Cessna 172 crash lands without the pilot on board | FerrariChat

Cessna 172 crash lands without the pilot on board

Discussion in 'Aviation Chat' started by toggie, Mar 21, 2017.

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  1. toggie

    toggie F1 World Champ
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    #1 toggie, Mar 21, 2017
    This is a strange story.

    Do you think the pilot:
    - committed suicide by jumping out of the plane while in flight?
    - accidentally fell out of the plane (maybe something like taking a picture or going to the bathroom with the door open)?
    - faked his own death by parachuting out of the plane?

    Plane crash mystery: Michigan student vanishes without a trace | Fox News

    Plane crash mystery: Michigan student vanishes without a trace.

    A University of Michigan graduate student disappeared after a mysterious plane crash in Canada last week -- with no sign of a body or footprints at the scene, according to local reports.

    The plane, found on autopilot and out of gas, was discovered in northern Ontario, about 400 miles from Harbor Springs, Michigan, the flight’s planned destination.

    Nothing surrounding the wreckage suggested anyone was near the plane at the time of the crash, Thunder Bay News reported, adding that there weren't even any tracks in the snow.

    Ontario Provincial Police said they completed a subsequent search of the area for the student, but it was unsuccessful.

    The unnamed student was last seen on March 15, the same day he rented the plane, the Detroit Free Press reports.

    Police say that the single-engine Cessna 172 was rented out of Ann Arbor and was registered to University of Michigan Flyers Inc.

    The Transportation Safety Board of Canada and University of Michigan police are continuing to investigate the plane crash and the student has been filed as a missing person.
    .
     
  2. kylec

    kylec F1 Rookie
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    #2 kylec, Mar 22, 2017
    I'd like to know the transponder squawk and mode selection and whether the lights were on. But if he wanted to fake his death he didn't put enough nose down trim in.
     
  3. joker57676

    joker57676 Two Time F1 World Champ

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    #3 joker57676, Mar 22, 2017
    Suicide. Certainly not the first person to open the door and step out.




    Mark
     
  4. MarkPDX

    MarkPDX F1 World Champ
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    #4 MarkPDX, Mar 22, 2017
    Bet he was taking a leak and fell out.
     
  5. TheMayor

    TheMayor Nine Time F1 World Champ
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    #5 TheMayor, Mar 22, 2017
    How do you fake your death this way? Obviously you were in the plane and then left it. It should be pretty easy to find out if he owned or had access to a parachute and if its gone.

    Suicide? Seems unlikely but it should be easy to find out his mental state at the time.

    Accident / Darwinism.
     
  6. Rifledriver

    Rifledriver Three Time F1 World Champ

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    #6 Rifledriver, Mar 22, 2017
    Most suicides I am personally aware of don't want to just disappear, they also want to make a statement and be found or at least have it known. Sounds to me like an accident or he wanted to disappear.
     
  7. energy88

    energy88 Two Time F1 World Champ
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    #7 energy88, Mar 22, 2017
  8. jcurry

    jcurry Two Time F1 World Champ
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    #8 jcurry, Mar 22, 2017
    Was he seen wearing a funny shaped backpack prior to boarding the airplane?
     
  9. toggie

    toggie F1 World Champ
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    #9 toggie, Mar 22, 2017
  10. toggie

    toggie F1 World Champ
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    #10 toggie, Mar 22, 2017
    Last edited by a moderator: Sep 7, 2017
    I found a facebook entry for Xin Rong at the University of Michigan.

    Not sure if it is the same guy or not.

    FB profile says he lives in Ann Arbor.

    https://www.facebook.com/xin.alan.rong

    Seems to be into aviation.

    His facebook page likes include:
    - General Aviation News
    - Live from the Flight Deck
    - Aviation Humor
    - The Pilot
    - Transport Fever (game)
    - Rainier Flight Service
    - Michigan Flyers

    .
    Image Unavailable, Please Login
     
  11. ArtS

    ArtS F1 Veteran
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    #11 ArtS, Mar 22, 2017
    Som Xin Rong? :D

    Sorry, couldn't resist - I know, I'm going to hell...

    Regards,

    Art S.
     
  12. toggie

    toggie F1 World Champ
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    #12 toggie, Mar 22, 2017
    Found a web page with his student profile on it.

    Xin Rong

    At the bottom of his student profile is this "fun fact":

    "I am very enthusiastic about general aviation.
    I am a certified private pilot in the United States, currently affiliated with Michigan Flyers.
    I love taking friends up for sightseeing flights.
    I have flown a number of Detroit River tours, San Francisco Bay tours, and Pudget Sound tours.
    Contact me if you are around and are interested for a fun flight!"
     
  13. TheMayor

    TheMayor Nine Time F1 World Champ
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    #13 TheMayor, Mar 22, 2017
    I saw what you did there!
     
  14. TheMayor

    TheMayor Nine Time F1 World Champ
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    #14 TheMayor, Mar 22, 2017
    I lost a roommate of mine who was an experienced pilot back in the 80's.

    He was taking pictures in the canyon areas north of LA in a rented plane. He crashed. The investigation showed he flew into a canyon that he didn't have enough room to turn around in and ended up into a hillside.

    People make mistakes. Sometimes its hard to understand but it happens.
     
  15. Juan-Manuel Fantango

    Juan-Manuel Fantango F1 World Champ
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    #15 Juan-Manuel Fantango, Mar 22, 2017
    box canyons..check this story out.

    Pilot said 'this is fun' before fatal Blackwater crash - CNN.com
     
  16. Bob Parks

    Bob Parks F1 Veteran
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    #16 Bob Parks, Mar 22, 2017
    Last edited: Mar 22, 2017
    An old friend and schoolmate flew into a boxed canyon in country about which he was unfamiliar. Lucky for him, he had some aerobatic training and executed a hammerhead stall and flew back out of it. Another acquaintance didn't know about hammerheads and put the airplane into the trees after a gentle stall. No injuries but they had to dismantle the airplane to get it out of the woods.
     
  17. Hannibal308

    Hannibal308 F1 Veteran
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    #17 Hannibal308, Mar 23, 2017
    So are we...because we laughed...
     
  18. ersatzS2

    ersatzS2 Formula Junior
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    #18 ersatzS2, Mar 24, 2017
    In my self administered crash course on density altitude, I happened to have reviewed this video just last week. An analysis of why canyon flights are so perilous.

    https://youtu.be/mZvBYhUkksw
     

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