These guys had angels with them...

Wouldn't it suck to survive the crash then get eaten by a gator?!
 
Someone was watching over them. The gators must have been sleeping. All for the lack of fuel planning during pre flight.
 
frfly172 said:
Someone was watching over them. The gators must have been sleeping. All for the lack of fuel planning during pre flight.
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Or diverting to another airport when the gages showed minimums. Better to crash land in a gator infested lake than waste a few mins. :rolleyes2:
 
Geico266 said:
Or diverting to another airport when the gages showed minimums. Better to crash land in a gator infested lake than waste a few mins. :rolleyes2:
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I think the issue was not wasting a few minutes, but rather checking that your fuel stop actually has fuel before going there with minimum fuel.
 
Lake Steinhagen is a Corps of Engineer lake with almost no development full of Cypress trees, stumps, and more swamp than lake in most parts...plenty of gators as well....but it beats the 70 ft pine trees that encompass the area...lucky is an understatement...
 
MAKG1 said:
I think the issue was not wasting a few minutes, but rather checking that your fuel stop actually has fuel before going there with minimum fuel.
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Yah, I was thinking if they had actually checked they might have made Jasper if they hadn't wasted time and energy to land at Woodville. (23NM)

But it looks like 100LL at Jasper is $5.40 SS
 
The angels couldn't just provide fuel at Woodville?

Sounds more like the pilot is a Darwin Award semi-finalist.
 
I'm sure those in South Africa with her picture on their calendar are relieved.

How do you think the pilots 709 ride will go?
 
rolivi said:
How do you think the pilots 709 ride will go?
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He might bring her along as a distraction.

I too am interested in the requirements of a fuel exhaustion 709.

"Demonstrate a flight where you don't run out of gas"
 
It's now known as the "Bernath move": Land to confirm you have no fuel, then take-off anyway.
 
Actually a 709 is a reexamination and does not have to be in the form of a flight. The examiner might just have the guy explain where he went wrong and then do a few different fuel scenarios/calculations. No need to fly.
 
I'm sure attorney for the owner of the plane will have more than a 709 in store for him.
 
But apparently the proper ditching technique is to land inverted...
"I remember seeing the lake in the moonlight which was a saving grace at that point," said Tristan Dorien, the pilot. "We came in belly-up and the aircraft stayed in one piece which was great."
Click to expand...
 
I think I may know one of the passengers. I'm in the film business and I know a Ben (or Benjamin) Griffin. He directs Hip Hop and Rap music videos. Having a Playboy model with him wouldn't surprise me. Going to New Orleans to shoot a music video would be something he would do. Knowing somebody with a plane would also not surprise me. He on my friends list, so I checked his Facebook page. He has not posted since the 4th. Hmmmm...

If it was him, I'm glad he's OK. He's actually a pretty nice guy and has been a good client in the past.
 
MAKG1 said:
I think the issue was not wasting a few minutes, but rather checking that your fuel stop actually has fuel before going there with minimum fuel.
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If you stopped because you were out of gas, why would you take off again, at night no less?! :dunno:

Lucky to be alive.
 
I think the angels helped him with the first landing. Then they probably just watched in disbelief from the ramp as he took off again.
 
Ditching.jpg
 
From KJAS radio (kjas.com):

An airplane, which is believed to have run out of fuel and was crash-landed by the pilot into Steinhagen Lake; Dam B, early Tuesday, was retrieved from the lake on Thursday morning. The salvage operation was conducted by Dick and Sons Diving Service, which has offices here in Jasper and in nearby Anacoco, Louisiana, and also Lone Star Retrieval, of Lancaster, Texas.
Divers placed deflated air bags inside the aircraft and then filled them with air, which caused the plane to float to the surface. It was then towed to shore, and lifted out of the water.
According to Randy Wilgus of Dick and Sons, the wings will be taken off of the plane and it will be moved to Jasper County Bell Field Airport, where federal authorities will begin their investigation.
Four people survived the incident. Those four were the pilot, 27-year-old Tristan Dorain, of California, and his passengers, Playboy model and actress Erica Gore, 20, of Huntsville, Alabama, along with William Smallwood, 33, a cinematographer from Louisiana, and 33-year-old Benjamin Griffin, of Nevada. They were reportedly traveling from California to New Orleans for a video shoot.
Dorain was trying to make it to Jasper for fuel when the crash occurred at about 3:00 Tuesday morning. Dorain later reported that he simply ran out of fuel. Dorain said that when he looked down through the darkness, he happened to see the moon reflecting off of the water, so that’s why he put the plane down in the lake.
The four escaped the plane, and then clung to a floating video camera case for an hour as they plied the alligator and water moccasin infested lake. The survivors said they went towards the nearest light, which they hoped was a house. It turned out to be a boat ramp in the Hen House Ridge Unit of Martin Dies, Jr. State Park.

http://www.kjas.com/news/local_news/article_9e6c3f78-6dd9-11e5-a07c-6be527ec9a93.html
 
That's the second Bo with the LSU type paint scheme to go swimming this year!
We had one go into the Red River off the end of 14 this past spring...:yes:

Isn't that odd!

Chris
 
daveconeal said:
From KJAS radio (kjas.com):

An airplane, which is believed to have run out of fuel and was crash-landed by the pilot into Steinhagen Lake; Dam B, early Tuesday, was retrieved from the lake on Thursday morning. The salvage operation was conducted by Dick and Sons Diving Service, which has offices here in Jasper and in nearby Anacoco, Louisiana, and also Lone Star Retrieval, of Lancaster, Texas.
Divers placed deflated air bags inside the aircraft and then filled them with air, which caused the plane to float to the surface. It was then towed to shore, and lifted out of the water.
According to Randy Wilgus of Dick and Sons, the wings will be taken off of the plane and it will be moved to Jasper County Bell Field Airport, where federal authorities will begin their investigation.
Four people survived the incident. Those four were the pilot, 27-year-old Tristan Dorain, of California, and his passengers, Playboy model and actress Erica Gore, 20, of Huntsville, Alabama, along with William Smallwood, 33, a cinematographer from Louisiana, and 33-year-old Benjamin Griffin, of Nevada. They were reportedly traveling from California to New Orleans for a video shoot.
Dorain was trying to make it to Jasper for fuel when the crash occurred at about 3:00 Tuesday morning. Dorain later reported that he simply ran out of fuel. Dorain said that when he looked down through the darkness, he happened to see the moon reflecting off of the water, so that’s why he put the plane down in the lake.
The four escaped the plane, and then clung to a floating video camera case for an hour as they plied the alligator and water moccasin infested lake. The survivors said they went towards the nearest light, which they hoped was a house. It turned out to be a boat ramp in the Hen House Ridge Unit of Martin Dies, Jr. State Park.

http://www.kjas.com/news/local_news/article_9e6c3f78-6dd9-11e5-a07c-6be527ec9a93.html
Click to expand...


Never heard of a guy named Tristan..:confused::confused::dunno:
 
Hiperbiper said:
That's the second Bo with the LSU type paint scheme to go swimming this year!
We had one go into the Red River off the end of 14 this past spring...:yes:

Isn't that odd!

Chris
Click to expand...

Really odd.... especially since this plane appears to say "Mesa" on the tail, like the old Mesa flight school planes formerly based in Farmington, NM.
 
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