Posted on 05/01/2007 12:06:56 PM PDT by conservative in nyc
The crash that killed Cory Lidle, the Yankees pitcher, and his flight instructor in Manhattan on Oct. 11 was caused by “inadequate planning, judgment, and airmanship” by the two men, the National Transportation Safety Board concluded today.
Mr. Lidle and his instructor, Tyler Stanger, could have safely completed their U-turn over the East River and avoided hitting an apartment building if they had either kept their turn very sharp from beginning to end, or given up on making it within legal limits, leveled the wings, maintained altitude, and flown over the buildings on the Manhattan side, board officials said.
They might have faced penalties from the Federal Aviation Administration, but “they’d be alive today to explain why they had to do that,” said Mark V. Rosenker, the chairman of the board.
The two men took off from Teterboro Airport on a sightseeing flight in Mr. Lidle’s new Cirrus SR0-20, a single-engine plane. They flew down the Hudson River and around the Statue of Liberty, then up the East River. Under rules in place at the time, they could fly the whole route without advance permission, as long as they stayed over the river and below 1,100 feet. They could have requested permission to stray over the shore or continue up the East River back to the Hudson if they had radioed the tower at La Guardia Airport.
Since then, the F.A.A. has temporarily revoked the special exemption for the East River, so that permission is now needed to fly it in a fixed-wing airplane like the Cirrus. (Seaplanes and helicopters are still exempt.) The board recommended today that the change be made permanent.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
The NTSB also noted that the plane didn't start its turn as close to the Queens bank of the river as it could have, and was blown a bit further toward Manhattan due to winds out of the East. The NTSB found no evidence that the Cirrus' flight controls had locked up, as claimed by the Lidle and Stanger families in their lawsuit.
More at the link.
Ping.
Did the families have any reason to suspect that the controls locked up, or were they just making up a reason to sue?
Flying up the river and turning at that point with that wind is a tough thing to do, even for an experienced pilot. If he does everything exactly right, he’ll be fine. If he messes up a little bit, he’s a goner.
No need to speculate about mechanical failure here. This one is pretty clear.
It's better to be called on the carpet than to be dead. A lot of pilots face that decision sooner or later.
I never understood why a 30-something MLB pitcher with money would use a 20-something flight instructor.
I thought they blamed the building authority for allowing the apartment to be built in harm’s way?
Because an older and wiser one wouldn't let him take sightseeing flights up the East River. ;)
You’d be surprised how many pilots continue into bad weather with fatal results, just because they didn’t want to admit they screwed up, and didn’t know the price they’d ultimately pay.
Answer of the day!!!
The Middle of a City like New York is not a place to practice your flying.
It happened a week and a half ago off the coast of Florida. Five dead. Someone I knew growing up bought the farm a few months ago when he got in a situation where he should have asked for help.
He was sightseeing I believe and the instructor was along because it was in his baseball contract.
LOL Wait, hang on, that’ll be coming up next!
My 20-something son (30 next year) is an instuctor pilot for a regional airline with over 1000 pilots. He's very, very good. He's been an airline pilot since he was 21 and an RJ captain since he was 25.
Cheap.
You use a very young pilot cause he’s cheaper then using a more experienced one.
ping
I'm not knocking young pilots at all. I am saying he should have been able to afford one of the best instructors available with many years of experience. I'm sure your son is a talented pilot and will fly for many years to come, but a guy in his 20's can't mathematically have 30 years of flying experience. There is a distinction between great pilots and great instructors.
I know hindsight is 20/20, but just how good was Liddle’s instructor?
It may have been that Lidle hired a marginally qualified intructor.
I’ve been a pilot for 30 years. I understand how a person can misjudge speed and direction around high obstructions. I read the NTSB report on this accident. The one thing I don’t understand is that they were making a left hand turn, and the building would have been in their view during the entire time, and not obstructed from view in any way. It just doesn’t make sense, any way you try to work it.
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.