low ceilings? Maybe some or all of the pilots were flying VFR over the top, or IFR, when the Seneca pilot experienced trouble of some kind (mechanical? disorientation? medical emergency? who knows exactly?) and was forced to descend below the cloud layer into the trees and terrain. Very fortunately, none of the other pilots in his group was forced to do the same.

Again, as reported by the local Sheriff, the pilot who was paired up with the downed aircraft pilot apparently did the right thing and landed immediately to inform the local authorities, and then they took over from there. To criticize the other pilots under the circumstances is unfair and unfortunate, because we don't know all the facts. Even if you would have done something different under the same exact circumstances, there is only one pilot-in-command of each aircraft, and he or she has to do what he or she believes is appropriate. No other person's judgment matters.

M6RV6 wrote:The pilot radioed a friend that he was having engine trouble at 9:23 a.m. Four minutes later, the pilot reported he had hit a tree, Dutton said.

The men were flying as part of a flying group of about a dozen planes headed to Cranbrook, British Columbia. Dutton said one of the planes stopped to alert authorities and then the joined the rest of the group on the way to Canada. The group had had a stopover in Helena before heading north.


I've got to add!!
If the weather was so bad at the time the plane went down??
What the hell was this Gaggle of planes doing headed for AK?
And Why did the Buddy have to land to phone the police?
Shit did he not have a radio and know how to dial it to 121.5
or even 122.00
I am flabbergasted!
I just can't fathom what I have read!!
I think I'll just go!
Sorry for the rant!!!

He never reported engine trouble. He said he was in trouble which came out in the media as an engine failure. He was in trouble because they took off in MVFR and he got between layers and then somehow thought it would be a good idea to descend, in mountainous terrain. It was on this descent he hit the trees but stayed in the air a very short time, time enough for him to say he had hit a tree.

i agree with m6...are you gonna continue on some vacation when another bird, supposedly friends, goes down or has trouble...? i agree with m6...apologize if you are running with me to the middle-fork, and u stuff it in the desert on the way there, and i don't go ahead and party at the flying B! good hell!
not enough people have wrecked one i guess, and know what hell that can be....Rant on M6!

M6RV6 wrote:WTFO!!
I really want to rant and rave on here but I think I'll just shut mostly up!!
But if I radio to my partner that I'm on the ground and have hit a tree.
I sure would be pissed to be dead 3 days later when someone who doesn't know where I was finally finds my sorry ass!!
Yes Blame Eapis and the Sheriff!
Sure as hell wouldn't want to piss off the government,sheriff, and the trip leader! Hell might screw up there the whole schedule!!!
I sure as hell hope never to fly with anyone like said group!
SHEEP!!!
AW Hell, I was going to shut up!!

I agree, no matter what the circumstances, most of us would have been late getting to Alaska.