T-28 accident: St Petersburg, FL: Everyone Okay!

[spookythecat]

When will this madness stop?

Glad nobody was injured.

http://www.wtsp.com/video/default.aspx? ... 2456908001

[Randy Haskin]

When will this madness stop?

When men stop strapping on machines and taking to the skies.

[spookythecat]

I guess I phrased that wrong. I'm in no way trying to say the flying should stop. Just this unfortunate line of accidents lately.

[LadyO2Pilot]

It's been a really bad start to the season

[Holedigger]

At least the pilot walked away. We have a plane in the drink every so often at Albert Whitted, it is surrounded by water on three sides. For the Grand Prix race, one of the two main runways was taken over by the racecourse, grandstands and pit area. The pilot was reduced to ONE active runway with the next available runway up at St Pete/Clearwater 8 miles North. Not many options when the engine cuts out, there are NO empty areas downtown other than a few parks full of trees and people...NOT an ideal place to set down. I was down at the GP, but NOT when this event happened.

[Holedigger]

Here is a map showing where he went down in relation to the race...VERY CLOSE to thousands of spectators.

[Lynn Allen]

This is why every pilot thinks about and pratices an engine out and what to do when it happens. Well done with the few cards he had to play...

[cwmc]

Wings level, no obstacles, low speed. Pretty much sums up how it came out so well.
Chris...

[Holedigger]

A real "heads-up" decision to ditch, engine losing power and even though he was lined up with the runway, he realized he just didn't have the airspeed to keep it up...and the 5' concrete seawall was coming, if he didn't clear that...BAD NEWS. Better to set down under some control than to hit that wall.

[Lynn Allen]

A real "heads-up" decision to ditch, engine losing power and even though he was lined up with the runway, he realized he just didn't have the airspeed to keep it up...and the 5' concrete seawall was coming, if he didn't clear that...BAD NEWS. Better to set down under some control than to hit that wall.

Plus it makes it easier for a rebuild....

[Randy Haskin]

A real "heads-up" decision to ditch, engine losing power and even though he was lined up with the runway, he realized he just didn't have the airspeed to keep it up...and the 5' concrete seawall was coming, if he didn't clear that...BAD NEWS. Better to set down under some control than to hit that wall.

Decision?

I didn't see that there was any "choice" in where he impacted. The slight left turn just prior to impact did not do anything to change that.

[Invader26]

Randy's correct. She wasn't going any further. The T-28 flies like a brick with no power.....

[gary1954]

Gear down landing in the water, I wonder how far she'd have skipped on the water gear up, and was there enough momentum to have slid onto that beach. I wouldn't know, only the PIC could make that decision, it is very, very easy to backseat anyone in anything after the fact. Just glad no one was injured or killed. Anyone know about the wing walker that was atop an biplane that went in during an air show?

[Holedigger]

Sorry, NO beach there to skip up on...just rocks and a CONCRETE seawall....slightly harder than water. Another small aircraft also departed the runway, clipping the seawall and dumping in the bay the same day (not a warbird) with minor inuries...One a day in Tampa Bay? We managed TWO in one day!!! The second one, NOT part of the Grand Prix show got very little press.

[Randy Haskin]

Gear down landing in the water, I wonder how far she'd have skipped on the water gear up, and was there enough momentum to have slid onto that beach. I wouldn't know, only the PIC could make that decision,

I wasn't there, of course, but my tuesday-morning-quarterback opinion based just on watching the videos is that there wasn't enough time to retract the gear once the PIC realized he wasn't going to make the runway.

My bet is that if he'd planned on ditching from the beginning, he'd have stayed cleaned up.