Bumped into miracle crash survivor at Osh

SixPapaCharlie

May the force be with you
Joined
Aug 8, 2013
Messages
16,026
Display Name

Display name:
Sixer
Having beers with Squawk Shoppe Shane and the other Mooney guys and I get to talking to this guy and he goes into this story.

He was flying in freezing cold weather, takes off, Hits the AP, and then falls asleep due to Carbon Monoxide poisoning. He wakes up in the plane in a field 3 hours later and thinks he is still flying. He said it was about 3 minutes he kept trying to call center and tell them he needs to land.

Apparently they scrambled jets, multiple controllers tried to raise him on his radio and texted his phone.

The plane runs out of fuel and somehow comes to rest in a field. They way he described the terrain layout, and the position of objects, trees, etc it was a one in a million shot.

I vaguely remember a story like this but holy hell. What are the odds?

If you ever meet Dan Bass, buy him a beer. He is a really nice guy and a good dad and probably the luckiest sonofabitch walking the earth right now.

https://www.ntsb.gov/_layouts/ntsb.aviation/brief.aspx?ev_id=20170207X10221&key=1
http://www.kathrynsreport.com/2017/02/accident-occurred-february-02-2017-in.html


"The pilot remained unresponsive until after the airplane impacted a field in a relatively level attitude. The pilot recalled waking up and thinking that he fell asleep for a few minutes. He stated he keyed the microphone to let air traffic control know that he was alright and noticed that the windscreen was "clear." He reached his hand out the hole in the windscreen which is when he realized that he was no longer flying. He stated he was very confused and had loud ringing in his ears at this point. The pilot freed his legs from the wreckage and he exited the airplane. He stated he was very weak and had difficulty with his balance and ability to walk. The pilot eventually made his way to a house about 500 ft from the accident site. It is unknown how long the pilot was unconscious after the impact. However, the last radar contact was at 1955 and the 911 call from the house was placed at 2107."
 
Dan is a class act. He put together a group buy of portable CO detectors after the accident. Now he has the calibration rig for those detectors and will calibrate and reset them for the asking (he offered to do so at OSH).
 
Its because of Dan Bass that I buy one of these every 18 months:

View attachment 65596
I never use the heater because that scenario scares the heck out of me. If I get cold, I put on a jacket. Getting one or some of those disposable CO detectors is on my to-do list. I think it just got bumped a little higher on the list after reading this thread.
 
Bryan, was going to post an incriminating photo of you I snapped this week with a snide comment. But now I won't. Thanks for pointing out this story.

Okay, maybe I will post it still. I have no self control.
 
Bryan, was going to post an incriminating photo of you I snapped this week with a snide comment. But now I won't. Thanks for pointing out this story.

Okay, maybe I will post it still. I have no self control.

What happens at OSH, stays at OSH. :)
 
.....It is unknown how long the pilot was unconscious after the impact. However, the last radar contact was at 1955 and the 911 call from the house was placed at 2107."

Almost enough time to sober up.
 
Bryan, was going to post an incriminating photo of you I snapped this week with a snide comment. But now I won't. Thanks for pointing out this story.

Okay, maybe I will post it still. I have no self control.

Do. It. :yes::yesnod::yes:
 
Okay, the Aye's have it. But not here, in deference to Mr. Bass. Besides, now B with a Y can stew for a while, wondering which of the many situations it was . . .
 
Pay for one of my $335 monthly trash disposal fees and it never happened. :)

Edit: Upon reflection, while washing the dishes (I am a kept man), that was rather troll-ish. You see, the ongoing joke with m'lady is that we have a $335 monthly trash service (I carry it to the dumpster) with a hangar that includes electric thrown in for free.
 
Last edited:
Dan's story is amazing. He didn't set the AP (he had the same model Mooney I do, a C), he took off, cleaned up, checked in with ATC and trimmed for climb. Then passed out. His plane climbed WOT/Full Rich until it wouldn't climb any more, then mushed along until it ran out of fuel; descent was at the same trim attitude, ending in a snow-covered Minnesota field.

Based on his story and discussions with others, he posted links to two CO companies and arranged discounts:

Guardian Avionics https://www.guardianavionics.com/faa-tso-certified-aircraft-co-detectors

20% off Discount Code: coaware

The Sensorcon discount also is still active

20% off Sensorcon code: aircraft2017

I threw away my little card with a dot that I used to replace every fall, and bought a Sensorcon. It's smaller than a deck of cards, just need to figure out where to velcro it to my panel. I've tested several locations, but it's usually in my lap or on the right seat if empty.

Ya'll fly safe!
 
Amazing story. Honestly, CO poisoning has never been on my radar of things bad to happen.
 
I carry and use a pulse ox ,.on long cross countries.also have a co meter
 
I never use the heater because that scenario scares the heck out of me. If I get cold, I put on a jacket. Getting one or some of those disposable CO detectors is on my to-do list. I think it just got bumped a little higher on the list after reading this thread.

That depends on where you fly. When it’s -20 on the ground and cooler up there, you are almost shaking with a double layer Columbia and the heater on

Read about this one somewhere before, he should have bought a lotto ticket that day.
 
That depends on where you fly. When it’s -20 on the ground and cooler up there, you are almost shaking with a double layer Columbia and the heater on

If it's -20 on the ground then I'm thinking pretty hard about whether I want to fly. :)
 
I never use the heater because that scenario scares the heck out of me. If I get cold, I put on a jacket. Getting one or some of those disposable CO detectors is on my to-do list. I think it just got bumped a little higher on the list after reading this thread.

Yeah, that's isn't an option in this neck of the woods. Otherwise you wouldn't be flying 4-5 months out of the year.

I remember this incident in the news, because it wasn't far from here. Had a lot of no flying friends ask how it was even possible to crash and barely damage the plane.
 
Yeah, that's isn't an option in this neck of the woods. Otherwise you wouldn't be flying 4-5 months out of the year.
Yeah, I probably forgot to insert "almost" in front of "never". :)
 
Geebus! Good for Dan that he survived. And probably further proof about about being loose and limber (or unconscious, or inebriated) to better survive an accident.

Luckily we don’t use heat too much in SoCal, but I have worried on occasion when it was called for.
 
Pulse ox won’t tell u anything about CO
Only hypoxia
Get a Sensorcon
........pulse ox reading will actually INCREASE in the setting of CO poisoning. That’s why CO poisoning victims have cherry red mucus membranes.
 
It is quite rare. There are likely bigger risks in GA to worry about/spend time and money on.

All it takes is a leak in your muffler, or the exhaust upstream from there. How well does your cabin heat close off? It all comes from a shroud on your muffler. If it doesn't close off air-tight, a leaky muffler can put CO into the cabin even when the heat is turned off.
 
An amazing story.

I bought one of the Sensorcon alarms when Dan arranged the discount.

A man with a mission!
 
Wow! He cheated death in two ways, surviving the crash and surviving the CO poisoning. Doubly miraculous.
 
I think I've used cabin heat twice in 2.5 years of flying the plane. Partly because the bubble canopy functions as an excellent greenhouse. :D

Got tired on the way back from Osh on what was planned as a 3.2 hour leg. So I landed at about 2.2 hours, went into town (somewhere in Missouri) with courtesy car, grabbed a sandwich and Coke, and took off again, renewed.

Flying tired is not as bad as CO poisoning, but it can impair your judgment. Fly safe!
 
I think I've used cabin heat twice in 2.5 years of flying the plane. Partly because the bubble canopy functions as an excellent greenhouse. :D

Got tired on the way back from Osh on what was planned as a 3.2 hour leg. So I landed at about 2.2 hours, went into town (somewhere in Missouri) with courtesy car, grabbed a sandwich and Coke, and took off again, renewed.

Flying tired is not as bad as CO poisoning, but it can impair your judgment. Fly safe!

Miracle Dan lives in Minnesota. Cabin Heat is required. Flying in WV & OH, I used mine religiously (my Southern blood didn't acclimate in 9 years). I still use heat periodically in Alabama.

My wife gets cold and uses a bkanket in cruise; I often use partial cabin heat at altitude. Even in summer, when it's 100+ on the ground, it can be 60°F or less at 9500. Last Friday, it was 62°F and I ran partial heat to stay warm; my wife closed her knee vent.
 
All, you don’t know what you don’t know. After listening to Dan’s story directly from him at a Mooney gathering I purchased a Sensorcon CO detector for my Mooney. Was glad to see that that my cabin reading are near zero with and without heat. This year I went to Oshkosh with a friend in his Cherokee 6 and had a Sensorcon with us. On takeoff we were getting readings of over 400 ppm. During climb readings fell to 200 ppm, and thankfully during cruise they stabilized below 30. The alarm in the CO detector was going off from engine start to top of cruise. Obviously a problem but my friend was unaware.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
 
Well, I don't want to die, it does not affect my ability to fly, and someone gave me a discount, so I bought a Sensorcon.

Kind of like my decision on Lipitor last year.
 
Wow. Great read. Thanks for posting. Buying ASAP! I like winter flying. So this is a must.
 
Went to his talk - couple additional highlights.
CO poisoning presented as a massive headache and anxiety. YMMV.
He had a pulse ox and saw the reading and thought, “yep, my o2 is good today. Nice.”
Those CO dots don’t have an alarm. Get the electronic version.
Possible cause of the leak was a backfire about a week prior that could have formed a crack. He was a few hours away from his 100 hour, but no guarantee the crack would be caught without proper testing (not just visual). If your engine ain’t running right, don’t take off. Get it checked.
 
Back
Top