Pilot thought instructor who died of heart attack mid-flight was joking: report

New York Post ^ | February 21, 2023 | Snejana Farberov

[Revel]

Do FAA rules specifically state the your instructor pilot must be alive?

[bray]

There will never be any evidence if you don’t want there to be. All a big joke isn’t it.

[AnAmericanMother]

My flight instructor was a bit of a joker.

He once opened the passenger side door in flight.

He would also pull the throttle back all the way and announce, "Engine failure! Whaddya do?" He also once sneaked a pencil eraser into the cigarette lighter and said, "Whoops! Electrical fire! Whaddya do?"

I could see him pulling something like this . . . but I think I would have called him on it a little sooner, and then radioed the tower to have the EMTs standing by on landing.

That would have been a VERY tense landing, though . . . especially in a crosswind!

[BlackbirdSST]

We need to zot the trolls who turn every death into something about the vaccines.

By your standards we should have zotted every troll who turned every death into something about covid. Then you wouldn't be here calling for the zotting of trolls, would you!?

[george76]

Thanks

[Myrddin]

My instructor was skilled at aerobatics. Very capable of positioning the aircraft at an odd angle in a stall without any sensory clue with respect to how it got that way. As he did each one, it was a stare at your knees until I say "go". On "go", a view of the instruments "hooded" and immediate assessment of how to recover. The left wing low, nose slightly up and complete stall was an interesting mix.

Early on, we did some exercises using the doors to generate enough drag to steer the aircraft. Simulating loss of specific flight control surfaces. In the end, I think that my instructor had to employ those techniques to prevent the aircraft where he was a passenger from crashing into homes around Ensenada. The end assessment was a locked up control surface due to improper maintenance. Since he is no longer with us, his name was Ralph Buck. He was an instructor at Flying J Aviation at Brown Field south of San Diego. Over 50,000 hours of flight time and dead over improper maintenance of the aircraft where he was passenger.

[Paal Gulli]

No one ever dies “mid-flight.” To make the paperwork easier on the coroner, they always die at the destination airport.

[AnAmericanMother]

God rest Mr. Buck. He probably saved quite a number of lives that day. May it be counted unto him for righteousness.

My CFI was a Delta captain and built homebuilt aircraft in his spare time. That was almost 50 years ago - once I got a job that prevented me from flying at least once a week, I felt I wasn't sharp enough and quit. Still have my ticket but my medical isn't current.

[Myrddin]

I was working as a PacBell engineer by day and teaching courses at Southwestern College two nights a week to finance my expenses for my flight instructor and flight time in an Aeronca Champ and Cessna 150. I did my check ride in Bill Bearden in early 1982. A few recreational flights followed as time/money allowed. July 18, 1982 was my last one. Months later, I purchased a new home and my monthly mortgage went from $323 in the condo to $1323 in the 4 br/2 ba house. I also stopped teaching. No disposable income to fly. In August 1985, I was diagnosed with cancer. Treated successfully, but that shot hopes of getting my medical approved again. C'est la vie. Rolling forward to the current time, the 40 years of writing software all day has harmed my vision. I need my specs to see the instruments.

I could probably still fly today. My situational awareness is good enough. I had COVID in January 2022 and January 2023. It seemed mild, but when I went to the skating rink, I managed to do a face plant on the wood floor. That never happened in the 60 years I've been skating. Clearly, I have some neurological impact that harmed the fine kinesthetics necessary to skate. I'm hanging up the skates and redirecting the time to become fluent in Scots Gaelic.

[AnAmericanMother]

Glé mhath! Tha mi duilich, tha uiread de thrioblaidean agad!

[Myrddin]

Tapadh leat. Atharraich agus faighinn thairis air.

[AnAmericanMother]

Stand fast, Craigellachie!

My best friend from school is a Grant. My people are just a shower of MacGregors who left Scotland one jump ahead of the law . . .

[ConservativeMind]

The Free Republic Assumed COVID-19 Vaccine Death Obituary Ping



You are being pinged because this death notice was important enough to have its own thread, so you have to admit, it’s important!



Grim Reaper Approved!