Piper Lance Crash Near Austin

Lowflynjack

Lowflynjack

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Jack Fleetwood
So yesterday was a long day for us. Luckily my friend is okay.

I had a photo shoot scheduled for yesterday evening. I was shooting a Baron, so we wanted to use the Lance for the extra speed over my normal 170 photo ship. My friend who owns the Lance had to give some friends a ride around Austin first, but would be back in plenty of time to pick me up.

I was getting nervous that I would be late around 3PM and was pacing around the airport. Then he texted me, saying, "I had an issue can not go". I replied that it wasn't a problem and called the Baron owner to cancel. I then asked my friend if it was an airplane issue and if so should I come get him, or bring him tools, etc. He replied, "Yes. Sorry". He was taking awhile to respond to me, when another friend came running over and told me there had been a crash and showed me the photo on Facebook.

I'll get to the long story later, but the short version is, he's okay. He lost power... no, I won't speculate about it. He is okay, the car he hit had nobody in it, and the plane is a total loss. It could have been a lot worse and today I'm thankful I still have a friend. Be careful out there.

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This is what happens to a Chevy when it rips a wing off of an airplane! Pretty tough if you ask me. And for those of you worried about Piper wing bolts... they're all still on the airplane and look like new. The wing broke around the bolts.
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And a photo of me a few weeks ago getting ready to go up for a flight in it.
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Damn man I'm sorry

Glad your buddy is okay though.. that one is a little close for comfort
 
Glad you still have a friend Jack. Also glad it didn't happen on your flight. We never know when our number is up.
 
Tantalum said:
Damn man I'm sorry. Glad your buddy is okay though.. that one is a little close for comfort
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Aaron Trueblood said:
Glad everyone is ok!
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Timbeck2 said:
Glad you still have a friend Jack. Also glad it didn't happen on your flight. We never know when our number is up.
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He's a good friend. I've flown this plane and was looking forward to flying it more. He apologized to me last night for missing my photo shoot! Like I care about that at a time like this! He's okay, nobody else hurt... nothing else matters today.

And yes, I'm glad I wasn't in it. I've been through a couple of crashes. If I was in it, we would have had the doors off and I wouldn't have had my seatbelt on. I might have had a chance to get buckled in, but who knows?
 
Good outcome, except for the aircraft and Chevy.
 
Lowflynjack said:
Which are both replaceable and insured. Good day for everyone but the insurance company!
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And not a horrible day for them either, as he walked away, and no one injured on the ground. Just material goods.
 
Glad everyone is ok.

Not to make light of the situation, but I guess technically you did end up with a photo shoot. Just not air-to-air this time :(

Edit: and I bet this one doesn't make the front cover of any aviation magazine!
 
Skyrys62 said:
Glad everyone is ok.

Not to make light of the situation, but I guess technically you did end up with a photo shoot. Just not air-to-air this time :(
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I think it's okay to make light of it... he's okay. Someone said it wasn't a gear-up landing. It kind of was though... two of the gear are pointing up... one is sideways!
 
I knew I ticked off a couple of the State Troopers last night, but now I'm hearing the FAA Investigator is going to call me. He's mad because I went out and got my friend's keys out of the plane, and I had to slam the door to close it. I guess I don't know my own strength... I set off the ELT! Oh well, he told us he was done with the plane and we could move it where ever we wanted... not sure what he thinks he's going to say to me!
 
I'm glad everyone walked away unharmed. That could not have been a fun ride.
 
Great photos as usual @Lowflynjack! :) Seriously though, glad that everyone came out alright and it's just the bent metal that has to be replaced. Had to have put a pretty good sized knot in your stomach when you initially saw the pics.
 
I’m the guy you want around when things go wrong. I never panic. I only deal with the situation. Today I had to deal with the airport and get things from the plane, then bring those things to my hangar. I had a task to complete.

Now I’m sitting here, with everything done, on the picnic table by my hangar having a beer and it hits... I almost lost a friend. I’ve lost friends and family members in planes. I’m not saying this guy did anything wrong, but I’m saying preflight like somebody loves you.
 
Lowflynjack said:
I’m not saying this guy did anything wrong, but I’m saying preflight like somebody loves you.
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We're among equal opportunity haters here, feel free to speak your mind. Are you saying the guy ran outta gas? Cuz other than that, there's nothing that can be done about those siamese mags, or engine internals grenading on you. No hole or oil on the cowl/windshield that I can see, so it doesn't look like he threw a jug or con-rod. At any rate, preflight ain't gonna catch that.

Personally, I think it was a godsend that car was there to rip that wing off. that's a lot of energy he didn't have to dissipate with his body. That road wasn't gonna be long enough to stop. You need a lot of speed to rip that wing off clean. Taxi speeds don't do that. He was prob still "flying" when he hit it. Best use of a hershey bar wing I've seen to date. Those things barely qualify as wings on a good day anyhow. :D
 
So you quote me saying I’m not saying he did anything wrong and then ask me if I’m saying he did something wrong? I’m saying do what you can because you can’t control everything.

The road was plenty long enough to stop, there is another mile before the next intersection, but I agree the car took a lot of the energy out of it.
 
Lowflynjack said:
I knew I ticked off a couple of the State Troopers last night, but now I'm hearing the FAA Investigator is going to call me. He's mad because I went out and got my friend's keys out of the plane, and I had to slam the door to close it. I guess I don't know my own strength... I set off the ELT! Oh well, he told us he was done with the plane and we could move it where ever we wanted... not sure what he thinks he's going to say to me!
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So, an airplane is totaled, a car is badly damaged, nobody was hurt, and the FAA guy is mad because the ELT got set off? What ARE his priorities?
 
Glad your buddy walked away.

kyleb said:
So, an airplane is totaled, a car is badly damaged, nobody was hurt, and the FAA guy is mad because the ELT got set off? What ARE his priorities?
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I would have expected the ELT to have already gone off, what with an impact strong enough to rip a wing off and flip the rest of it upside down.
 
You have to admit its a bit comedic for a crash to keep the ELT intact, but a guy throws a door shut and the thing goes off. Kinda like those scenes where the air bag deploys on the dudes face after the entire wreck comes to a stop. :D
 
hindsight2020 said:
You have to admit its a bit comedic for a crash to keep the ELT intact, but a guy throws a door shut and the thing goes off. Kinda like those scenes where the air bag deploys on the dudes face after the entire wreck comes to a stop. :D
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Yep! BTW, he never called me. I think the airport manager told him I was looking forward to his call!
 
Damn - glad your buddy is okay. Those are some gnarly pics.
 
I heard about this quickly as an old friend lived nearby and sent me a more distant photo. He only knew that the pilot had walked away.
 
Yikes. God bless everyone’s ok. I’ve the t-tail lance glide is not great. Good job getting it to ground safely.
 
Wow - your friend is lucky to have walked away from that. It sure is a clean break of the wing. Hope the insurance will let him get a proper tail this time. :)
 
"Preflight Like Somebody Loves You" would not be a bad thing to scribble on top of the checklist...may slow us down that day we are in a hurry and heck we just flew her yesterday....

I just added an item to my pre-take off checklist too. I tell myself (silently with Px, out loud if alone): "WHEN my engine quits this take off, i will yell 'PUSH!" and i will do so" came from the pleas of a CFI who had a former student die with 2 Px i beleive, from engine out at take off and subsequent fall from the sky... He took pilots up and simulated them and was shocked at the near universal delay in getting the nose down yesterday...
 
hindsight2020 said:
You have to admit its a bit comedic for a crash to keep the ELT intact, but a guy throws a door shut and the thing goes off. Kinda like those scenes where the air bag deploys on the dudes face after the entire wreck comes to a stop. :D
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A bunch of metal got bent, but everyone walks away. Sorry to hear about the airplane (and car) but the important thing is that the irreplaceable parts weren't damaged. Sorry for the inconvenience in the photo shoot, but all in all, not a bad day.
 
I sort of laugh at the FAA going to give you a call...From recent personnel experience after finding out it was an FAA employee who flew my Aircraft into a tower I have received zero calls from the FAA and never any from the NTSB...this is a double fatality (One a six year old)... 3+ Million Dollars of damage...I would not worry about it... Most would find it strange the owner and primary operator of the aircraft never was interviewed...but I'm sure they have their priorities...

So good to here your friend walked away...DN
 
Warlock said:
I sort of laugh at the FAA going to give you a call...From recent personnel experience

<snip>

Most would find it strange the owner and primary operator of the aircraft never was interviewed...but I'm sure they have their priorities...
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It largely depends on who is involved and who they are friends with. I had a pair of acquaintances do something really dumb at a major fly-in about 20 years ago. One aircraft destroyed, one badly damaged, and a third aircraft involved, right in front of the crowd. The two guilty parties were friends with a really great person (also a friend of mine) who just happened to be well placed at the FAA. The two guilty parties called the FAA person immediately after the accident and got a lot of assistance in managing the situation with the FAA folks who were on-scene. A really dumb choice on their part that should have cost them their tickets was more or less managed as a stern reprimand...
 
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