Airplane I regularly rent.... totaled

MarcoDA40

MarcoDA40

Pre-takeoff checklist
Joined
Apr 14, 2015
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Marco
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KTTA
Happened in KTTA earlier today. I was supposed to fly it to Asheville (KAVL) today but it got booked before I had a chance to!
Student Pilot doing solo work.. practicing soft-field take offs lost directional control and slammed to the ground. Everyone is okay but airplane is not :(:(
 
Tin replaceable.

While a appreciate your frustration with the loss of the plane, maybe a little perspective is in order.

Jus sayin'.
 
I feel your pain. I got checked out in a Decathlon for aerobatics and a week later it got totaled. But I'm glad everyone is okay.
 
Which airplane?

Sucks to lose your favorite. The airplane I took my private in was crashed at 4am with a 400' ceiling after going missed and running out of gas. I can regret the airplane because the pilot walked away through sheer dumb luck.
 
It was a Diamond DA-20. Friend of mine sent me some pictures of it. Airplane is shot and he was lucky not to take out several other planes from what I could see.
 
Time to find another DA 20 to rent from. Or go for a high wing....we all know they are much better and safer airplanes anyway.:yes:

Glad student walked away. Everything else is small stuff.
 
mr_happyland said:
Those other planes are lucky. You think it's totaled?
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Will need total OH engine prop...that could be kicker there...(depending on variables)

Plus airframe stuff....

personally don't think it's a total either...but will be long time before it's ready to rent again.
 
I went through my logbook a few years ago thinking it would be "neat" to track down some of the old airplane's I once flew and fly to their current homes if they weren't local.

Especially if they stayed in commercial rental service, modern Google would find them. And it did for the most part.

A couple are in Kansas at a tiny flight school. Many are still in the area and looking really shabby compared to how I remembered them, after years of rental duty.

But the surprise was how many have been wrecked and how a few were involved in fatals, and then look up the NTSB stuff and see none of them were mechanical... All pilot error.

Sobering to say the least.
 
P.S. One of my favorites to fly decades ago, apparently did just set itself on fire one day after a training flight, and apparently no extinguisher on board or available. It burnt to the ground. Photos were impressive. No one hurt. Airplane just gone in five minutes.
 
denverpilot said:
I went through my logbook a few years ago thinking it would be "neat" to track down some of the old airplane's I once flew and fly to their current homes if they weren't local.

Especially if they stayed in commercial rental service, modern Google would find them. And it did for the most part.

A couple are in Kansas at a tiny flight school. Many are still in the area and looking really shabby compared to how I remembered them, after years of rental duty.

But the surprise was how many have been wrecked and how a few were involved in fatals, and then look up the NTSB stuff and see none of them were mechanical... All pilot error.

Sobering to say the least.
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I've done that exercise. I think about a half dozen of the aircraft I've flown have had a history that didn't always include planned landings. Luckily, never with me aboard.

Hmmm...let's see. One landed in a field after an engine failure. That was the first aircraft I ever flew on my very first flight lesson. One took a ride up a hillside. One got its tail chewed off by a Pitts. One had a tailstrike. Two had propstrikes. One hit a sign on takeoff.

One of them even made the news. My last flight in that aircraft was the flight just before the landing out.

http://www.nbcbayarea.com/news/local/Plane-Makes-Emergency-Landing-on-San-Jose-Street-226308891.html

And that's just the ones I know about. Airplanes have long lives. There will be interesting stuff in the history.
 
Glad everyone is ok,love those plastic airplanes,a little fiberglass. It will be good as new
 
Looks like he also skidded through some other airplanes to get back up on the ramp. Luckily didn't tear up any of those, GA is short of affordable airplanes.
 
denverpilot said:
I went through my logbook a few years ago thinking it would be "neat" to track down some of the old airplane's I once flew and fly to their current homes if they weren't local.

Especially if they stayed in commercial rental service, modern Google would find them. And it did for the most part.

A couple are in Kansas at a tiny flight school. Many are still in the area and looking really shabby compared to how I remembered them, after years of rental duty.

But the surprise was how many have been wrecked and how a few were involved in fatals, and then look up the NTSB stuff and see none of them were mechanical... All pilot error.

Sobering to say the least.
Click to expand...
The 172 I did my checkride in was totaled a year and a half ago in a loss of control landing accident. It's not surprising, 76G can have some freaky winds. Luckily there were no injuries, but the pilot had his three children aboard. :eek: I was told the FBO cannibalized it for parts. Must have been a painful decision since it was by far the most popular plane in their fleet.

http://www.wxyz.com/news/region/st-clair-county/authorities-report-small-plane-crash-at-marine-city-airport

I flew all over lower Michigan in that airplane, 7 solo cross countries in all as a student. Until I bought my airplane, I had more time in that one than in any other plane.
 
My favorite training 172 got totaled similarly. Smash'n'go from a stall too high over the runway, prop strike, bent main gear, bent firewall. And the pilot flew it 100 miles home after that!
 
Murphy's way of telling you that you need to fly some other planes for a change.
 
Aw, a little 5 minute epoxy, some pop rivets and a can of rubbing compound will fix that right up.
 
MAKG1 said:
My favorite training 172 got totaled similarly. Smash'n'go from a stall too high over the runway, prop strike, bent main gear, bent firewall. And the pilot flew it 100 miles home after that!
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Human denial never ceases to amaze
 
Glad the student is ok. It does stink when a plane you fly or have flown gets crunched. What really stinks is when there is a fatal in a plane you fly or have flown, regardless of whether you know the people.

Loss of a plane not good, pilot survives great!
 
So my story is a bit different. The plane I initially learned to fly in was totaled after I flew it. I took a friend flying for his first flight in a small plane. We were told by the owner to be back early for a very important rental. The renter after me, took is girlfriend up for a flight intending to take her to dinner and propose marriage on the way. His landing didn't go well, went long, off the end of the runway, through the fence and across a road. They were stopped by trees totaling the airplane. Evidently both families witnessed the event as they were there to congratulate the happy couple. No injuries reported other than those inflicted by the father of the bride.
 
GSXR now that is some story..


TTA is my home field... Ha a very recognizable airport bum (read: great guy) standing around looking at the wreckage.

The flying club at the south end is a great alternative to renting from a flight school. If you are interested I can answer any questions you might have.
 
Getonit said:
Looks like he also skidded through some other airplanes to get back up on the ramp. Luckily didn't tear up any of those, GA is short of affordable airplanes.
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The direction he was traveling was pretty much perpendicular to the runway. In the photo, the black asphalt behind the plane is the parallel taxiway and you can almost see the runway behind that.
 
azure said:
The 172 I did my checkride in was totaled a year and a half ago in a loss of control landing accident. It's not surprising, 76G can have some freaky winds. Luckily there were no injuries, but the pilot had his three children aboard. :eek: I was told the FBO cannibalized it for parts. Must have been a painful decision since it was by far the most popular plane in their fleet.
Click to expand...

There used to be a flight school at KPTK that kept our shop busy with airframe repairs.
 
Sorry about the plane, but planes are replaceable....people are not. Glad no one was hurt.
 
Here's the airplane I learned to fly in, only in this case it was a tornado.

Cub58H_after_twister.jpg
 
A DA-20 I had flown (more accurately, had just been checked out in) suffered a very similar fate. Totaled.
 
Paul, that sure is a fun story. Now the important question: did she end up marrying him? :)

Glad the student in the original accident is okay. Could have been much worse. Yes, it is an inconvenience to the renters signed up after him but I think his life is more important then bent metal. IMHO, the lesson learned from this is: don't rent from schools.
 
The plane I did my first solo in turned into a pile of junk on the side of a hill following an engine failure. Thankfully, everyone involved was ok.
 
arnoha said:
I've done that exercise. I think about a half dozen of the aircraft I've flown have had a history that didn't always include planned landings. Luckily, never with me aboard.
Click to expand...
I've had a bit better odds. Of all the airplanes I've flown, only one (a Decathlon) has been destroyed and that happened while tied down in a freak storm at San Diego Montgomery a couple years ago.
 
This thread is why I own instead of renting. I'm glad everything turned out ok for all involved though.

After months of finding flat tires, prop strikes, leaking oil, inop radios, unaddresed squawks, NOSEWHEEL collapses etc I said to hell with renting.

The last thing I wanna deal with is getting to the field, walking up the plane and having to cancel my plans for the day because the last inexperienced knucklehead renter messed something up in the only plane available that afternoon and didn't bother to mention it before leaving the plane.

This is NOT that situation, but you get my point. Glad they walked away from it.

I was putting some old logbook entries in from the 90's and found one of the 152's I flew when I was just getting into flying was totaled as well. The occupants lived, but I don't think the plane ever flew again.
 
Before I became a pilot I did some skydiving. The first plane I jumped out of was later involved in a fatal when the jump pilot tried to take a load up on fumes. I lost a friend in that one.

The plane I learned to fly in was later destroyed by a tornado. Luckily no one was hurt.

Now every year I check to see if the first airplane I owned is still around. So far it is.
 
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