Ouch. Poor guy. Terrible way to go.

http://www.startribune.com/local/222687931.html

That happens more then u think. Rule of thumb no one leaves cabin till I say so. Don't ever ask a passenger to help u dock or beach. Another danger is letting passengers step off float to shore. They are looking down and do not see the horizontal stabilizer about to hit them between the eyes. Company policy always stand in front of horizontal to unload pax. don't ask me how I learned this

Had a pilot start a Beaver with my son on the front of the float untying the nose rope. Luckily he remembered his training If u hear eng turn dive in the water forward. After some words I can't mention here the pilot never came back to get his last paycheck for some reason

Don- Glad for your son's outcome. Why is forward best?

-DP

denalipilot wrote:Don- Glad for your son's outcome. Why is forward best?

-DP

DP He was forward of the prop bent over untying front float rope any movement to the rear would put him in the prop arc....forward was only option for escape. Fortunately it was one of the few times he ever listen to me

Thanks for the clarification. I pictured him behind the prop for some reason. Makes perfect sense now. Glad his instincts and training saw him through.

Propellers on floatplanes can be killers. I have always told passengers ( somewhat rudely) "Don't even THINK about getting out of the airplane u til I tell you it's safe to do so.

Even very experienced float pilots in the role of passenger and "helper" will do the exact opposite that the pilot wants them to do, at exactly the wrong time......don't ask how I found that out.....

So, even very experienced passengers sit on their hands till the plane is totally parked and shit down.

This is a real tragedy, and it surely sucks for the pilot as well. That's not a burden I'd like to carry the rest of my days.

MTV

Mike when u moving to MT ? Can't believe u are selling Gram's old plane. Getting ready to retire for real You will like getting back to the mountains

This was in the Headlines soon after it happened. Unfortunately the media got it wrong as usual. They all stated it was an airplane CRASH. Trying their typical sensationalism in the realm of small planes and tragic crashes. At least they eventually 'corrected' it but I believe it was due to family telling them that it was NOT a crash.

In 22 years and thousands of Hours in the SES training business I have seen lots mistakes around the docks, beaches, etc, flying the plane is the easy part for most, not all. I have had students get in a panic around docks, trip on headset wires, miss the step and fall face first on the float, slip on the wet docks, fall off the floats, jump off the float in arctic clear waters which they thought was 2 feet and was over their head, slip on wet rocks and fall and once where a guy tried going forward of the strut with engine running? He sure got yelled at and he froze instantly! It can get challenging when around trees, beaches with rocks, docks with the wind blowing and trying to secure the floatplane and some SES training facilities never use docks? A very important part of floatplane operation! I know the pilot well and he has been flying floats many years, is a great pilot and a great guy, I feel very bad for him and this accident. Most of the accidents of floatplanes that happen seem to be gear down water landings and I know a few people who have lost their lives with that mistake.

DonC wrote:Mike when u moving to MT ? Can't believe u are selling Gram's old plane. Getting ready to retire for real You will like getting back to the mountains

Don,

Already moved....been in Bozeangeles a week now .

Yep, it's been a long time since I signed the paperwork with Graham on that plane, but it's time. Interested in buying a piece of Alaska history?

Back to your program.....

MTV