Sad Accident over Deland

"Roger" wrote in message
...
On Tue, 26 Apr 2005 12:11:44 GMT, "Jay Honeck"
wrote:

After landing in Deland, FL just last month (on our way to Titusville,
Florida), and witnessing the almost unbelievable sky-diving activity
there,
it came as no surprise to read that there was a fatal accident there a
couple of days ago.

I was especially saddened to see that the man who was killed had his legs
severed by the prop of a Turbo Otter -- the very twins they use as
jump-planes in Deland. Some of you may recall my post about how those
Otters were "diving into the base leg of the pattern" as we were landing,
which we found to be very disconcerting.

The poor guy survived long enough to land safely, only to bleed out on the
ground. It's hard to imagine a more horrifying accident.

In my mind's eye I can picture the scene exactly. Those Otters diving
through an absolute *crowd* of skydivers under canopy (literally!) and
other
planes in the pattern, trying to get back on the ground as quickly as
possible to haul up the next load -- it gave me the willies to watch.
I was saddended to hear it too.

I can't speak for that airport, but I've flown in and out of Zypher
Hills many times watching and fitting in with he jump planes and
jumpers.

The jump planes do follow a pattern albeit steep and the only way I
see one coming near a jumper is if the jumper is way out of position,
or ends up landing on the runway. The Jump planes are normally well
away from the jumpers.


I guess the only surprising thing is that this happens so rarely.

I'm surprised it happens with a jumper and their jump plane, but not
is it was some one passing through. You'd be amazed at how many end
up tooling through a jump zone.

Roger Halstead (K8RI & ARRL life member)
(N833R, S# CD-2 Worlds oldest Debonair)
www.rogerhalstead.com


Very sad.

Even Notams don't work sometimes.

I remember like it was yesterday; standing at the Blues Com Trailer with
John Patton of the Blue Angels at the Reading Show in 74. Tony Less took the
Diamond straight up for the Diamond Loop. Both Patton and I saw the Cherokee
140 at the same time. John had a hot mike in his had and direct contact with
Tony in Blue 1. The formation went right past the Cherokee before either of
us could speak. We discovered in the post flight brief that none of the team
saw the Cherokee, and to this day, I honestly believe the pilot in the
Cherokee must have seen the team go by him. We judged he was close enough
that his pants were stained when he landed at where ever he was headed.
There are NOTAMS issued on the Blues performance times, and the field is
closed for traffic during demonstrations. We checked. All the NOTAMS were
intact. The times were correct. The guy in the Cherokee didn't read the
NOTAMS and wasn't advised either. He simply wandered in and flew right
through the restricted airspace unannounced and uninvited.
It happens!!!!
Dudley Henriques
International Fighter Pilots Fellowship
Commercial Pilot; CFI; Retired
dhenriquestrashatearthlinktrashdotnet
(take out the trash :-)