Alaska "men" (read: fools) survive crash, slide, night in the wilderness

[alaskaflyer]

Story here.

Excerpts:

Two Alaska men are crediting their faith for surviving a plane crash, a quarter-mile slide down a mountain and a night in the wilderness. The two church workers were found by searchers Friday morning, a day after their single-engine Aero Commander crashed into a snowy mountain.
Pilot Jim Bingman, 69, and passenger Gavin Thompson, 54, walked away from the crash and spent the night in a makeshift shelter more than a mile away.

The aircraft was about halfway to Dillingham when Bingman, a pilot for nearly 50 years, suddenly flew into whiteout conditions near a steep mountain, he said. He tried to turn around.
"And, all of a sudden, I looked out the front and there was a bush right in front of my nose," he said.
The plane touched down and sped quickly along a plateau until it ran out of flat ground. The plane went over the side on its back and slid, spinning. Thompson felt like a witness watching his own death, he told the Anchorage Daily News.

They had no food or sleeping bags. Their required survival gear had been forgotten in the back of a pickup truck at the Dillingham airport. They had matches but it was too wet to start a fire, Bingman said.


"I think the Lord was looking after us. Because we're Christians," Bingman said. "He said he promises he will watch us."
"But why did the plane crash? I don't have those answers until I get to heaven. I guess I could ask him once I get up there."

Which will be sooner instead of later, if you continue to rely on His grace instead of your own judgment to keep you out of airplane crashes.

Can anyone imagine a worst time to forget your survival gear? If you're going to choose to fly VFR into IFR conditions and then suffer a CFIT accident, you should at least remember to put your survival kit into the plane first

I don't mean to cast aspersions on this gentleman's personal beliefs, but...sheesh! His last quote disturbs me...I'm sorry. This was 100% preventable. Credit your maker for allowing you to survive, no more. Or else the 210th and 212th Rescue Squadrons. The landing, slide and rescue is an incredible story.

 

[Dave Krall CFII]

Story here.

Excerpts:
Which will be sooner instead of later, if you continue to rely on His grace instead of your own judgment to keep you out of airplane crashes.

Can anyone imagine a worst time to forget your survival gear? If you're going to choose to fly into VFR into IFR conditions and then suffer a CFIT accident, you should at least remember to put your survival kit into the plane first

I don't mean to cast aspersions on this gentleman's personal beliefs, but...sheesh! His last quote disturbs me...I'm sorry. This was 100% preventable. Credit your maker for allowing you to survive, no more. Or else the 210th and 212th Rescue Squadrons. The landing, slide and rescue is an incredible story.

Looks like some pretty solid proof that the Lord loves poorly flying morons...

 

[wby0nder]

Story here.

I don't mean to cast aspersions on this gentleman's personal beliefs, but...sheesh! His last quote disturbs me...I'm sorry. This was 100% preventable. Credit your maker for allowing you to survive,

Reminds me of what my flying pal Rick said after another local pilot nearly spun in and credited God for saving his life...

"I'd like to think that God has more important things to do than saving dumb ass glider pilots from themselves"

MM