Aviation Incidents from Kathryn's Report

I still can't believe this is real after having read this a few weeks back lol...crazy. I mean...if this is considered normal for him, what the hell is the rest of his life like? Dang...

 

It's a suburb of STL in southern Illinois, close to the Cahokia/Parks Field/Downtown STL airport or whatever they're calling it this week.

 

“When asked, Dawna advised August Adolphus Busch IV has anxiety issues and is off of his medication due to recent fertility treatment. "

Great

 

Train wreck for sure.

 

He's certainly enjoying his retirement.

 

From the OP

Based on the pictures in the article that statement is just journalistic ignorance or sensationalism.

 

It is very sad. Unfortunately, it happens regularly in the summer there. Big Bear is 6,750 feet high, and it gets warm there in the summer. A 172 doesn't have much performance at that density altitude. And if you don't lean it properly (not saying that's what happened in this case, but it's pretty common) then it does even worse.

 

I flew into Big Bear once in a small plane. Never in the summer time. Really sad, Ill be up there next week.

 

Agreed...there's not a whole lot of anything in that article except supposition and innuendo.

He blew a 0.00 on the breathalyzer but the cop thought he was "scattered" so they took him in for "samples"

The rest of it is all about how many dogs he had and what prescriptions his wife and he had in the chopper and that he was packing heat.

I'll bet this turns into a whole lot of nothing

 

Well he seems to be at fault for it opening per the report. Gotta use duct tape next time and not blue painters tape.

 

That wasn't what I thought it was going to be!

Barons and Bonanzas are notorious for having the cabin door pop open at rotation. The airplane flies just fine with the door open, so all you do is continue around the pattern, land, and close the door. People crash because they get startled and fail to fly the airplane.

In a sense, that's what happened here, only it was the emergency exit (the window behind the pilot's seat), and he had messed with it a bunch before taking off. In any event, totally avoidable. Even taking into account his unwise messing with the window and the paper towels, etc before takeoff.

 

Yep, he just stopped flying the plane. When I got my PPL, my CFI was famous for popping doors open shorlty after rotation or in the pattern. You just fly the plane and land. Simple. This accident was caused by pure incompetence.



Mark

 

Yes, multiple 172s. During my ppl training, we flew T&Gs with both windows open one day because there was a wasp in the cockpit.

 

I think incompetence is a bit rough. I know this guy. He's a good pilot. And his injuries were anything but minor. He almost died and will never be the same again. He'll be in pain for the remainder of his life.

The reason I say "incompetence" is a bit of a rough characterization is because....90 percent of GA accidents are pilot error. It's effect on me is not so much "pure incompetence"....as almost all crashes can be characterized as such.....but more of a "there but for the grace of god go I"....effect.

It's the sort of thing that humbles most pilots....we're all lucky....because most of us will do something stupid at some point in our flying careers....we just get away with it.

That said....I have no problem with agreeing to disagree with the characterization.

 

You read too much Kathryn's Report.

 

If our paths ever cross Mark, lunch is on me.

David

 

I had an older CFI during a stage-check ride for my PPL do the same thing.
He opened the door just as I pushed the throttle forward for a take-off in a 172.
He kept the door open and told me loudly that he was "checking on the tire outside just in case".
The wind noise and wind (prop wash?) going through the cabin was significant.

I was completely flabbergasted. I never had anyone do something like this.
I was severely distracted but I kept the plane on the center line, slowed it down, and exited to the taxi way as soon as I could.
I turned to him and loudly asked "What are you doing?!".
He smiled and said that I "passed that part of the test" and that he would have taken over the plane if I had trouble controlling it.

I did not know this senior CFI around the flight school. Maybe they bring him in just to terrorize the student pilots.

It was a memorable lesson, for sure. And probably helped me be more of a pilot in command.

.

 

Yes, had the passenger door open in-flight in a twin; very different than in a single. The airflow from the prop sucks the door open and it takes a lot of opposite rudder to correct. Pretty much impossible to close the door, the passengers in the front and rear held it as closed as possible while we headed back to the airport.

 

I learned this in the 70's. My dad was checking me out in his V35A. On take-off...the door came open. It startled me....and he said it happens a lot in these planes. Just go around and close it on the ground. It's almost impossible to close them in flight.

Had one open at cruise one time with a non-pilot friend in the right seat. His suitcase was easier to get to than mine. So....I stuck some of his clothes in the crack of the door. It sucked them out.