Video of midair with tow rope

Jack wrote:

However, as we are well aware, an operating engine is not necessary to
continue controlled flight. So the question remains: why was it
necessary to use the parachute? Was the terrain unlandable, or was the
pilot more conscious of the parachute's capabilities than the aircraft's?

This is what worries me about ballistic parachutes: they turn a
possible crash into a guaranteed one. He doesn't seem to have spent any
time at all trying to work out whether his plane was flyable, and
although he walked away from the crash in an orchard, he mightt have
been so lucky. One you've pulled the handle you have no choice about
where you land ... Railway line? Road? Electricity substation? Market
place?

Ian

wrote:
CNN got really interested in the Cirrus parachute thing after the Cory
Lidle crash, in which a parachute wouldnt have helped.

Ive heard a story of a 172 that actually flew into a kite string in
Florida and had to make an emergency landing. I guess that having the
string, or rope in this case, really screws up the engine. I have no
idea why. Maybe it causes enough drag on the prop to stop the engine,
im not sure

I find it funny that a poster on a glider forum declares that just
because someone was flying a homebuilt airplane, they must have been
oblivious to everything going on around them. Why? because that is
what Ive heard for so long from power pilots talking about glider
pilots. and many of us are flying homebuilt gliders! I am, and Im also
listening and talking on my radio.

Jack wrote:

James D'Andrea wrote:

Dramatic cockpit video of a midair collision with a tow rope getting
caught in the prop of another plane. The pilot was able to deploy his
ballistic parachute and safely descend. No mention of what happened to
the towplane. Video is from CNN on YouTube.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wTemKnL8X30


What was it about the collision that made the aircraft unflyable and
required use of the parachute? Apparently the pilot used the parachute
simply because he had it available.

More importantly, what was the outcome for the glider? Was the glider
still being towed, or had it already released prior to impact?

Had a collision not happened this would have been the most boring
possible video. I wonder if the position of the camera obscured the
pilot's view of traffic.


Jack



If you've ever caught a vine in a weedeater and let it get wrapped
around the shaft, it'll make a mess in a hurry that will pretty well
seize things up. Not sure if that's what happened here, but it's a
possibility.

Gap! What a shock. Gotta keep your eyes wide open around there.