Posted on 08/19/2005 2:36:22 PM PDT by sionnsar
A Dozy pilot flew his plane for two hours before he noticed that five-and-a-half feet of one wing had been torn off by a tree on take-off. The Irish pilot told investigators he thought he had been "struck by a little bird" on takeoff in his five-seater Cessna 210.
But despite two of the three passengers being top flight engineers on their way to fix a Boeing 767, no one noticed that half the left wing, containing one fuel tank, was missing. The unnamed pilot was forced to make an emergency landing at Jersey International Airport two hours later after he finally spotted the fuel gauge plummeting towards empty.
The drama unfolded as the Cessna took off from Brittas House Airstrip, 18 miles east of Shannon in Ireland last Friday.
As the small aircraft - bound for Lisbon in Portugal - left the runway it collided with treetops which ripped off a 5ft 7ins section of the left wing. The fuel tank was later found on the ground - back in Ireland.
Jersey International Airport was alerted and air traffic controllers guided the damaged plane to safety.
A spokesman for the airport said: "We were amazed it had managed to fly as long as it had, it was in a real state when it came in.
"The pilot was the most shocked of us all as he had not realised the extent of the damage while he was flying."
So like ... inquiring minds want to know ... how far did this blind dude fly his handicapped plane ???
been there done that... 8^)
From the standpoint of J. Random Non-Mechanical Passenger -- me for example -- something looks not entirely right, and a bit unsettling.
Eireann go Brach,
Was that your plane? :-)
That was the F-4. . .proof that with big enough engines you can make a brick fly.
What is that? It looks like a bologna sausage on a wing
Well - we heard a different version of the story from...certain clients who were visiting our shop. The plane was involved in the Bekaa Valley Air War. As he was coming out of the valley, he found some previously unmapped power lines - and lost the wing. He flew home using all the rudder and trim he could, and steered with his engines. He was immediately aware of what had happened to the aircraft, and was told repeatedly to get out of the jet - but after landing it, said that he didn't want to get out because the IAF couldn't afford the loss.
And a real bitch to hand push off the line when it's fully loaded with fuel and munitions and an ECM weenie manages to fire off the ECM pod and drops flares all over the damned place because he forgot to check the K and see what status the aircraft was, and you're having to push because it's got jets on either side of it in the same status and no tug anywhere around.
Not that I ever had to do that, mind you. Know how deep a hole those flares will burn in a parking ramp??
Reminds me of a flight from Houston to LA I was on years ago. They kept circling downtown LA and giving out champagne, and a fire truck was there when we landed. Turns out five major flaps had fallen off the plane, landing in people's backyards, etc. We felt no difference in the landing!
Lucky Charms go good with Old Bushmills ?
Probably going to repair a Northwest Airlines plane.
Why? They almost never fly anyway.
Oy! You're good!
Aye, t'would appear to be a fact.
Interesting. . .hadn't heard that.
Interesting, indeed.
And if they do . . .they are never on time.
"Probably wondered why he had to keep adjusting the trim."
I'm finding this hard to believe. When I used to fly I was looking at everything all the time. Maybe I was paranoid.
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