Plane Watching

Yeah, I know. Sigh. They seem to be landing more on houses and highways.
That airport at Leominster Mass seems like the best bet.



Small plane crashes in Leominster
By Boston.com Staff And Associated Press | October 26, 2004

At least one person was killed when an ultralight plane crashed into a
machine shop in Leominster Tuesday afternoon, authorities said.

The plane crashed into the R&S Machine Shop on Monarch Street, which is
adjacent to the Fitchburg Municipal Airport. The person killed is believed
to be the pilot, said Sgt. Scott Range of the state police.

A spokesman for the Federal Aviation Administration said the experimental
aircraft was registered to Andrew San Clemente, of Shrewsbury.

There was no immediate answer at the R&S Machine Shop, which caught fire
briefly, according to Jim Peters of the FAA.

Monarch Street resident Roland Rivard, 39, said the fire was extinguished
by about 4:20 p.m. He said most of the five employees of the machine shop
had left for the day before the crash.

"The people working in the shop had just gone home," Rivard said, noting
that the workers typically leave at about 3:30 p.m.

Rivard, who did not witness the crash, said one of his neighbors tried to
help the pilot before fire engulfed the plane.

It was the seventh plane crash to occur in or near the airport in the last
seven years. The series of crashes have claimed a total of 12 lives.

On June 2 of this year a Fitchburg father and his 25-year-old daughter
were killed when their plane crashed into woods about three miles
southeast of the airport.

In 2003 a plane occupied by a New York developer and philanthropist
crashed into an industrial building near the airport killing six occupants
of the eight-seated, twin-engine Beechcraftt. A 13-year-old girl aboard the
plane of M. Anthony Fisher survived the crash.

On Oct. 31, 1997 a flight instructor and his student were killed when
their twin-engine Piper Apache crashed in a yard on Longedge Avenue which
is in a residential area near the airport.

There were also air crashes in Leominster on Feb. 11, 1999 and Dec. 22,
1999 that resulted in deaths. The October mishap that year was a mid-air
collision in which a Worcester inventor was killed.

In July of 2000 a plane went off the runway at Fitchburg airport but the
pilot was not injured.

"Skylune" wrote in message
lkaboutaviation.com...
Yeah, I know. Sigh. They seem to be landing more on houses and highways.

There are no houses or highways where there is a good chance of witnessing
an airplane crash.

Well let's see - An NTSB database research shows eight crashes at Leominster
in the past 40 years. So what you have to do is find a good spot, stand
there, or sit, but do not sleep. You may not divert your attention at any
time, even for a moment. Theoretically, within five years (43,800 hours) you
should see at least an incident, if you do not lower you level of vigilance
for even one of those 2.6 million minutes.

Of course, probably no more than any two or three of these incidents would
have been visible from any one vantage point, so you will have to chose
carefully, and probably increase your wait time expectation by at least
10,000 hours. General aviation safety records have improved significantly in
the past 40 years as well - pad another 20,000 hours to your wait time
expectation.

You may choose to believe that the recent incidents there (you cite seven in
as many years) represent more than a coincidence, perhaps an identifiable
trend. So go for it! If you think one per year is a good bet, that's only
8760 hours (still add the "right spot at the right time" multiplier though
- say 12,000 hours expected wait time).

I think you're on to something. I would strongly suggest you do this.
Don't forget to send us your videos!

G Faris