Florida plane crash eerily similar to 2010 Hilton Head Island pl - WTOC-TV: Savannah, Beaufort, SC, News, Weather & Sports HILTON HEAD ISLAND, SC (WTOC) - A friend made a frantic 911 call just moments after a single engine plane crashed into a Fort Stewart soldier and his 9 year old daughter on a beach in Venice, FL. "Are you involved in the situation?" said the 911 dispatcher. "It's my friend's husband," the friend said. "His daughter is hurt and he is hurt." According to investigators, Sgt. 1st Class Ommy Irizarry and his 9-year-old daughter Oceana were walking on a beach when the crash happened. Ommy Irizarry died at the scene and Oceana passed away on Monday. This accident is eerily similar to an event that occurred in the Lowcountry four years ago when a plane crashed into a beachgoer running along the beach near Palmetto Dunes on Hilton Head Island. The pilot in that incident was forced to make an emergency landing that day, and the victim didn't even hear the plane, just like the victims involved in the crash in Florida. A pilot who flies small single engine planes like the two involved in both accidents said most small planes aren't that loud, and it they are experiencing engine failure, people on the ground won't hear the plane coming until it's too late. It's an accident that Hilton Head Island pilot Aaron Pennington said is very, very rare The plane involved in the incident on Hilton Head in 2010 and the one from Sunday's crash in Florida were both single engine planes, and both needed to make an emergency landing because of engine failure. "The engine is not running, so there's no noise coming from the aircraft. People have no idea that the plane is coming," Pennington said. He said that likely was the case on Sunday, and also back in 2010. "It's up to the pilot to avoid those people," he said. Karl Kokomoor, the pilot involved in Sunday's crash, said in a statement read by his pastor on Tuesday afternoon that he tried everything he could to land the plane safely. "In an emergency situation, there's a lot of things going one, but it's up to the pilot to do their best to see and avoid and fly the aircraft," Pennington said. The Sarasota County Sheriff's Office is still investigating Sunday's crash, and criminal charges could be filed, depending on what they discover. According to the Beaufort County Sheriff's Office, the pilot involved in the Hilton Head crash in 2010 was not charged. However, the family did file a lawsuit against him and the company that made the engine.
And, this changes things...how? "It's an accident that Hilton Head Island pilot Aaron Pennington said is very, very rare." I think you're trying to use outlier events to dictate a general rule. CW
"It's up to the pilot to avoid those people," he said. You can't avoid something you didn't see. Hasn't the pilot already stated he didn't see them. The #1 thing someone says after any type of collision is "I didn't see ..."
"option of just landing in the water" LOL sounds like a crash to me! I've got over 19,500 hours flying hundreds of thousands of people all over the world. all landed safely. Yet if i was flying that Piper, I most certainly headed for the shore while still trying to avoid anyone in my way. Sorry for all concerned but the pilot did the best he could do at that time and those circumstances. Bob
I agree. We all should back off and let the investigation take place and gather pertinent information and then apprise ourselves accordingly. This pilot has been cooked pretty much already and we really don't know what the situation was or what his abilities were at the time.
Here is how its done....near the beach in the water..no one killed Pilot walks away after ditching plane on North Shore | More Local News - KITV Home
First off- Running out of gas is an automatic fail. The pilot is to blame period. Secondly, my educated opinion is that this event can't be compared to the original subject of this thread as the technical facts aren't really in for either. I'll also hazard the statement that "no two water landings are the same."
you are correct, no two water landings are the same, at the same time both pilots had a choice to land in the water or on the beach...
