Crash at LZU

EppyGA

EppyGA

Touchdown! Greaser!
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Let's Fly
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I was in the Super H mart last night picking up some stuff for my visiting parents and my brother called and told me while I was in the checkout line. Wise-*** told me it was "two guys who had just bought a plane." Of course, I had just told them over dinner we closed the sale on Friday, and that the new owners were planning to pick it up on Monday!!!:eek:

I called them right away, and fortunately they had picked up 94J earlier in the day and they all arrived safely. Whew.

Condolences to the pilot's family.
 
Just was watching Fox news at 10. Tonight's report mentioned the pilot was Mell Hall. Mell's been a fixture at Lawrenceville as long as I can remember. He ran Falcon Aviation, brokering planes. His office was in the same FBO where I was based, so I'd often see him or one of his sons around. He'd even helped me with the 94J transaction when I bought it.

Sounds like he was a true hero bringing the plane down so his three passengers could walk away.

I looked at Falcon's listings on ASO, and it was for sale:

http://www.aso.com/listings/spec/ViewAd.aspx?id=123516


RIP, Mell.
 
rpadula said:
Just was watching Fox news at 10. Tonight's report mentioned the pilot was Mell Hall. Mell's been a fixture at Lawrenceville as long as I can remember. He ran Falcon Aviation, brokering planes. His office was in the same FBO where I was based, so I'd often see him or one of his sons around. He'd even helped me with the 94J transaction when I bought it.

Sounds like he was a true hero bringing the plane down so his three passengers could walk away.

I looked at Falcon's listings on ASO, and it was for sale:

http://www.aso.com/listings/spec/ViewAd.aspx?id=123516


RIP, Mell.
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If that's the case I just saw him Saturday morning at the EAA breakfast. A gentleman I used to work for unexpectedly showed up at the breakfast and said he'd been invited by Mel. Wow.

The owner of the tail number for the plane listed at Falcon doesn't match the person the press said the plane was registered to. I haven't found anything that mentions the name of the pilot in any of the stories.

I was looking at a different listing at Controller. The listing you had is for that plane. I still can't find anything that gives the name though.
 
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Randy,

See if you can find last night's video on the myfoxatlanta site.

I'll be interested to see what the NTSB finds. I thought that Mell owned a Queen Air and I'm pretty sure he dealt in them, too. AFAIK, he has lots of experience in them. The TV report said he radioed about 1 engine failing about 20 seconds after takeoff, and his son radioed of the other engine quitting shortly thereafter. :frown3:
 
rpadula said:
Randy,

See if you can find last night's video on the myfoxatlanta site.

I'll be interested to see what the NTSB finds. I thought that Mell owned a Queen Air and I'm pretty sure he dealt in them, too. AFAIK, he has lots of experience in them. The TV report said he radioed about 1 engine failing about 20 seconds after takeoff, and his son radioed of the other engine quitting shortly thereafter. :frown3:
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I searched through their site and haven't found anything. Seems strange that you'd lose both engines like that. I can't imagine anything except something like someone filling the tanks with Jet A instead of Avgas.
 
EppyGA said:
I searched through their site and haven't found anything. Seems strange that you'd lose both engines like that. I can't imagine anything except something like someone filling the tanks with Jet A instead of Avgas.
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I have nothing that indicates what really happened but it's not all that uncommon for a pilot to feather the wrong engine in the heat of the moment when one quits near the ground on takeoff.
 
gismo said:
I have nothing that indicates what really happened but it's not all that uncommon for a pilot to feather the wrong engine in the heat of the moment when one quits near the ground on takeoff.
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I guess we'll all find out when the report comes out.
 
There was plenty of avgas in the mains. Neither engine was running.
 
For anyone in the ATL area that knew Mel the funeral service will be Saturday 2:00pm at the 12Stone Church in Lawrenceville. One of the other three on the plane was a member of our EAA Chapter.
 
gismo said:
I have nothing that indicates what really happened but it's not all that uncommon for a pilot to feather the wrong engine in the heat of the moment when one quits near the ground on takeoff.
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my name is josh hall and i am mell halls son. there was no mistake in feathering the wrong engine i was in the plane and survived the crash. i was co-pilot abord the flight
 
rpadula said:
Randy,

See if you can find last night's video on the myfoxatlanta site.

I'll be interested to see what the NTSB finds. I thought that Mell owned a Queen Air and I'm pretty sure he dealt in them, too. AFAIK, he has lots of experience in them. The TV report said he radioed about 1 engine failing about 20 seconds after takeoff, and his son radioed of the other engine quitting shortly thereafter. :frown3:
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mell never made any radio transmissions i was co pilot and was handling the radio calls
 
Unregistered said:
my name is josh hall and i am mell halls son. there was no mistake in feathering the wrong engine i was in the plane and survived the crash. i was co-pilot abord the flight
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Unregistered said:
mell never made any radio transmissions i was co pilot and was handling the radio calls
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Josh we are certainly glad that you survived and saddened to lose a member of the aviation family. But at this time I am sure that there is an active investigation under way and that your father's estate will be facing litigation. Although I am not an attorney and cannot give legal advise, I think that you should be saying nothing in public about this case at all. What ever you do say could become discoverable and then be used against you. Let the Monday morning quarterbacking continue on this, it will affect you not.
 
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Unregistered said:
mell never made any radio transmissions i was co pilot and was handling the radio calls
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Josh,

Thanks for stopping by here and posting. We have all learned to take any GA TV reports with a huge grain of salt when it comes to accuracy (or lack thereof).

I don't think we've met, but I've chatted with Matt a few times, and waaay back in 2001 your dad gave me a demo flight in a Commander 112 that he had for sale. I couldn't commit to it at the time, but he was gracious to me with all my questions. Mell eventually helped us with the transaction later when Alan sold it to me and he stepped up to his Geronimo.

Again, my condolences to you and your family.
 
Josh, my condolences. I've read the news articles of what you told your friend about your father's actions; he's a hero for sacrificing himself to save you and the others, and I know you'll miss him.
 
TangoWhiskey said:
Josh, my condolences. I've read the news articles of what you told your friend about your father's actions; he's a hero for sacrificing himself to save you and the others, and I know you'll miss him.
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+1.

And just to be clear, in my earlier post I wasn't suggesting that the wrong engine was feathered, just that this has happened before more than once. I'm sure your dad did all he could and it sounds like he clearly had your best chances for survival in mind. Again, my condolences for your loss and wishes for your speedy and complete recovery.
 
Thanks everybody. Im finally healed up and looking for work again. The Family is doing better in this hard time. I as well as all of you are waiting on the final NTSB report to come out and find out what really happend. I have no doubt in my mind that if my dad wasnt flying, Gods hand and if we were in anything other than a tank like the Queen Air we all would have been dead. RIP DAD
 
gismo said:
I have nothing that indicates what really happened but it's not all that uncommon for a pilot to feather the wrong engine in the heat of the moment when one quits near the ground on takeoff.
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i was in the plane. my father did not feather the wrong engine in the heat of the moment
 
For the record, the NTSB report makes no mention of feathering a "wrong engine", concluding that the cause of the loss of engine power and resulting accident was "undetermined".
 
One thing we can all learn from this is to go up solo if your plane has not flown for four months. I'd rather deal with any issues before my family and friends hop in.
 
RV10flyer said:
One thing we can all learn from this is to go up solo if your plane has not flown for four months. I'd rather deal with any issues before my family and friends hop in.
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Absolutely agree.
 
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