Posted on 12/08/2008 3:30:06 PM PST by scottinoc
“He died at age 34 by refusing to bail out of a crippled jet and rode it into the ground away from a town”
And God Blessed him for it.
“That’s not easy to do on approach to Miramar with a crippled plane.”
Yes, lot of congestion under that pattern. He was already low and slow. Reports of two explosions suggest he may have lost power. Nothing to do except ride a falling rock. One option and a few seconds to decide and execute.
Too late, time expired, you missed the envelope.
We on FR care and God bless you and your family and praise to your father the hero.....
May God Bless
I read on another post here on FR that the pilot successfully avoided hitting a high school.
I pray for the souls of those who died but this tragedy could have been much, much, much worse.
Leave the cause of the ac accident to the Air Craft Accident Investigators and don’t second guess. The testimony of the pilot along with physical evidence will answer the questions as to what happened and who may be responsible.
The pilot has no way of knowing. By sheer chance there were two in his path. There could just as easily have been nobody in his path. He/she shouldn’t be required to ride the aircraft into the ground. What happened is very unfortunate. My heart goes out to the victims, and the pilot, who will second guess themself for the rest of their life.
Some years ago a Navy pilot dumped an A4M Skyhawk suffering from a hydraulic failure on a side street about 2 blocks from my house. I lived near Willow Grove NAS (Pennsylvania). The pilot was attempting a downwind landing (going back the way he left) because he was rapidly losing control. When he realized he couldn’t make it, he lined it up on a street & punched out just a few feet from impact.
He was lucky that he only took out some parked cars & scorched some houses but nobody was injuted — except the pilot who got picked out of a tree near the crash site.
That was a masterful piece of flying, but he could easily have ended up dead. I don’t like to second-guess anybody in that situation.
Something else to think about: These modern fly-by-wire aircraft can be in-control one second, then “departing from controlled flight” the next. They are built to be aerodynamically unstable and will not fly without the aid of computers.
What your father did was heroic. Not everyone can be equally heroic, which is what makes heroes notable for their sacrifices (even if they get forgotten over time). But there is a lot of area between a hero and a coward and this pilot so far sounds like he was on the hero end of the spectrum.
I believe that each instance like this has it’s own set of circumstances. The pilot here may not have had a chance to guide the aircraft out of a danger zone for the people on the ground. It sounds like your dad did.
I am sorry for your loss, and respect your dad for doing what he did.
Definitely not faulting him at all. In fact most are praising him for managing to miss all the condos and apartment buildings that would have had even more people likely home...never mind Uni High School that was VERY nearby (as you, SoCal, well know, as well!).
“One option and a few seconds to decide and execute.”
Frequently its not even seconds. Its NOW! hesitate and you’re dead.
I’ve known quite a few pilots, some were jerks and some were worse. I don’t know of one who was willing to let his plane kill people on the ground if there were any options.
This happened right down the street from where I live. He was so close to making it to the canyon. He really tried to avoid this. There was a report from one of the witnesses who helped get the pilot down from the tree saying his first words were of concern for any homes he might have hit.
I am a pilto in training and doign engine failure simulations right now. I make it a point to pick out the least populated area when doing my procedures. Even to the point where I shouldn’t be picking that spot to land.
I feel terrible for the pilot as well as the family...
not that anyone ever remembers or cares except the family”
Actually, no one will unless you tell people. If you would like, post us his story. Maybe a picture of your dad. Sounds like he was a man.
If not, then the only consolation I can give is that valor isn't in the acknowledgment, it is in the selfless action itself. Your father did what he did, knowing he was screwed, but also knowing what he did is what he was supposed to do.
When he meets with the others in Heaven he is home among friends. When it is your time and my time and everyone elses, it won't matter anymore who knows, the act was sufficient.
Sounds like he had no options. Glad he got out. I’ve picked up pieces of a F-16 that went down. Itty bitty tiny pieces of plane.
Your dad had “The Right Stuff”. Rare breed.
sw
I had the displeasure of marking body parts (crew of 2) one day for several hours after an F-4 out of Japan crashed at Osan AB Korea in ‘86. Lost power, inverted and slammed into the ground almost caught fuel pumps on fire but just barely missed.
Pilot never had a chance.
Helicopter pilot hovering nearby saw it all, said it looked like total hydraulic failure.
Luckily there were no body parts to worry about on the crash I helped with. Just plane parts. Worst part was lugging the landing gear out of thigh deep mud, rolling the afterburner up a muddy hill. Oh and the idiot who lit a cigarette in the middle of a JP4 puddle where everyone was literally soaked in the stuff. He couldn’t figure out why everyone was running away from him.
yah I know the flash point is too high. Cover yourself in JP4 while wading through thigh deep mud and then make that argument.
THAT is insane about the JP4!
Two things, (well three but...) to this day stand out:
The two empty helmet shells intact but scorched found mere feet apart from each other.
A wristwatch, dial only, face up on the asphalt.
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