Richard McSpadden Crash

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Air Safety Institute's Richard McSpadden Dies In Crash - AVweb

Richard McSpadden, the senior vice president of the AOPA Air Safety Institute died, along with one other person, in the crash of a Cessna 177RG near Lake Placid Airport in upstate New York Sunday. The other person has not been identified. AOPA spokesman Eric Blinderman told AVweb early reports...
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Wow. RIP
 
Yes, I just got this notification. Dick Jr was the only person at AOPA I had any respect for. His accident commentaries were a breath of fresh air. He had been Thunderbird One back in his USAF days. At AOPA he really pushed basic med and continued to work to make it practical after it was enacted. His parents are an old friend of ours (Navion guy). It's truly a sad day.
 
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Man that’s sad. I really enjoyed his articles and safety vids. Blue Skies.
 
I met him several times being a KHGR, was introduced to him by TR Proven really nice guy and very approachable. One of the best people at AOPA. Sad to see this was a turn-back to the airport.
 
Jim K said:
That's upsetting. If that can happen to him, what chance do I have? Is it all just luck?
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When your number’s up, it’s up. Let’s look at the factual data, prelim and factual reports to see if there’s anything to learn.
 
Dave Anderson said:
I met him several times being a KHGR, was introduced to him by TR Proven really nice guy and very approachable. One of the best people at AOPA. Sad to see this was a turn-back to the airport.
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It doesn't look like there were a ton of good options assuming 32 was the departure runway. A picture shows it in the trees with some pretty good terrain. Trees hurt. Terrain sucks. And a tight subdivision in all of that.

Obstructions on the supplement for both runways gives you an idea
 
Normally, I am opposed to comment before the facts are in.

McSpadden was in the right seat, therefore, not PIC.

That would make him an observer, and possibly voiced some advice, but his military training would have discouraged him from interfering with the PIC, until the PIC had reached a condition that was catastrophic. Then, at that altitude most likely to exist, it would be too late.

Two people trying to fly the same plane never works out well.

It is regrettable when any pilot or passenger in a plane is killed or injured, but especially so when one is such a skilled and accomplished one as McSpadden. Certainly he will be missed by many of us.

For those who say that if McSpadden can crash and die, with his skills, what are my chances? The real question, are you better than the PIC in this flight?

My SEL instructor always stressed, crash straight ahead on a departure engine failure, and at my home field, we selected just which choices made the best sense, at varying altitudes, from each direction of departure.

At other airports, he taught me to make such examinations and decisions as I flew the pattern to land.

When you are not PIC, it may be wise to ask the PIC what his plan is for engine failure on take off. The is the fastest and most important decision that must be made. You should be in agreement on this one, and after the wheels are off the runway, your input is mostly useless.

RIP, Mr McSpadden, many pilots have learned much from your writing.
 
Wow just wow. This is truly tragic. I have watched a ton of his videos trying to become a better pilot. What a gut punch.
 
RIP. He was one person that I enjoyed watching on YouTube and have great respect for. He'll be missed.
 
He will be missed. He was a stand up guy. I knew him from the hangar....he would come by and shoot the breeze with folks.
 
I was driving up in that area today looking at the leaves. Truly a stunning day. I spoke to one of the bush pilots up there a decade or so ago and mentioned there wasn’t much in the way of options in case of something like this. He said if it happened to him he’d put it in pine trees.

It’s really hard to believe this happened to him of all people. Truly sad.
 
I read this thread waiting for someone to say this wasn't really true. Very sad indeed! :(
 
mryan75 said:
I was driving up in that area today looking at the leaves. Truly a stunning day. I spoke to one of the bush pilots up there a decade or so ago and mentioned there wasn’t much in the way of options in case of something like this. He said if it happened to him he’d put it in pine trees.

It’s really hard to believe this happened to him of all people. Truly sad.
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A pilot I worked with just a bit had an engine out at night and they hit pine trees… if they’re tall, the drop can kill you every bit as much as a stall spin can. It was pretty rough to see the pics of the aftermath. The seat I had sat in a year before was completely ripped into.
 
TCABM said:
When your number’s up, it’s up. Let’s look at the factual data, prelim and factual reports to see if there’s anything to learn.
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Very little new is ever learned from the NTSB reports. Short of some new mechanical failure the cause of accidents have been the same for decades. You may learn what happened in this particular crash by reading the report but it is unlikely you will learn anything new that hasn’t already happened to dozens of pilots before. Flying is risky. There is no way around that. You do what you can to minimize that risk but the risk is never zero.
 
Jim K said:
That's upsetting. If that can happen to him, what chance do I have? Is it all just luck?
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The cause of this accident hasn’t been determined and your fate is determined if you have an emergency?
 
There are some airports where you absolutely need to GoogleEarth a plan before you take the runway and even with that, there ends up being few options. If I see the photo posted above, it looks like a ridge line 50 feet above the site.
 
skyking3286 said:
There are some airports where you absolutely need to GoogleEarth a plan before you take the runway and even with that, there ends up being few options. If I see the photo posted above, it looks like a ridge line 50 feet above the site.
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And some airports there are zero outs for a se airplane.
 
Jim K said:
That's upsetting. If that can happen to him, what chance do I have? Is it all just luck?
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Certainly luck plays into it. There's luck in having the engine quit within gliding range of a good field, there's luck in dodging a dust devil that hits you on takeoff, there's luck in having the field stay VFR long enough for you to land.

But you do make much of your own luck.

Let's look at the odds. In 2021, about one in every 175 aircraft in the US suffered an accident. In contrast, about six of seven visitors to Las Vegas loses money. Yet there are some—using a combination of skill, knowledge, ability to assess risk, and luck—that manage to go home with more money than they came with.

The same thing works with aviation safety. With skill, knowledge, the ability to assess risk, and yes, luck, you can reduce your chances of being the one out of the 175.

One thing I'd like to emphasize is to look at EVERY accident as something that could happen to you. Don't automatically dismiss them with, "Well, I'll never be THAT stupid." LOOK at the mistakes the pilot made, imagine what you might do to salvage the same situation.

Ron Wanttaja
 
wanttaja said:
One thing I'd like to emphasize is to look at EVERY accident as something that could happen to you. Don't automatically dismiss them with, "Well, I'll never be THAT stupid." LOOK at the mistakes the pilot made, imagine what you might do to salvage the same situation.
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That's kind of my point. Mr Mcspadden lived and breathed that ethos. His soothing voice introduced the AOPA "there I was" podcast with essentially those words. If there was one person in the world that I didn't think would die in a turnback it was him.

From the picture @Racerx posted, looks like they were almost there and didn't have quite enough energy to clear the ridge. As @geezer pointed out, it wasn't his plane and he likely wasn't pic. It still is a shock
 
I grew up with Richard and knew and respected him and his family. His dad started off his boys flying young at W88 and they both turned aviation into careers, and a way of life. They were all, pilot’s pilots! His dad was President of the Navion Society for years and his brother Cliff also had that love of old airplanes. Cliff flew barnstormer biplanes, old military (USAF) transport twins while also career flying transcontinental some of the biggest cargo planes in the world. His dad was an authority on old classic planes and always available with advice. His mom kept the family well-organized and was part of the glue and hub that made them such good people!
Richard had some classic Air Force flying stories and really was so good at what he loved, Quick story: Richard managed to get to fly a fighter jet to our 10th high school reunion!!! He was stationed out west and managed to get lucky with a training flight to the East Coast! His mom and dad went down to pick him up at an Air Force base in South Carolina and bring him to Greensboro. He had style! He had some military stories that I won’t repeat here but suffice it to say, Richard was a pilot’s pilot!
In later years when he joined up with AOPA he was able to try to help other pilots by objectively reviewing accidents and incidents in hopes of positively influencing and educating other pilots to learn from our mistakes. He was not one to look for the limelight even though he was often in it. A very humble man, well respected by those who knew him well, and one who wanted to share lessons learned for the betterment of all aviators. He will be missed in ways that only humble people are missed. Those whom had the opportunity to learn from him are much the better for it.
His family and his wingmen/women could say this so much better than I as he taught all those around him to improve aviation (and life) in a positive way. Farewell, blue-skies, and jet-stream tailwinds to you Richard; it’s been an honor to know you and to have learned from you and really respect how you managed to stay humble and “well-grounded” having accomplished all that you did in such a well-lived life!
Respectfully,
Gene
 
RyanShort1 said:
A pilot I worked with just a bit had an engine out at night and they hit pine trees… if they’re tall, the drop can kill you every bit as much as a stall spin can. It was pretty rough to see the pics of the aftermath. The seat I had sat in a year before was completely ripped into.
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This was a guy who’d been flying up there for 50 years, and that was his opinion. I’ve always remembered it.
 
Datadriver said:
"The Impossible Turn" kills a lot of pilots.
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I'm not so sure this was an 'impossible turn'. More details to come, but it is sounding like they were up in the Cardinal to do a photo shoot with the AOPA Bonanza (N4GA).

Xpdr would have been strangled since they were a formation flight, so no ADS-B data available.

Some reports that they reported an engine problem/emergency and were trying to land, but no one can firmly say the happened on departure.
 
The pilot was former NFL star Russ Francis....49er's tight end legend.
 
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