Video Of Ballistic Paracute Save

Wow -- they came down hard.

That near miss was absolutely preventable, though...


I see what you mean, but I don't think you can call it a near miss when the plane ran into the tow rope. Pretty much a full contact event in my book. As far as being preventable absolutely.
 
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Wait -- "Lionel" had enough control after "a piece of the wing fell off" to fly to a "remote area," but couldn't fly to an airport and land?

On second thought -- why did the first guy pull the chute? Was the airplane structure compromised?
 
Wait -- "Lionel" had enough control after "a piece of the wing fell off" to fly to a "remote area," but couldn't fly to an airport and land?

On second thought -- why did the first guy pull the chute? Was the airplane structure compromised?


Good questions. There is much contraversy and "hanger flying" over using BRS Recovery systems. Do they actually save lives or are pilots more inclined to use them because they have them.

I think the Cirrus drive could have landed his plane. I'm not trying to second guess the man. He did what he thought was best under the circumstances, and within his ablilities. He saw an aileron fall off and thought he could not land safely, that is his call. However, he was able to gain control and fly to a remote area. Seems to me he could have tried to see if the plane was controlable in slow flight for landing, and then if he was unable to control the plane pop the cute. He lived so his decision was correct. JHMO.


IMHO the German pilot should have been paying attention rather than video taping his flight. Did the camera block his view to the right? Why was the tow plane trying to climb out of the way with a tow rope? Again, until you sit in the left seat of both planes you don't know what they saw or how you would react right there and then. But it is interesting to talk about, and maybe learn from.

JMHO.
 
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The Cirrus incident is really questionable given the plane continued to fly under control... There was considerable chatter about this one at the time... If I were his insurance broker I might have been tempted to litigate it...

On this light sport plane, my only comment would be that he popped that chute almost instantly so perhaps he immediately knew that the airframe was not controllable...
I cannot tell from the post impact pictures if the plane could have been dead sticked onto the airport - so he gets the benefit of the doubt and I say, 'good call'......

denny-o
 
The Cirrus incident is really questionable given the plane continued to fly under control... There was considerable chatter about this one at the time... If I were his insurance broker I might have been tempted to litigate it...

denny-o


If I remember right, a good pre flight would have found the missing hardware that lead to the aileron coming off.
 
Hi guys Mike here new to the forums.... Being a pilot and a skydiver I have to say that unless theres structural damage to the plane deploying a parachute wouldnt be my first option( unless over heavily wooded trees with nowhere to land). My problem with planes like Cirrus is they cost a fortune and they're NOT spin rated!! So they solve this by putting a paprchute in there...ok lets see:
1) your in an uncontrolled spin so you want to deploy a chute only to be tangled in unclean air? My last cutaway I was spinng like a top, I cut away made sure I was stable then pulled my reserve.( luckly I had the time for such indulgences)
2) I wondered the same thing about this gentleman with the collision into the tow plane cable.... if the prop failed did he think about just landing before deploying??
 
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