Neil Lawson of whiteplanes, died yesterday

Stewart Kissel wrote:
JJ's mails do him no credit, nor do they do anything
for his countrymen,
although I believe many will be behind Pete and support
his plea.



Not in my case...JJ has been trying to prevent these
sorts of tragedies from happening for years. His position
is known to all who follow this forum.

So if you want to wait for the authorities' report...so
be it. Then let's call a spade a spade when it comes
out. Why do I have a feeling, regardless of what is
written in the report...that the supporters of this
behavior will not budge an inch?

It might be because you have prejudged the situation, as has JJ. From
what I've read, there is no indication the pilot was not performing the
landing properly. JJ's claim that the police arrested him because he
committed homicide was unsupported. At that point, the pilot had not
even been charged, much less convicted of a crime.

--
Change "netto" to "net" to email me directly

Eric Greenwell
Washington State
USA

Eric Greenwell wrote:
It might be because you have prejudged the situation, as has JJ. From
what I've read, there is no indication the pilot was not performing the
landing properly. JJ's claim that the police arrested him because he
committed homicide was unsupported. At that point, the pilot had not
even been charged, much less convicted of a crime.

At a contest in Minden a few years back, a pilot finishing a landing
roll hit his daughter who was photographing him. The police arrested
him. He got out quickly and injury wasn't serious IIRC.

A bystander (airport employee) was well clear of the takeoff area, but
had his back to the action. A pilot lost control on takeoff and nearly
killed the bystander. You should have heard the wails of complaint
when crew vehicles were then required to park aft of the launch, no
matter how far to the side.

All that these incidents point out is that vigilance must never be put
in the back seat, period.

-Tom

5Z wrote:
Eric Greenwell wrote:

It might be because you have prejudged the situation, as has JJ. From
what I've read, there is no indication the pilot was not performing the
landing properly. JJ's claim that the police arrested him because he
committed homicide was unsupported. At that point, the pilot had not
even been charged, much less convicted of a crime.


At a contest in Minden a few years back, a pilot finishing a landing
roll hit his daughter who was photographing him. The police arrested
him. He got out quickly and injury wasn't serious IIRC.

This was one of our club's members. His daughter grew up crewing for him
and had caught his wing in the past. This time things went wrong. It
simply isn't possible to determine "guilt" without fully knowing the
situation.

All that these incidents point out is that vigilance must never be put
in the back seat, period.

Things can happen fast, and even a small change in what is done can make
the difference. We may have much to learn from Neil's death, but I don't
think we know what it is yet.


--
Change "netto" to "net" to email me directly

Eric Greenwell
Washington State
USA