Boulder Air Fatalities Today

That's terrible. Those gliders have always scared me.

 

Did the Cirrus hit the towline? How is that the gliders fault? Sad event RIP and condolences to the families.

 

Not saying it was that glider's fault. Just saying they scare me. I guess all small aircraft do.

 

Very sad. And probably preventable. Our prayers to all.

Jedi

 

Sailplanes are the safest way to fly. Light planes are the second safest. It's the pilots that you have to worry about. When asked what he would do if the engine quit on his old airplane my old friend said, " I would land !" The lady said, " But what if you weren't over an airport?" Answer. " LADY, THE WHOLE WORLD IS AN AIRPORT!" Some runways are shorter than others.
Switches

 

Certainly a tragedy.

 

Yet another crash involving a Cirrus they've certainly accumulated a few.

 

I wonder - especially after a crash like this - if the Cirrus isn't a latter-day Bonanza: an aircraft bought and flown by those whose income exceeds their ability to maintain proficiency in high performance aircraft.

While this accident is indeed sad, I have to wonder about the air traffic discipline / flight awareness that brought the Cirrus to the point where the it could clip the tow wire. (To be fair here, the fault may equally lie with the Pawnee driver).

 

I cannot believe that a pilot would fly between a tow plane and a sailplane. Perhaps there are circumstances beyond my knowledge but it reminds me when I was sailing with a friend and we were approaching the marina at night trying to find our way in. The skipper's wife said, " Why don't you go between that tugboat and the boat that's following it." Could this be the mentality of the Cirrus pilot?
How could this happen? The really bizarre thing was to see the Cirrus with chute deployed and burning as it slowly descended. This is progress.
Switches

 

That was my reaction as well, Bob. I can't imagine what on earth would make the Cirrus pilot think he could/should be anywhere near going between the two aircraft.

A part of me wants to say 'common sense' is enough... but then I remember that common sense isn't common.

Or as my flight instructor once said to me: 'You can be dumb and be a pilot, but you can't be a fool.'

 

Good point. The additional nav displays and other electronic "helpers" make it a lot easier for some not so good pilots to live a lot longer than perhaps they would otherwise, but sooner or later those who make big mistakes suffer the consequences of them.

When I was renting out my airplane I had a number of doctors and other higher income folks that wanted to rent something faster and more capable, so they came to my aircraft. I had one doctor who I didn't think was very capable and suggested to the FBO he not fly my aircraft. The FBO talked me out of barring him from the airplane and a couple of months later he wheelbarrowed on landing and struck the prop (the FBO ate the repairs, and I got a new prop out of it). After that I took the checkout process over and only let people fly it that I felt were capable, and never had a problem.

Flying is a little bit like driving in that almost anyone can get a license, the difference is that with flying, the laws physics are far more unforgiving since aircraft really can't be designed to crash safely.

 

Good Point,

I have flown with some Cirrus owners and was amazed on how reliant they were with their gadgetry inside instead of using the integrated method of inside and outside. When I posed the question to the PIC, Why are you not looking outside and constantly scanning? Did your instructor teach you this?" his response was. " I have TCAS I don't have to look outside." He had no idea that in order to work, the people he "did not have to worry about", must have a transponder and it turned on so his TCAS could interrogate and respond to any potential conflicts with them! Excellent systems knowledge!

This is not a stereotype on all Cirrus pilots but an observation of flying with 3 of them on long cross country flights. It seems to me the level of technology has given at least these three a sense of invulnerability, which is very sad indeed. Especially for their passengers.

Cheers

 

I am amazed at how little is left of the Cirrus. Just scorched ground.

Guess I'm used to metal aircraft.

The parachute is in better shape than the plane.

Just imagine the glider pilot seeing it coming and frantically reaching for the release lever.

Remembering my first glider ride, the pilot (tandem, behind me) told me to pull the lever by my left leg. I pulled the first one I saw (unlabeled - spoilers) and we jerked the tow line straight as he yelled "No, no, the other lever". Couple minutes later he said "Bet that surprised the tow pilot". He should have given me a little instruction before we took off, I think.

 

I am amazed at how little is left of the Cirrus. Just scorched ground ahead of the tail.

Guess I'm used to metal aircraft.

The parachute is in better shape than the plane.

Just imagine the glider pilot seeing it coming and frantically reaching for the release lever.

Remembering my first glider ride, the pilot (tandem, behind me) told me to pull the lever by my left leg. I pulled the first one I saw (unlabeled - spoilers) and we jerked the tow line straight as he yelled "No, no, the other lever". Couple minutes later he said "Bet that surprised the tow pilot". He should have given me a little instruction before we took off, I think.

It was at Black Forest, SE of Denver, not at Boulder, and quite a few years ago.

 

Reading your post (and solo's above it) I can picture a Cirrus driver saying:
'Stupid mountain didn't have its TCAS beacon on!'

 

Yeah, it seems more likely that this is a case of plane to plane collision, not the Cirrus hitting the tow line.

 

The glider pilot and two passengers were on Fox morning news - the Cirrus hit the tow plane side on according to the pilot and then both exploded in flames. He says he saw the cirrus momentarily before they hit and released simultaneously.

He also said this was about 8000' (I guess MSL so maybe 3000 to 4000 AGL?)...

 

VFR is VFR..."see" and avoid. Oddly enough supposedly the founders of Cirrus built the SR line after a mid-air in which they survived.

 

At the time of my statement I didn't know that the Pawnee was hit.

 

When I flew gliders I always constantly looked all around and up as well. A high performance glider is capable of thermalling up into a lower performance glider in the same thermal.

 

As almost always, these types of things can be avoided. Back when I was doing my ASEL training, I remember my instructor telling me to keep scanning around the gauges and outside the plane just like you would with a car. After hearing about the other gentleman's experience with Cirrus owners, I am wondering what the instructors are teaching these people.

 

In the previous glider flight I mentioned, Black Forest, I was looking around, instructor told me to look left.

We were flying in 'loose' formation with a Frontier Airlines Twin Otter (DEN to C. Springs). The old Frontier. As they passed, people in the T-Otter were waving.

There were several other gliders around also. Sunny VFR.