Qatar 777 low pass Horseshoe Bay Tx

Hadn't heard about this until Millikan released his video:

That video is crazy. That was an @EdFred level low pass lol
 
only thing I could think of was the pilots do not hold US certificates and perhaps are judgment-proof?
 
luvflyin said:
Listen another 15 seconds and you’ll learn that he named his Cessna 210 Lola. So I’m wondering, is Lola a boy Centurion or a girl Centurion?

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No doubt AC/DC is his second favorite band
 
Sigh. The hate on here for youtube never ceases to amaze me. Dan can be a bit verbose and dramatic, but hey, it's youtube. So aside from showing the video, which if you can't even stay for that looks like the wingtip was about 5 feet AGL, he also explained that:
-The plane was a first of its type...a new STC to cut a cargo door into a retired passenger 777 and install a load floor making it into a dedicated freighter.
-It was painted in the Qatari livery as it was due to be delivered in a few days. but the jet was still under the control of the conversion company, which had a facility at the airport where the low pass was done
-Qatar put out a press release stating they had no connection to the incident and were plainly ****ed their livery was on this plane that was making news.
-Qatar is the launch customer for the first five, with a bunch of more orders behind them. This is a PR nightmare for this company.

It looks pretty cool, but man, they juuuuust got away with it. Not sure if it was a lot of skill, or a lot of luck. I've never flown a jet, but I understand that the power setting requires planning ahead. Getting that thing that low, clean...wow, there was NO margin. Did they plan that or were they planning a higher pass and just barely avoided a crash? Imagine if they had dug that wingtip into the ground....
 
Jim K said:
The hate on here for youtube never ceases to amaze me. Dan can be a bit verbose and dramatic, but hey, it's youtube. So aside from showing the video, which if you can't even stay for that looks like the wingtip was about 5 feet AGL, he also explained that:
-The plane was a first of its type...a new STC to cut a cargo door into a retired passenger 777 and install a load floor making it into a dedicated freighter.
-It was painted in the Qatari livery as it was due to be delivered in a few days. but the jet was still under the control of the conversion company, which had a facility at the airport where the low pass was done
-Qatar put out a press release stating they had no connection to the incident and were plainly ****ed their livery was on this plane that was making news.
-Qatar is the launch customer for the first five, with a bunch of more orders behind them. This is a PR nightmare for this company.
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Thanks. I appreciate that I was able to learn that in a few seconds of my time, rather than 15 minutes plus ads.
 
If the pilot's good, see, I mean if he's reeeally sharp, he can barrel that baby in so low... oh you oughta see it sometime. It's a sight. A big plane like a triple seven... varrrooom! Its jet exhaust... frying chickens in the barnyard!
 
Jim K said:
-Qatar is the launch customer for the first five, with a bunch of more orders behind them. This is a PR nightmare for this company.

It looks pretty cool, but man, they juuuuust got away with it. Not sure if it was a lot of skill, or a lot of luck. I've never flown a jet, but I understand that the power setting requires planning ahead. Getting that thing that low, clean...wow, there was NO margin. Did they plan that or were they planning a higher pass and just barely avoided a crash? Imagine if they had dug that wingtip into the ground....
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I'm not sure it's a PR nightmare. If you look closely, you'll see a helicopter in the background, there were actually two, plus the photographer on the ground. Pretty sure it's just PR and was planned.

Just barely avoided a crash? The problem is have is... they didn't drag a wingtip, they didn't dig a wingtip into the ground, in fact... not a single person was hurt. Narrowly avoiding a crash implies they lost control and I don't think they did. Aviation was built on the backs of rebels.

And the part that I'm surprised hasn't come up... the name Qatar on the side almost guarantees the POTUS will make sure there is no punishment for this. The Qatari government fully owns the parent company, Qatar Airways, which operates Qatar Airways Cargo. You know, the government that donated the current AF1?
 
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Horseshoe Bay is a local airport for me. It's a private airport that uses 122.8, which is the busiest frequency in the area. They treat it like a controlled airport and really need their own frequency. On a busy Saturday afternoon, you'll often hear... "Horseshoe Bay Unicom this is Citation N-DMBASS." Unicom won't answer the first time, seems like it always takes five or six tries, probably because the Citation is 30 miles out. If they do answer, it's usually a "We've got Mr. Important onboard. Could you please turn on the the Escalade and have the AC on high?"

More than a few corporate pilots have thought they were talking to Unicom when I told them I'd be happy to have it running and cooled off for them. (Flame-retardant suit is on.)
 
Lowflynjack said:
And the part that I'm surprised hasn't come up... the name Qatar on the side almost guarantees the POTUS will make sure there is no punishment for this. The Qatari government fully owns the parent company, Qatar Airways, which operates Qatar Airways Cargo. You know, the government that donated the current AF1?
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Again though...not their pilots, not their plane yet. Their press release made it pretty clear they are not happy. If you were spending X million on a 777-MF, how would you feel about a company that pulls a stunt like that with your name painted down the side of the plane? Obviously they knew it was going to happen because it was recorded. I'd guess the pilots get thrown under the bus. A low pass is one thing but 10' off the deck with the gear stowed in something that big is quite another. I don't see how anyone could say a 777 in a bank with the wingtip 5' above the dirt is not really, really, really bad ADM.

WRT the Qatari angle...I'd guess that makes the .gov MORE likely to get involved, at their request.
 
Jeff Oslick said:
The thing about aviation is, even if you're "judgment proof", you're still going to be judged.

Flying dog s#!t out of Hong Kong comes to mind...
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Ahem...rubber dog s#!t

Although vulcanized Chinese rubber has the same smell. Ever been to a harbor freight? I can smell that olfactory dirty bomb from the parking lot.
 
Roger Wilco said:
Looked up the name--EAL 1989. No comment unless confirmed. Not sure whether the dislike was directed at the named individual, or your post.
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Oh, it's confirmed, and any time he has been confronted on it, he doubles down and says he has no remorse. F that guy.
 
Groundpounder said:
Oh, it's confirmed, and any time he has been confronted on it, he doubles down and says he has no remorse. F that guy.
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Sorry--I should have been clear. No comment unless I can confirm that he was indeed a pilot on the incident airplane.
 
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