Crash at gold course near KSMO Santa Monica

I prefer Tom Costello on NBC for aviation reporting. He did a great job reporting DAL1086.
 
Palmpilot said:
From the last line in the article:

"72-year-old Ford is a longtime aviator -- piloting planes and helicopters -- and has crashed multiple times in the past." [emphasis added]

I wonder why he's had so many crashes?
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And from the AvWeb article:
The incident prompted world-wide reaction and EAA Chairman Jack Pelton suggested the unplanned but relatively successful arrival on the golf course was the result of some good airmanship. "His flying experience and proficiency served him well today," Pelton said in a statement.
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One can cannot dispute that Mr. Ford has experience crashing aircraft, and experience does develop proficiency.
 
Palmpilot said:
...I wonder why he's had so many crashes?
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Read Jimmy Doolittle's book. Not counting the wartime stuff he crashed WAY more airplanes than Harrison Ford. I suppose that's why the title of the book is: "I Could Never be so Lucky Again"
 
Ron Levy said:
And from the AvWeb article:
One can cannot dispute that Mr. Ford has experience crashing aircraft, and experience does develop proficiency.
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He's fine...
L6xeCGn.jpg
 
Stupidest comment I have heard from the media so far about this accident: "airplanes with engines this old have a tendency to fail"

Tendency?! I don't think so. They may fail, but they don't have a tendency to fail.


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When people ask me if I feel safe flying a 1946 Luscombe I tell them it has never killed anyone in 70 years of use. That seems like a pretty good record. If it has any "tendency" I'd say it overwhelmingly tends to keep on flying and have nothing go wrong.
 
All kidding aside, Mr. Ford did a great job getting the old Ryan down. Anybody that has ever flown a Kinner engine knows to always look for a place to land. The Ryan stalls at 65MPH clean, is heavy, and built like a brick outhouse. The bird is fully re-buildable and many parts can be salvaged. Mr. Ford probably touched down at 70-75MPH and to his credit, avoided the populated area of Santa Monica. Wishing him a speedy recovery and clean medical.
 
Palmpilot said:
From the last line in the article:

"72-year-old Ford is a longtime aviator -- piloting planes and helicopters -- and has crashed multiple times in the past." [emphasis added]

I wonder why he's had so many crashes?
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One training in a helicopter, which is inherently dangerous since the wings move faster than the fuselage.

One reported as wind shear on a cross wind landing.

Now one due to an 70 year old engine dying.

Doesn't seem to be very related. Did I miss one?
 
bflynn said:
One training in a helicopter, which is inherently dangerous since the wings move faster than the fuselage.

One reported as wind shear on a cross wind landing.

Now one due to an 70 year old engine dying.

Doesn't seem to be very related. Did I miss one?
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Meh, it's all the same pilot.
 
I suppose it could just be a reflection of the fact that he can afford to do a lot more flying than I can!
 
PPC1052 said:
Meh, it's all the same pilot.
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Well in the helo incident he was with an instructor and probably wasn't PIC.

If one wants to pin them all on Harrison Ford and assume he's some kind of bad pilot, that person will likely do so in spite of details. Whatevs. :)
 
Looks like he came up just short of runway 3, and according to one report he had 3000 altitude when **** started going down (not sure how trustworthy that cite is.) I'm sort of curious why he didn't try to put it down on one of the larger greens that were probably running parallel to his flight path. Seems like he could've landed completely unscathed.

You can see exactly where he landed, here, and compare that to Google maps:

http://www.tmz.com/2015/03/05/harri...d=maing-grid7|main5|dl1|sec1_lnk3&pLid=623520
 
Silvaire said:
When people ask me if I feel safe flying a 1946 Luscombe I tell them it has never killed anyone in 70 years of use. That seems like a pretty good record. If it has any "tendency" I'd say it overwhelmingly tends to keep on flying and have nothing go wrong.
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E X C E L L E N T!!!!!! :thumbsup:
 
mercurial said:
Looks like he came up just short of runway 3, and according to one report he had 3000 altitude when **** started going down (not sure how trustworthy that cite is.) I'm sort of curious why he didn't try to put it down on one of the larger greens that were probably running parallel to his flight path. Seems like he could've landed completely unscathed.

You can see exactly where he landed, here, and compare that to Google maps:

http://www.tmz.com/2015/03/05/harri...d=maing-grid7|main5|dl1|sec1_lnk3&pLid=623520
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My guess is he really wanted to get back to the airport and by the time he realized that wasn't gonna happen those fairways were behind him. Watching the video of that thing taking off I find it very hard to believe he was at 3000' within 2 minutes of takeoff clearance. SMO is damn close to sea level. I have to go to the coast and do a pretty wide 270 to get up to 3500 for the LAX SFRA in my mooney. Dont think he was airborne long enough for that.
 
StinkBug said:
My guess is he really wanted to get back to the airport and by the time he realized that wasn't gonna happen those fairways were behind him. Watching the video of that thing taking off I find it very hard to believe he was at 3000' within 2 minutes of takeoff clearance. SMO is damn close to sea level. I have to go to the coast and do a pretty wide 270 to get up to 3500 for the LAX SFRA in my mooney. Dont think he was airborne long enough for that.
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The old Ryan with the Kinner R-540 is lucky to get 700 FPM climb on a good day. Would doubt the 3000 ft.
 
petrolero said:
Well in the helo incident he was with an instructor and probably wasn't PIC.

If one wants to pin them all on Harrison Ford and assume he's some kind of bad pilot, that person will likely do so in spite of details. Whatevs. :)
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Hey, I clearly put the blame on this last crash on the mynok.
 
Palmpilot said:
From the last line in the article:

"72-year-old Ford is a longtime aviator -- piloting planes and helicopters -- and has crashed multiple times in the past." [emphasis added]

I wonder why he's had so many crashes?
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He flies single pilot GA a lot, **** happens.
 
I'm glad he's okay as well.

We can't afford to lose two sci-fi legends in one week.
 
All ya gotta do is watch the coverage of something you know, like aviation, on all of the modern "news" outlets.

Now realize they do just as good a job reporting the other news.

Not even worth tuning in or turning on, once you get it.
 
Henning said:
He flies single pilot GA a lot, **** happens.
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That's probably it. People who can afford to fly a lot, and do so, have more exposure to the inherent risk.
 
Pretty sure it was the ASTB spokesman I saw in an interview last night and he did a great job handling "gotcha questions." He reiterated multiple times that general aviation is very safe in general and remarked the pilot did a good job with a bad situation. I was impressed.

Fox News has a prior F/A-18 pilot as one of their broadcasters and brought her in for Fox and Friends today. She reiterated a good pilot knows the procedures for emergencies, discussed best glide speed, etc. Overall, she did a good job proving this wasn't a plane falling out of the sky by a "dangerous" general aviation pilot.
 
Bonchie said:
I'm sure that's true but with no engine power and suddenly having to put it right on a spot with all the stress that comes with that, it'd be a challenge. Golf courses aren't flat and are full of obstacles. Not saying I couldn't do it. I'm just saying he did a good job.
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Yeah...if he didn't have 18 of 'em to choose from I might agree with you!;)
 
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mercurial said:
I'm sort of curious why he didn't try to put it down on one of the larger greens that were probably running parallel to his flight path. http://www.tmz.com/2015/03/05/harri...d=maing-grid7|main5|dl1|sec1_lnk3&pLid=623520
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Because greens are around 50 meters in diameter surrounded by things like sand traps and water hazards. Fairways are generally heavier grass, somewhat straight, and a hell of a lot longer.

Pity that he hit a tree before he got to the fairway.

Jim
 
StinkBug said:
You think this line of thinking is confined to this area? Pretty sure all the NIMBYs that move in next to airports then want them shut down share this mentality regardless of locale.
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CA takes NIMBY and "for the chiiiiillddrennn" to a new level of Hell on Earth.
 
RalphInCA said:
Stupidest comment I have heard from the media so far about this accident: "airplanes with engines this old have a tendency to fail"

Tendency?! I don't think so. They may fail, but they don't have a tendency to fail.


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Moron probably thinks it's the original engine that's been running since the 40's.
 
weirdjim said:
Because greens are around 50 meters in diameter
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Man I wish! The little hometown course that I play at has postage stamp sized greens. I don't think any of them have a 50' dimension, much less 150'.

Greens that size would cut at least a 1/2 dozen strokes off of my average score (i.e. no more than I play, chipping & finesse shots are my weakest link).
 
One of the nice things about living in California is that so many complete strangers who don't live here seem to have sincere concerns for us and our well being. :rolleyes:
 
weirdjim said:
Because greens are around 50 meters in diameter surrounded by things like sand traps and water hazards. Fairways are generally heavier grass, somewhat straight, and a hell of a lot longer.

Pity that he hit a tree before he got to the fairway.

Jim
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I meant fairways (I don't play golf.) Look at Penmar Golf Course in Google maps, lots of long fairways parallel to the path leading up to runway 3.
 
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