I am beginning to sound like a broken record!

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foresterpoole
Posts: 307
Joined: Thu Sep 22, 2016 12:28 pm
Location: Alexandria, LA

I am beginning to sound like a broken record!

Post by foresterpoole »

Well, it happened again, another accident at my home airport. This one was a double fatality with the son of one of the occupants surviving with serious injuries, link to the report is below for those who are interested. In this case I worked with one victim (Blake Cooper) for multiple years before he went to the Port Authority and was an acquaintance of his twin brother Ben from fly-ins and usual airport hangar flying sessions, he had just passed his instrument check ride. This was pretty tragic and close to home, only time will tell what exactly occurred, there is video from the airport security cameras and one flight instructor and student saw the whole thing. They were also first on the scene. So, in roughly four years of flying I have witnessed one fatal accident, the plane I regularly flew was totaled in an accident, and now lost a friend and an acquaintance/fellow pilot in the same crash. Is this excessive or par for the course in general aviation? I mean I know it is risky, but holy cow this seems way outside of the normal accident rate.

https://aviation-safety.net/wikibase/236605
https://www.thetowntalk.com/story/news/ ... 303945002/
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3Dreaming
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Joined: Sun Jan 10, 2010 6:13 pm
Location: noble, IL USA

Re: I am beginning to sound like a broken record!

Post by 3Dreaming »

In my opinion what you have experienced is excessive. I have been around aviation my whole life. I have known people who have died in aircraft accidents, and I have witnessed 2 accidents at Oshkosh over the years, one of them was fatal. The last accident around our area that I recall was a fatal 25 years ago, and happened because of poor decision making.

Sometimes the location of the airport or the runway you are taking off from can increase risk dramatically. I am in no way saying this is what happened, but providing an example of what could be a fatal accident at you airport or just an off field landing at my airport. An older Cherokee 180 might not have shoulder harnesses, and a simple engine failure after takeoff with no option other than trees can be fatal, where at our airport it would be a simple off airport landing in a field.
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