Ultralight plane crashes while covering RAGBRAI

Waterloo Cedar Falls Courier ^ | 07/29/2005

[joshhiggins]

Ultralight plane crashes while covering RAGBRAI

RICEVILLE (Iowa)(AP) --- An ultralight plane crashed Thursday afternoon while following the RAGBRAI route for a documentary, but the two people aboard appeared to have suffered only minor injuries.

Pilot Jim Hill, of Manchester, and his passenger, Amy Throop, 26, of Ottawa, Canada, were flying over Riceville when the plane went down on the north edge of town.

Jana Jarvis, of Riceville, said she was standing on her deck watching the plane when she saw it at the top of nearby trees and then heard it hit the ground. She and her son ran to the crash site and found Throop and Hill walking around.

Throop's father, Boomer Throop, also of Ottawa, said he was riding in RAGBRAI with his daughter while she works on the documentary.

[joshhiggins]

RAGBRAI has always been a circus on wheels, and it looks like it's taking wing now too.

[Republicus2001]

Ragbrai is one of my favorites

[tet68]

RAGBRAI ???

[zzen01]

(Des Moines(A New York Slimes owned clone "newspaper")) Register's Annual Great Bike Ride across Iowa

[dhuffman@awod.com]

Bike Ride Around Georgia

Bike Florida

Sprocket's Annual Great Bike ride Across Wisconsin

Cycle North Carolina

Bike Around Magnificent Alabama

Grand Illinois Trails and Parks

Cycle Zydeco

Bubba Fest

Bike Florida

[grobdriver]

Rotax claims another one!

[HawaiianGecko]

[The Osage Beach Police Department is looking into the death of Roy Losito of St. Louis after he crashed into a dock while operating an ultralight aircraft.

According to Humphrey, Losito hit a dock just after takeoff at around 8 a.m. Saturday in a cove at the 21- mile marker.]

[steve86]

Register's Annual Great Bike Ride across Iowa

Boy, that acronym just jumped out at me.

[Keith in Iowa]

(Des Moines(A New York Slimes owned clone "newspaper")) Register's Annual Great Bike Ride Beer Run across Iowa ps: The Register is a Gannett rag, not a Slimes & Co rag...

[niteowl77]

Once I stopped reading the Register, I stopped hearing about RAGBRAI unless the route was within 25 or so miles. Today was different, however, because I was talking to someone who knows the pilot of this ultralight. I was also passed on the way to work by a silver minivan with the obligatory bicycle rack on top and a bumper sticker showing an American flag followed by "Regime Change Should Begin at Home" (or some such Democratesque flatus). I had sort of hoped to read that the ultralight had landed atop said minivan, but apparently that did not happen.

As for the event itself, I don't think anyone other than Des Moines' Pravda takes it too seriously as a feat anymore, as an awful lot of people have now proven that they can ride a bicycle across the prairie with a hangover. I know a few guys who even picked up STD's as mementoes of their rides, which convinced me that RAGBRAI was not quite as grueling as scaling Mount Everest.

Then again, I didn't see the gals involved in the gift exchange, so perhaps I have been underestimating the obstacles.

[nonliberal]

Register's Annual Great Bike Ride Across Iowa.

It is a weeklong rolling party.

[pla1nman]

To all the Ragbrai'ers...a note from the Pilot The plane had a failed motor, I prepared to land in a hay field (as I have done many times without a motor). Unfortunately, the "Hay Field" was not a hay field but grass almost 5 feet tall....and it flipped the plane forward and upside down on landing. Plane received minimal damage, was repaired and flying again by me 5 days later. (with new motor) We consider this landing a safe landing, when both pilot and passenger walk away and talk about their experience !