Posted on 01/31/2015 10:58:18 AM PST by smokingfrog
The Cirrus SR22 pilot who pulled the Cirrus Airframe Parachute System (CAPS) and was saved by a cruise ship about 250 miles east of Maui this week has released a selfie video of the incident. Leu Morton's facial expression is incredibly calm despite the stressful situation and, through an open door, Morton's video shows the parachute above the airplane moments before it hits the water.
In a "Good Morning America" report, Morton describes how he used his satellite phone to report his emergency, which he described as a malfunction in the fuel system. Whether it was the airplane's fuel system or the system carrying the additional fuel required for the flight from California to Hawaii is unknown.
Morton spoke with the Coast Guard who directed him toward the cruise ship. He then described how he called his father, telling him he loved him. "Hopefully I'll be able to tell you that again," he said.
(Excerpt) Read more at flyingmag.com ...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A survivable landing is always a good one, but that's about$600,000 down the drink.
It sure didn’t take long for that plane to sink.
Which is why insurance is so high for small aircraft.
Kudos to Cirrus for saving over 100 lives.
The airframe parachute certainly seems to perform as advertised. Beats trying to land on water or crashing into some trees!
That was hard to watch. I was wondering if he used any of his surface controls, maybe to keep the plane from spinning. I can’t imagine flying to Hawaii. I’m glad he had a pilot side door and no passenger.
That’s crazy. I wonder what the flight time is to Hawaii...
My CFI said don’t get more than glide distance out over the ocean.
They said he had been flying for 7 hrs. I believe. Not sure what the cruising speed is for that plane, but looks like he was at least an hour from feet dry.
The company that made the parachute setup should buy him a new plane. all that footage and time on tv is worth millions in publicity for their products.
People will be watching him surviving on youtube and similar sites for years.
He was ferrying the airplane for hire. The ferry tanks installed for the trip evidently didn’t work. I don’t know finished were tested prior to the trip. I don’t know if there is an option to feed from the ferry tanks early in the trip to check their function. Depending on the answers to those questions the FAA may hammer him.
Cirrus airplanes have had hundreds of parachute deployments. He was far from the first.
It was $600K the second he pulled the parachute deployment lever and long before he hit the water. The airframe is a writeoff when you deploy the parachute, I am told.
It’s part of the airplane. Cirrus puts those in all their current aircraft.
Well, I guess I won’t be buying one then. LOL.
Cirrus does point out (and the insurers agree) that if you’re at the point where it’s gotten bad enough that you need to pull the parachute handle, the chances are pretty good that you were probably going to have to write off the airplane anyway. The parachute just means the occupants have a better chance of survival and there is less danger to people and things on the ground.
Yeah, the realization of over water flight kindles respect for Naval Aviators.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.