A terrible crash, another pilot goes west

alaskaflyer

Final Approach
Joined
Feb 18, 2006
Messages
7,544
Location
Smith Valley, Nevada
Display Name

Display name:
Alaskaflyer
All,

Many of you enjoyed the photos from the incredible blog http://shaunlunt.typepad.com/

Unfortunately I have to report that the author, Shaun, was killed Friday flying his cub in tandem with Loni Habersetzer on the shore of the Bering Sea near the mouth of the Kuskokwim River. He was flying tight circles looking at something on the ground when he stalled and struck the very shallow water near shore. The article is here. I had heard about the crash on Friday night but they didn't release details until this morning.

Because the Anchorage Daily News requires registration I've linked the very upsetting photos here.

We suffer from an epidemic of stall spin accidents in this state and this country. Don't be in one of them.
 
Oh, that is terrible news. My wife and I thoroughly enjoyed his incredible photo essays. :(
 
I heard yesterday. I'm still utterly without words. :(:(:(
 
If there ever was a pilot who epitomized the desires of the wannabe vagabond bush pilot enjoying the passion of flight and the places it takes you, it was Shaun Lunt. His photos were some of the best if not THE best I have ever seen.

I hope his memory continues to live in his photos and the web site remains where all may enjoy his photography.
 
Dammit, I'm tired of looking at dead people. Natural causes I understand and accept but this kind of stuff is wearisome.


I have repeatedly and immensely enjoyed his blog.
 
Rest in Peace Brother, and widen out those low orbits & turns a little in your next world.
 
Last edited:
Dammit, I'm tired of looking at dead people. Natural causes I understand and accept but this kind of stuff is wearisome.
i was thinking the other day that basically since I turned 18 the major portion of my life has been devoted to watching friends, family, and colleagues die. :(
 
Terrible... his blog was something special, and I guess he was, too.
 
I was really looking forward to hearing more from him. Sounds like he was on his '08 tour when this happened.

Sad.

By the way, the picture link now does require registration.
 
Sad,.. .very sad. His blog was a great example of the wonder and beauty that Alaska and other places have to offer, through the lens of a skilled photographer. Very sad to see those photos (link worked for me w/o registration). I couldn't imaging being Loni and having to land and watch,.. unable to do anything about it.

Prayers and Thoughts to freinds and family.
 
Crap.

The first time I loaded his blog (I think somebody posted it here) I was floored by his photography and ,most of all, the experience that he had flying up there. It sparked something inside of my imagination that left me on cloud nine for a full day.

Tailwinds, Shaun...and thank you for sharing your passion with all of us.
 
That sucks. I just looked at his blog. It's screensaver heaven. Talwinds.
 
(link worked for me w/o registration).

Apparently it left some kind of cookie. When I went back, it required a registration.

I'm a low-time guy who's had the same question that a lot of low-time guys have - if something like that can happen to someone like him, what chance do I have? It keeps me focused.

He left some great pictures and really inspired me to think seriously about doing things with my life where I would have been content to sit back and watch, otherwise.
 
I'm a low-time guy who's had the same question that a lot of low-time guys have - if something like that can happen to someone like him, what chance do I have? It keeps me focused.

That's an important thought: the best we can do in his memory is not to say "Tough break... but it'd never happen to me" but to say "what can I learn from this?"

It's a fallacy, this notion that the more time you log, the safer you get. It's also a fallacy that "extreme" pilots- bush pilots, military, aerobatic, etc- who survive a long time are somehow death-proof. It ain't so.

Many, many very preventable accidents happen with top-notch, experienced pilots at the controls.

I wasn't there, and I'm not bashing this guy by any means, but I'll bet you a beer that if we could resurrect him long enough for him to sit down and tell us what he thinks went wrong, he'd say "I got complacent".

In that kind of flying especially, you can't ever let your guard down.
 
Crap.

The first time I loaded his blog (I think somebody posted it here) I was floored by his photography and ,most of all, the experience that he had flying up there. It sparked something inside of my imagination that left me on cloud nine for a full day.

Tailwinds, Shaun...and thank you for sharing your passion with all of us.

Boy Jason that was my exact experience too. This is such a loss. He had great passion and talent. Ironically I am almost done the book The Last of the Bush Pilots and they relate the exact accident in a cub.
 
Wow.

I loved looking at his blog, it was a frequent respite from the drudgery of work, and I like to think it kept me in touch on why we are all in this aviation thing.

I didn't know Shaun but this loss really seems to hit very close to home. I'm willing to bet that his fantastic sense of adventure and wonderful ability to capture the adventures he had on film inspired more than a few people. His presence will be missed.
 
In the interest of accuracy, it appears that he was not "turning tight circles" but rather made one or two tight turns to circle back to look at a whale skeleton he had spotted and then stalled, making the likelihood that he crossed his own wake turbulence unlikely. Its been postulated that he turned into a very stiff tailwind flying low and slow, and might have been trying to take a photo. His dad is a pilot too and has posted some info as well as a eulogy of sorts on other forums.
 
Apparently it left some kind of cookie. When I went back, it required a registration.

I'm a low-time guy who's had the same question that a lot of low-time guys have - if something like that can happen to someone like him, what chance do I have? It keeps me focused.

He left some great pictures and really inspired me to think seriously about doing things with my life where I would have been content to sit back and watch, otherwise.

Once you get your basic skills down it's not hardly a matter of hours as much as remembering and using what you already know. Like you said, keep focused.
 
Extremely depressing...

Shawn's blog and pictures are awesome and made me drool with envy.

I guess that flying can be risky, no matter how cautious you are, there are just too many factors that come into play...one little mistake is all it takes...

There is no point denying that fact...if it happened to such a seasoned pilot, it can really happen to everybody.

Godspeed Shawn, you will be missed.
 
The first I saw the pictures was the OP here.

The images are spectacular and overwhelming.

Such an accident should certainly give all aviators pause.

I guess that flying can be risky, no matter how cautious you are, there are just too many factors that come into play...one little mistake is all it takes...

There is no point denying that fact...if it happened to such a seasoned pilot, it can really happen to everybody.

While we should all re-examine ourselves when an experienced pilot is lost due to pilot error, "accidents" are rarely the result of "one little mistake."

We all have an envelope, which size is bound by our own skills, experience, knowledge, awareness, overall acuity on that day (or in that moment), the aircraft's capabilities, the environment, and all the other little details that expand our contract the envelope.

The key is know know the boundaries, and stay within them. When we fly on the edges, we need to know how much is left between accomplishment and catastrophe.

Bush pilots are few and their numbers are pared annually because they fly on the margins, frequently. Most Private Pilots are not flying that close to the edge, and thus stay reasonably within their envelopes.

The sad fact is that the laws of physics are impartial and absolute, thus the most gifted and talented and capable are snatched away as readily as the most slovenly.

From the evidence on his Blog, Shaun was certainly in the former group.
 
Back
Top