Yesterday, near the Monticello Airport.

http://www.ksl.com/?nid=148&sid=3962997

Today, on the shoreline of Bear Lake.

A 1977 Cessna 180K registered to Charles McCall in Kent, WA

http://www.ksl.com/?nid=148&sid=3971612

Please fly safe. My wife needs to read less stories like these, I'm told.

Suppose we all do.

While both tragic, the second one is especially disturbing. It appears that 180 had a great emergency landing site, and managed to go end over in loose sand with serious fuselage damage. I wonder if they had shoulder harnesses?

Two airplanes balled up on perfectly flat landing surfaces. From the pics it looks like you couldn't have a better spot for an emergency landing. But pics deceive, and we weren't there, so who knows. Of course the press called the Cherokee a "Piper Cub." Go figure.

Gump

Hey, (Bela Havasreti), reg. # shows Mr. Mccall to be a resident at Crest Airpark?

Horrible event. Very sad.

My sincerest condolences to those who perished in these crashes.

The best advertising for Bushwheels.
"Buy Bushwheels, don't die!"

It appears weird that there are street tired vehicles driving on the beach with no visible problems.?

GumpAir wrote:Two airplanes balled up on perfectly flat landing surfaces. From the pics it looks like you couldn't have a better spot for an emergency landing. But pics deceive, and we weren't there, so who knows. Of course the press called the Cherokee a "Piper Cub." Go figure.

I thought the same thing. The Piper was apparently skimming the hills, looking for elk, perhaps they clipped something. The people on the ground said it was a huge flat area where it came to rest.

The Cessna looks like its on the most glorious beach for a 180 to land, but who knows. Pictures don't tell the whole story. It does look like a great place to land.

In reading the comments section of each article (there sure are some FUBAR people out there with computer access) it seems the Cherokee was out looking for elk, and the C180 at the lake was trying to signal folks on the ground to come get them at the airport. Having been on both missions before I'd be guessing buzz job gone bad or stall/spin is the culprit in both cases.

Gump

It sounds, and looks, like Gump is probably correct on his analysis. Very sad.

Could it be that the skywagon was trying to land and what was called a sputter was the power bing pulled back before a flair. Then just a crappy landing.

Tim

My flying friend was right there as they were putting up the police line. He saw the wreckage firsthand. He said it was quite obvious that it was a stall-spin. There was no debris field, the only parts were right at the mangled aircraft. My friend (who flies a 182) also noticed that there was 20 degrees of flap deployed. He was 100 feet from it and did not see any tracks - came straight down.

Very sad couple of days here in Utah. Some thoughts that my friend and I discussed: Practice up high to know your airplane (we have, but should do it some more). Be at your best when you fly and stay on the safe side of the envelope. I was getting excited (before this happened) to go shoot some touch and go's up there on the beach (at the far North end were there aren't people), but I don't think I be doing that for awhile now.

I've spent a lot of time on that very beach. In fact, my friend and I used to fly R/C off of the beach right were that 180 crashed. Talk about hitting home! Between this and Shaun Lunt's untimely passing, I'm really quite taken back.

Very sobering.

Mark

Wonder what part high DA played. I came within an wisker of major damage due to not paying close attention to DA at Smiley Creek. Buck my superior skills (luck) saved the day.

Tim

akroguy wrote:Hey, (Bela Havasreti), reg. # shows Mr. Mccall to be a resident at Crest Airpark?

Horrible event. Very sad.

My sincerest condolences to those who perished in these crashes.

Never met the guy. He kept his airplane at Crest Airpark, but he didn't
live here (he lived somewhere close-by in Kent).

Sad deal....

Make that three...

Just heard on the news that there was a midair near Rock Springs today. 3 people killed. They are reporting that one aircraft was talking to SLC center on approach to OCS. The news showed a parachute from one of the aircraft (Cirrus?) that was away from the main wreckage and they said the debree field is over a 5 acre area.

I'm not a superstitious person, but these things seem to always happen in threes.

How about 4! Cessna 172 from Palo alto went down over Incline day before yesterday.

Fly safe damn it.....!

Grassstrippilot wrote:Make that three...

Just heard on the news that there was a midair near Rock Springs today. 3 people killed. They are reporting that one aircraft was talking to SLC center on approach to OCS. The news showed a parachute from one of the aircraft (Cirrus?) that was away from the main wreckage and they said the debree field is over a 5 acre area.

I'm not a superstitious person, but these things seem to always happen in threes.

Okay, here is the news link with video : http://www.ksl.com/?nid=148&sid=3980884

Very sad. These planes appeared to have collided in a remote area. Were they flying in tandem or incredibly unlucky??

A TPAS (Zaon or similar) is really a good idea and can help avoid mid-airs. They are cheap enough, $450 or so, that they are gaining wide spread acceptance in the gliding community. I know ADS-B is supposed to be the be-all-end-all answer, maybe, eventually. But until then the transponder and TPAS is about the best most of us can do to augment the old eyeball.

For the TPAS to work everybody would have to have a transponder and have it turned on.

Tito wrote:For the TPAS to work everybody would have to have a transponder and have it turned on.

I have PCAS in the Scout having a transponder on is only parts of it. It has to be interrogated by ground or other aircraft to work properly they don't receive directly from other transponders.

The Bear Lake crash analysis:

NTSB Identification: SEA08FA175
14 CFR Part 91: General Aviation
Accident occurred Saturday, August 09, 2008 in Garden City, UT
Aircraft: Cessna 180K, registration: N63217
Injuries: 2 Fatal.

This is preliminary information, subject to change, and may contain errors. Any errors in this report will be corrected when the final report has been completed.

On August 9, 2008, at 0907 mountain daylight time, a Cessna 180K, N63217, impacted a beach in Garden City, Utah. The pilot, who was also the registered owner of the airplane, was operating it under the provisions of 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91. The commercial pilot and one passenger were killed. The airplane sustained substantial damage. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed and no flight plan was filed. The pilot departed from Yellowstone Airport (WYS), West Yellowstone, Montana, and was destined for Bear Lake County Airport (1U7), Paris, Idaho.

At the time of the accident, Garden City was hosting Raspberry Days, an annual town festival that attracts out of town visitors.

According to a witness who was also a friend of the pilot, the pilot flew near the witness's cabin to signal that he was in the area and would need to be picked up at the Paris airport. The witness provided a written statement and indicated that the pilot flew over the beach at 500 feet above ground level. He made a pass from east to west, with approximately 15 degrees of flaps extended. He then circled back and came over west to east. He then turned slightly south and then circled to the north and started toward Paris. The airplane started to climb and then stalled, with the left wing dropping down. The airplane continued until inverted and impacted the beach vertically.

Another witness who was a first officer for an airline, indicated that he was watching the airplane circle over the beach. The airplane appeared to be doing turns and banks in excess of 45 degrees. The airplane did several turns on the beach for about 2 to 3 minutes at altitudes less than 500 feet. Then, the pilot started flying north over the water along the beach, the nose of the airplane suddenly pitched up, the left wing dipped, and the nose swung around like a hammerhead. The airplane then, "...went into a nose-dive straight into the ground."

The airplane came to rest on a sandy beach about 50 feet from the shoreline of Bear Lake, on a heading of south-southeast. The wreckage was primarily confined to the impact area, other than the left main landing gear tire, which was located 304 feet north of the wreckage. The engine was partially buried in the sand and a portion of one propeller blade was visible. The cabin area sustained extensive impact damage.

The wreckage was recovered for further examination

It's really sad to read these senseless (no offence to the families) accidents!! My deepest condolences to the families and friends!! But yet another story that I and many other pilots will hopefully learn from.