TOW PLANE Accident

On Sunday, March 10, 2019 at 2:47:15 PM UTC-6, wrote:
On Sunday, March 10, 2019 at 3:38:19 PM UTC-5, Mike C wrote:
On Sunday, March 10, 2019 at 2:27:16 PM UTC-6, wrote:
On Wednesday, February 20, 2019 at 6:59:06 PM UTC-6, Nick Kennedy wrote:
My take after reading the NTSB report is the glider pilot looked away to adjust a GoPro, Got High on the tow early and drove the tug into the ground.
Does this sound correct?
God Damn it. These are easily preventable accidents.
Killing Tow Pilots like this is very bad form.
When I was towing I'd look pilots in the eye that I didn't know and say " If you get high on me your getting rope, immediately." Got it?

I will grant you, that is one terribly written report. It is hard to distinguish exactly who reported what and where the camera was. I THINK it is meant to read that the passenger comments, "he then looked away from the tow plane briefly to adjust a video camera. When he looked back toward the tow plane, he did not immediately see it but then noted that it was below and right of the glider." The report then states what the pilot reported? "Additionally, the flight instructor noticed slack in the tow rope that attached the glider to the tow plane. He then released the tow rope, turned the glider 180°, and landed uneventfully." I don't know because later it refers to the video that the pilot recorded...

If anything it's a good argument for a good liberal arts education regardless of career (you get to do plenty of writing that is read and critiqued by professors!).


"Video Study
The glider flight instructor recorded two videos on a GoPro Hero 5 video camera that included most of the flight. Although the videos did not capture the tow plane's ground impact, they captured portions of the tow plane's flight just before impact. Copies of the videos were forwarded to the National Transportation Safety Board Vehicle Recorders Laboratory, Washington, DC, for further examination."

Yes, I read that, and I alluded to that portion in my comment. What is your point? What conclusion did you draw from that part of the report?

I do not want to enter into a samsaric discourse, but I think you have misinterpreted the report and that the camera was controlled by the sailplane pilot. The tow plane pilot could have had an unrelated problem at the same time, which is possible. I also think that most of us recognized what seemed obvious because we have all had our seconds of inattention on tow and know how quickly one can get out of position. Last year I adjusted my radio and in an instant was way out of position. I learned a lesson and will not take my attention off the tow plane.

Mike

Record of conversation in the docket:
"Mr. Wallace was interviewed via telephone. He was asked about his GoPro camera recording suddenly stopping during the accident flight. Mr. Wallace stated that he had not used the camera too many times prior to the accident flight, perhaps three or four. During the accident flight, he noticed it stopped recording and he started a new recording a few seconds later. He cannot recall if that had happened during the previous times he used the camera, but had heard from other pilots that it’s a common occurrence"