http://www.mlive.com/news/index.ssf/2012/08/video_passenger_records_plane.html

Ouch. Need some orange balls on those lines.

Ouch is right! I say bag the orange balls and go buried power for the couple hundred feet in front of the strip. I did a little google earth research and found that those power lines are only about 200' off the end of the runway. Plenty of room if you know they are there particularly considering its a 2200' strip but if you don't....... well, maybe not so much.

Holy Sh!t there are lines attached to those 30ft poles we barely cleared.

Jesus. That's scary.

Many comments on I've read on this topic in other forums today assign blame to the owner of the airstrip for (take your pick) not having high viz ornaments, not burying the lines, not having a displaced threshold marked (ha!), not having a sign warning about the lines, etc etc.

I'm of the opinion that if it's private and unmarked (not on the chart), the responsibility to survive the landing there rests solely in the hands of the pilot. A little pattern work and some recon of the farm would have revealed the lines. Perhaps the landowner was guilty of having a runway that looks too nice?

I often forget that many pilots don't approach strips like crop dusters or backcountry pilots, half expecting new utility lines/tower, or livestock/game in the middle of the runway, or erosion damage, or fallen trees.

Well when it hits the charts (Seattle) has already been approved by FAA to be put on chart , and with the new upgrading of responsibility taken off of the property owners shoulders.(they passed a law in Washington that airplanes are like any other atv)
When you come to visit MaGee Creek Aerodrome , look at the notes, as there is a set of powerlines 1300' from the south end and 700' from the north end and they are about 30' in the air. Stay a little higher than that when you look at the strip!!
And yes, they are right there between the poles!!
And yes I still think the pilot is in command of the aircraft!
Would love to bury them, but the local power company wants over $30,000 to do that.
I would accept large donations though?
GT

Holy Shit... Two cockpit camera crashes in a week. What fun.

Gump

Zane wrote:the responsibility to survive the landing there rests solely in the hands of the pilot. A little pattern work and some recon of the farm would have revealed the lines.
I often forget that many pilots don't approach strips like crop dusters or backcountry pilots, half expecting new utility lines/tower, or livestock/game in the middle of the runway, or erosion damage, or fallen trees.

How about, "Gee, there's a big wood pole in front of the runway. I wonder if anything might be tied to it?"

It is a clue.

Gump

I fly low more than I fly the backcountry. We have lots of space and ag here in Central Washington. It can be nearly impossible or impossible to see the power lines in some lighting conditions-and I am not just talking when the sun is low in your eyes. 'Above' is correct-YOU HAVE TO LOOK FOR THE POLES-constantly-if you are under about 500 ft. We have high tension lines that string across the Columbia River Gorge in several places that go from a high level on one side (hill, ridge, Mtn) to a lower level on the other. These are cables about the size of a large man's wrist-and even these power lines can DISAPPEAR in some lighting conditions. How did I learn this? A couple of close calls. Sometimes even the towers are hard to spot-if they are not painted brightly (orange-white-orange-repeat) and some of them are not, and others are quite faded. If you are next to a steep hill, ridge, or mtn. ANYWHERE-watch for TOWERS/POLES.

You will lose if you take the cables on.
lc

Cables are MUCH easier to see when you fly under them

GumpAir wrote:
How about, "Gee, there's a big wood pole in front of the runway. I wonder if anything might be tied to it?"

It is a clue.

Gump

Well as it appears to me how about "Gee, there's a big wood pole with a giant orange safety cone on it in front of the runway. I wonder if anything might be tied to it?"

Getting a power company to bury the lines is close to impossible, kind of like asking Congress to act responsibly--and just like Congress, the cost is exorbitant. Even getting them to install orange balls at someone else's expense (like the land owner's) is like nailing jello to the wall. Looking for poles/towers is the best thing, because the wires just don't show, and then flying well above the lines to account for sinking on approach makes good sense, too.

Years ago when I chaired the Laramie Airport Board, we had several airplanes go through the wires on the approach to 21. The wires aren't very close to the approach end, and they were just the standard 35' or 40' or so off the ground, but it still happened. So I dealt with Pacific Power, and they were willing to bury the lines to the tune of almost a million bucks. Ultimately they installed orange balls at the airport's expense, but it took them a year after I first asked before they did that.

Cary