One flew under the Golden Gate

Bonanza

Bonanza

Pre-takeoff checklist
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Bonanza
Returning this afternoon from Half Moon Bay my two passengers on the right hand side of the plane are convinced that they saw an aircraft fly under the bridge. They said it was white, high wing (or possibly a bi-plane) and had floats.
I was skeptical but we were only at 1500' and they had a clear and unobstructed view.
I know it has been done before but I would think that these days the penalty would be pretty severe.
Maybe it was an optical illusion or maybe it will appear on Facebook tomorrow.
Who knows?
Stephen.
 
Many years ago I saw a plane go under the New River Gorge bridge in West Virginia. I was doing fire patrol and was with Charleston approach. They asked me if I saw a plane do anything unusual near the bridge.

The bridge does not have a rise in it like going over the river. It is just as flat as the road, so going under it means flying below the top of the gorge, and yet the plane was still being seen on radar.

Glad I saw that because I had been tempted to do the same a few times.
 
Float plane flying under a bridge :rolleyes2:

Nothing to see here, move along people
 
Bonanza said:
Returning this afternoon from Half Moon Bay my two passengers on the right hand side of the plane are convinced that they saw an aircraft fly under the bridge. They said it was white, high wing (or possibly a bi-plane) and had floats.
I was skeptical but we were only at 1500' and they had a clear and unobstructed view.
I know it has been done before but I would think that these days the penalty would be pretty severe.
Maybe it was an optical illusion or maybe it will appear on Facebook tomorrow.
Who knows?
Stephen.
Click to expand...

It goes 'unnoticed', sometimes it's the only way to get around the corner VFR. It's not that infrequent, there really is a lot of space, even with big ships there.
 
91.119 only addresses overflights. Not underflights.
 
91.119 has no altitude over open water., but must stay at least 500' from structures. Given that the bridge span is only 220' AGL, that would seem to be a bust.

I don't see it in 91.119 but I'd assume there must be an exception for landing, otherwise you'd never be able to descend on final. Perhaps he was landing and didn't like something so he went around. Maybe it was a drone or model rc?
 
Sac Arrow said:
91.119 only addresses overflights. Not underflights.
Click to expand...

§91.119 Minimum safe altitudes: General.
(c) Over other than congested areas. An altitude of 500 feet above the surface, except over open water or sparsely populated areas. In those cases, the aircraft may not be operated closer than 500 feet to any person, vessel, vehicle, or structure.

...and of course...§91.13 Careless or reckless operation.
(a) Aircraft operations for the purpose of air navigation. No person may operate an aircraft in a careless or reckless manner so as to endanger the life or property of another.
 
bflynn said:
I don't see it in 91.119 but I'd assume there must be an exception for landing, otherwise you'd never be able to descend on final. Perhaps he was landing and didn't like something so he went around. Maybe it was a drone or model rc?
Click to expand...

§91.119 Minimum safe altitudes: General.
Except when necessary for takeoff or landing, no person may operate an aircraft below the following altitudes:
 
bflynn said:
91.119 has no altitude over open water., but must stay at least 500' from structures. Given that the bridge span is only 220' AGL, that would seem to be a bust.

I don't see it in 91.119 but I'd assume there must be an exception for landing, otherwise you'd never be able to descend on final. Perhaps he was landing and didn't like something so he went around. Maybe it was a drone or model rc?
Click to expand...

People apply common sense, if you have a failure gravity says you aren't going up. I would guess the GG gets one plane a month under it, maybe more. ATC is busy, if you are at 100', you're out of their way. They have other concerns than policing what they aren't responsible for.
 
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Brad Z said:
§91.119 Minimum safe altitudes: General.
(c) Over other than congested areas. An altitude of 500 feet above the surface, except over open water or sparsely populated areas. In those cases, the aircraft may not be operated closer than 500 feet to any person, vessel, vehicle, or structure.

...and of course...§91.13 Careless or reckless operation.
(a) Aircraft operations for the purpose of air navigation. No person may operate an aircraft in a careless or reckless manner so as to endanger the life or property of another.
Click to expand...

OP did state that that it was a float plane. There is a float plane operator in Sausalito that has a Beaver and a 182. They could conceivably be on a takeoff or landing flight path that puts them under the bridge.

Brad Z said:
§91.119 Minimum safe altitudes: General.
Except when necessary for takeoff or landing, no person may operate an aircraft below the following altitudes:
Click to expand...
 
Can anyone in their right mind call the Golden Gate open water? It's constrained by mountains on both sides, a bridge above, and there is a ton of ship traffic through there, ranging from little sailboats to container ships headed to Oakland and oil tankers headed for the Richmond terminal.

Just because it's water doesn't mean it's open.
 
Sac Arrow said:
OP did state that that it was a float plane. There is a float plane operator in Sausalito that has a Beaver and a 182. They could conceivably be on a takeoff or landing flight path that puts them under the bridge.
Click to expand...

It would have to be pretty damned good weather to be landing around the Golden Gate.
 
MAKG1 said:
Can anyone in their right mind call the Golden Gate open water? It's constrained by mountains on both sides, a bridge above, and there is a ton of ship traffic through there, ranging from little sailboats to container ships headed to Oakland and oil tankers headed for the Richmond terminal.

Just because it's water doesn't mean it's open.
Click to expand...

Yes, the Golden Gate is considered open water in this context as well as others.
 
Having misspent my youth flying seaplanes 135, my greatest fear flying under a bridge is the ropes, cables, hanging scaffolding, and other maintenance garbage that hangs below all bridges at some time.
 
kgruber said:
Having misspent my youth flying seaplanes 135, my greatest fear flying under a bridge is the ropes, cables, hanging scaffolding, and other maintenance garbage that hangs below all bridges at some time.
Click to expand...

That's the real hazard, luckily on the GG, they don't hang very low.
 
Henning said:
Lol, I have spent many hours sitting under that bridge getting my ass kicked waiting to meet a ship coming in.
Click to expand...

The coldest I've ever been was sailing on the bay in the middle of the summer in the middle of the night.
 
Zeldman said:
Many years ago I saw a plane go under the New River Gorge bridge in West Virginia. I was doing fire patrol and was with Charleston approach. They asked me if I saw a plane do anything unusual near the bridge.

The bridge does not have a rise in it like going over the river. It is just as flat as the road, so going under it means flying below the top of the gorge, and yet the plane was still being seen on radar.

Glad I saw that because I had been tempted to do the same a few times.
Click to expand...

Interesting.... *crosses plan off list*
 
A few years ago at a party we were discussing the bridge at Deception Pass in Washington. I had visited it a few years before, another guy had done an Antique car tour (older than 1915 cars) that passed over it. Another guy says he has flown under it inverted in an A-6. It was the early 70's and compared to getting shot at it was a fairly common and safe thing to do.:)

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4a/Deception_pass_bridge.jpg
 
I have seen helicopters flying under it many times, probably like the one in 6PC's post, but have never seen an airplane.
 
I have seen an airplane (Bonanza to be exact) fly low over the Bay Bridge between the spans once. Probably no more than 200 feet above the deck.
 
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