Posted on 08/17/2008 2:52:48 PM PDT by Canticle_of_Deborah
The Civil Air Patrol resumed their search Sunday for a missing Texas family last seen when their private plane took off from Steamboat Springs, Colo., in poor weather conditions, MyFOXColorado.com reports.
Tommy Jacomini, who was piloting the Cessna 182 carrying his wife Susie, and their 7-year-old son Thomas and 5-year-old daughter Vivi, reportedly lost contact with ground control 15 minutes into the flight on Friday.
Summit County sheriff officials say radar detected the four-seater airplane Friday near Green Mountain Reservoir, about 30 miles northwest of Sunday's search area, according to MyFOXColorado.com. Seven ground crews were reportedly searching an area stretching from Keystone Mountain to Georgia Pass east of Breckenridge.
Relatives of the Jacomini's said the family had been vacationing in Steamboat Springs and was returning home to Sugarland, Texas, a suburb of Houston, the station reported.
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
How do you take off in poor weather without a flight plan? Did he have an instrument rating? What was poor weather, VFR or IFR? Doesn’t sound like a great decision.
Hiker found the wreckage of a plane within the area being searched.
6 inches of snow is hampering rescuers getting in there.
I just read at KWTX.com that they found the wreckage, no survivors. What a tragedy..
Snow in the middle of summer boy is Al Gore gonna be mad. Prayers to the family
Yeah, that’s puzzling. The article said he was an experienced pilot.
Sad :-(((
How do you not file a flight plan under those conditions, especially with your family on board?
The flight plan is not the problem. He should not have departed into bad weather. This is especially true in mountainous territory.
The 182 is a good plane but not in potential ice.
DOI: 12/31/2002
Certificate: PRIVATE PILOT
Rating(s):
PRIVATE PILOT
> AIRPLANE SINGLE ENGINE LAND
> AIRPLANE MULTIENGINE LAND
> INSTRUMENT AIRPLANE
Sad.
To be fair to the pilot, I’m not sure that this weather event was adequately forecast; it is sometimes very difficult to get forecasts that don’t “fit in” with the mandated “models” - many of which automatically “adjust” for “global warming” and perceived seasonal factors.
I know that this event was forecast for snow at 10,000+ just a few hours before impact - but the temps and precipitation at lower elevations were more than likely underestimated...
http://www.easternuswx.com/bb/index.php?showtopic=170992
Is it ever legal to fly a 182 into known icing conditions? By that I mean are there modifications to make it safe to fly when icing is a threat?
Nope
So this fool packs his family and a full load of luggage in a small plane, and takes off from Steamboat Springs...altitude around 7,000 feet, surrounded by high mountains. Then he head south where the mountains are even higher. Breakenridge, the site of the plane wreckage, is at 9,600 feet (IIRC)...and surrounded by even higher mountians. Just hearing now...plane was found at about 12,000 feet.
You have to wonder what possessed this guy to make such a stupid choice. And to not even file a flight plan?? Reckless to the MAX. This was entirely avoidable. I cannot help being angry at the sheer waste of it all.
Prayers for the families. And hopes that pilots everywhere will take notice and respect the power of nature in the mountains.
http://airwolf.lmtonline.com/living/archive/013000/living5.pdf
http://blogs.chron.com/leonhale/2008/07/
The old saying "There are old pilots, and there are bold pilots, but not many old and bold pilots." still holds true.
Weather is priority number one, you must respect it, because it can't respect you.
Any instructor that doesn't pound that into his student's head isn't doing his job, and is ultimately responsible for their mistakes.
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