jacjohn wrote:

Read in the newspaper today that a Cessna Citation went down in Penn Cove,
WA yesterday. Crazy thing is I can see Penn Cove from my house, though I
never heard or saw anything. The 3 occupants (2 people 1 dog) were rescued
immediately with no injuries, the plane quickly sank and should be
recovered.

John,

I heard several accounts of this incident and later saw some footage on the
Seattle TV news - a Citation, flown by an owner-pilot(?) who claimed to be a
retired airline pilot. En route from Victoria to Idaho. On board were just
him, his wife, and their dog. He reported unspecified "problems with the
controls" and was going to land it at Coupeville but said he "couldn't make the
runway" so he decided to ditch in Penn Cove. (hunh?) After the splashdown,
the plane sank in about 60 feet of water, all in view of people on the marina,
who promptly went out in boats to fish them out.

Witnesses reported that the guy seemd amzingly non-plussed by the whole thing,
and he certainly seemed remarkably sanguine about it all in the footage I saw
of him - he was all smiles and "no big deal, we're fine, no problem!" They
said a chartered jet picked them up later on Whidbey Island (where exactly?
certainly not at Lupien - or Langley!) and flew them home to Idaho. I got the
impression that putting down a Citation in the drink and watching it sink to
the bottom of a bay seemed pretty routine to this fellow. Call me old
fashioned, but I would have been a little shaken by the experience (if only
financially!).

David H
Boeing Field (BFI), Seattle, WA
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