Richard Bach plane accident

TangoWhiskey

TangoWhiskey

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This is on the news in Seattle this morning... A SeaRey caught wires with its gear while landing on a grass field in the San Juan Islands.

Article says "76 year old Richard D. Bach" was critically injured. Not certain it's the same Bach as the pilot / aviator author of Jonathan Livingston Seagull, but the middle initial and age matches the "David" and 1936 birth year of the author.

http://www.komonews.com/news/local/Small-plane-down-in-San-Juan-Islands-1-hurt-168231816.html

http://tdn.com/news/state-and-regio...cle_492600c1-a9d3-5d19-b98d-62d98d60ad65.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Bach
 
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It's just the type of thing the famous Richard Bach would be flying, I think. Whoever he is, I hope he recovers.
 
I was always fond of Jonathan Segal Chicken.
 
Yesterday was a beautiful day for flying in the PNW, and we had a string of planes with problems. This was the only one with injuries. Had a plane land on I-5 after a loss of power. Had a Q400 shut down an engine on a flight from Vancouver BC to SEA, declare an emergency and get greeted with the fire trucks as he landed (without any problems) at SEA. And the main runway as OLM was closed when I arrived to go flying due to a disabled aircraft.

Seems we have a pilot at OLM who is snakebit by Cessna retracts. 12 years ago when I was a student pilot this guy bought a 177 and was shooting T&Gs with a CFI in the right seat when they both forgot to lower the gear on about the 10th trip around the pattern. Fast forward to yesterday and he was flying a 177 (same one?) that he had just had checked out by an authorized Cessna dealer. Landed with the gear down and it collapsed partway down the runway. My CFII stopped by the hangar to put something away before going to see the guy and said that in additionto the prop strike and resulting tear down the nose gear folded forward. His thought (he's also an A&P) was that the plane will be totaled. I suggested that this guy might want to look at an Arrow if he really needs to fly retracts. He's already got two strikes on the Cessna design (granted, one was his fault). The got the plane cleared before I taxied out to go fly, otherwise I was going to make the first takeoff from rwy 8 I had ever done in the 12 years I've been flying. No biggie, but that tells you about the typical winds around here. Almost never from the east.

Best of luck to Bach. I wish him a speedy recovery.
 
Hope for a fast recovery. While everyone ties him to Johnathon Livingston Seagull, IMHO his book Stranger to the Ground is a vastly better read.
 
We were sitting there watching a buddy & fellow student doing his CME ride in a Seneca II, and we see no gear and at the very last possible second he nails it an climbs out. It was super close, but he passed the ride.
 
Ghery said:
Seems we have a pilot at OLM who is snakebit by Cessna retracts. 12 years ago when I was a student pilot this guy bought a 177 and was shooting T&Gs with a CFI in the right seat when they both forgot to lower the gear on about the 10th trip around the pattern. Fast forward to yesterday and he was flying a 177 (same one?) that he had just had checked out by an authorized Cessna dealer. Landed with the gear down and it collapsed partway down the runway. My CFII stopped by the hangar to put something away before going to see the guy and said that in additionto the prop strike and resulting tear down the nose gear folded forward. His thought (he's also an A&P) was that the plane will be totaled. I suggested that this guy might want to look at an Arrow if he really needs to fly retracts. He's already got two strikes on the Cessna design (granted, one was his fault). The got the plane cleared before I taxied out to go fly, otherwise I was going to make the first takeoff from rwy 8 I had ever done in the 12 years I've been flying. No biggie, but that tells you about the typical winds around here. Almost never from the east.
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Betcha both were his fault. The squat switch is on the nose oleo scissors, and in the landing roll the oleo is often still extended enough that the switch is still closed. If the pilot reaches for the flap switch and gets the gear instead, the nose gear will retract but the mains will stay down because of the weight on them.

The only other reason for the nosegear to fold would be a worn downlock or other nose retract parts and the bad maintenance that didn't fix it.

Dan
 
Ghery said:
Seems we have a pilot at OLM who is snakebit by Cessna retracts. 12 years ago when I was a student pilot this guy bought a 177 and was shooting T&Gs with a CFI in the right seat when they both forgot to lower the gear on about the 10th trip around the pattern. Fast forward to yesterday and he was flying a 177 (same one?) that he had just had checked out by an authorized Cessna dealer. Landed with the gear down and it collapsed partway down the runway.
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The first one, he was "snakebit" by stupidity. No reason to blame the aircraft for that.

The second one, I'm not completely buying the story. 177 main gear is virtually impossible to "collapse" when weight is on it "rolling down the runway". The nose gear can fold if it's not locked, but the mains? Once that bar is up over the detent, you'd have to slam it on damned hard to pop it out and fold the mains. Stuff would bend and break first, too.

I suspect he was "snakebit" by excessive loads he created, and/or shoddy maintenance. Neither of which is attributable to "snakebit by Cessna retracts".

There are plenty of "authorized Cessna dealers" who don't know **** about the Cardinal, too. Which is well-documented, and in the modern era of the Web, it's easy to find folks who are real Cardinal experts, too. If he didn't have the gear inspected by someone who knows it well, I wouldn't blame that on the aircraft either.

I see a pattern here, and it's not caused by the airplane.
 
Cessna single gear in typical failure mode is in a free and frog legged position. The second by a long margin will be broken saddle/mount structure failure where the legs keep going forward as it 'sits on its haunches'.
 
Henning said:
Cessna single gear in typical failure mode is in a free and frog legged position. The second by a long margin will be broken saddle/mount structure failure where the legs keep going forward as it 'sits on its haunches'.
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Right. It's either not really locked, or you slammed the hell out of it and there is a lot of broken stuff back there. First is almost always bad MX. Second is almost always bad piloting.
 
:(

He's had a few flying mishaps in his day, but never anything like this AFAIK. Wishing him a speedy recovery and more flying.
 
"My SKY! MY SKY! ".

I loved the movie JLS when I was a kid. Rented it again about 10 years ago. Worst movie I ever saw. :rofl:


I sure hope he pulls through though. :yesnod:
 
Thanks Mikey. I appreciate the update. I am a fan.
 
I was bummed to see that Simon and Schuster have chosen not to release his stuff for electronic distribution (e.g. Kindle). Some of his books would be fun to have handy when mobile for their "re-readability".

Same thing with "Fate is the Hunter" and many more classic aviation books.
 
A pal of mine had a Sea Rey, gave him quite a scare on is last flight when the fuel line disengaged. Sold to a WV pilot who landed hard and sunk it in a river. Pity, neat thing. You can get water, retractable, and tailwheel landings all in the same aircraft (though not simultaneously).

Sorry to hear about Bach, hope he heals up OK.
 
tonycondon said:
absolutely love Gift of Wings
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Funny how most of the good aviation writers of the 20th Century used to write for Flying Magazine, Gann, Bach, Leighton and Richard Collins and so on.

Now, we're subjected to Robert Goyer's whiny fluff stuff about how user fees are the greatest potential threat to our freedom since the guy with the mustache 70 years ago, and in the same breath he can declare the "New" Cessna Corvalis-400-post-Mexico-production-version-we had-to-crush-them-because-we-had-no-QA-but-now-we're-making-them-with-bold-new-graphics-so-it's-all-good-at-the-bargain-price-of-600k...no wonder why GA is swirling the drain. But since Bonnier/Goyer ran off all the good people, there will never be room for the good old stuff like Gordon Baxter's columns. Or Len Morgan, either.
 
Fate was included in a RD condensed book when I was a kid. Couldn't put it down and will never forget it.

denverpilot said:
I was bummed to see that Simon and Schuster have chosen not to release his stuff for electronic distribution (e.g. Kindle). Some of his books would be fun to have handy when mobile for their "re-readability".

Same thing with "Fate is the Hunter" and many more classic aviation books.
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wabower said:
Fate was included in a RD condensed book when I was a kid. Couldn't put it down and will never forget it.
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Yep.

And Jonathan Livingston Seagull was read by lots of people that would have never otherwise had exposure to GA. Who knows how many people got their PP on account of that book?

Probably more than fell for the "BE A PILOT" nonsense that AOPA has been pushing for the last 25 or so years.
 
BurtM said:
And Jonathan Livingston Seagull was read by lots of people that would have never otherwise had exposure to GA. Who knows how many people got their PP on account of that book?
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Possibly me. "Jonathan" was a get-well gift I got from my aunt after I broke my leg skiing as a teenager. I also remember reading "Stranger to the Ground" in my HS library.
 
BurtM said:
Yep.

And Jonathan Livingston Seagull was read by lots of people that would have never otherwise had exposure to GA. Who knows how many people got their PP on account of that book?

Probably more than fell for the "BE A PILOT" nonsense that AOPA has been pushing for the last 25 or so years.
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I've often wondered if GA wouldn't be better off in appealing to the quasi-spiritual, 'awe and wonder' (some might even say elitist) aspects of flying when trying to attract new pilots, instead of casting such a wide net. Emphasize the fact that not everyone can be a pilot - and appeal to the egos of those who choose to do the work to become one.
 
flightwriter said:
I've often wondered if GA wouldn't be better off in appealing to the quasi-spiritual, 'awe and wonder' (some might even say elitist) aspects of flying when trying to attract new pilots. Instead of casting such a wide net, emphasize the fact that not everyone can be a pilot - and appeal to the egos of the ones who can be.
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Until we can fix all the liability issues we're screwed. I mean they can't spit out a new LSA for under a hundred grand..it's ridiculous.

A not-very-efficient builder at home can build an experimental at home for less than 30 grand that can be operated for $20 a hour.

Things should scale into larger production and cheapen the above up even more but it just doesn't happen because of all the liability issues and paperwork hangups with the FAA.
 
jesse said:
Until we can fix all the liability issues we're screwed. I mean they can't spit out a new LSA for under a hundred grand..it's ridiculous.
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I don't know that the $100k price tag is due to liability. How many LSA manufacturers carry liability insurance? How much is the premium? I'd be surprised if the LSA companies from eastern Europe were carrying insurance.

I'd say the stiff price tags are due to the low volume and the high amount of skilled labor involved in construction. It's not like you can punch out a replica Cub fuselage from a CNC machine; somebody ends up cutting, fitting, fishmouthing, and welding the fuselage by hand. Somebody has to build up and install the electrical system, control systems, brakes, interior, etc.; this may take less-skilled labor, but you've still got to meet the ASTM standards.

Ron Wanttaja
 
steingar said:
A pal of mine had a Sea Rey, gave him quite a scare on is last flight when the fuel line disengaged. Sold to a WV pilot who landed hard and sunk it in a river. Pity, neat thing. You can get water, retractable, and tailwheel landings all in the same aircraft (though not simultaneously).
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Several years ago, when I computed the accident rate for a number of homebuilt aircraft, the SeaRey came out the highest (this was based on the number of accidents vs. registered examples). Yes, it was higher than the Lancair IV.

I don't believe it's through any flaw of the aircraft; it's just that the aircraft combines many of the most-hazardous flight aspects, including water operations, taildragging, and retractable gear.

Ron Wanttaja
 
steingar said:
A pal of mine had a Sea Rey, gave him quite a scare on is last flight when the fuel line disengaged. Sold to a WV pilot who landed hard and sunk it in a river. Pity, neat thing. You can get water, retractable, and tailwheel landings all in the same aircraft (though not simultaneously).
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Retractable landings?
 
flightwriter said:
I've often wondered if GA wouldn't be better off in appealing to the quasi-spiritual, 'awe and wonder' (some might even say elitist) aspects of flying when trying to attract new pilots, instead of casting such a wide net. Emphasize the fact that not everyone can be a pilot - and appeal to the egos of those who choose to do the work to become one.
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Those to whom it is a passion will fly. Those who want to impress their buddies may as well get a bigger TV.
 
flightwriter said:
I've often wondered if GA wouldn't be better off in appealing to the quasi-spiritual, 'awe and wonder' (some might even say elitist) aspects of flying when trying to attract new pilots, instead of casting such a wide net. Emphasize the fact that not everyone can be a pilot - and appeal to the egos of those who choose to do the work to become one.
Click to expand...

I've met a few "awe and wonder" pilots who never bothered to study.

They believe their airplanes fly like magic, and their aircraft control and especially landings, show it. :)
 
jesse said:
Until we can fix all the liability issues we're screwed. I mean they can't spit out a new LSA for under a hundred grand..it's ridiculous.

A not-very-efficient builder at home can build an experimental at home for less than 30 grand that can be operated for $20 a hour.

Things should scale into larger production and cheapen the above up even more but it just doesn't happen because of all the liability issues and paperwork hangups with the FAA.
Click to expand...

That's parts, and an old engine, figure 2000hrs of labor at $15hr adds another $30k, put a new engine and prop on it and it adds another $20k. There's $80k right there. Add 10&10% for profit and overhead to keep the doors open and you're already over $96k before you you get into dealer cut and the cost of financing the operation, add another 10% there and we're over $105k before we even look at tort related costs.
 
Im waiting for someone to start rotomolding airplanes same way theymake those cheap plastic kayaks...
 
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