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

spookythecat · **Posted:** Sun Mar 27, 2011 11:51 pm

When will this madness stop?

Glad nobody was injured.

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

Randy Haskin · **Posted:** Sun Mar 27, 2011 11:57 pm

spookythecat wrote:

When will this madness stop?

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

spookythecat · **Posted:** Mon Mar 28, 2011 12:59 am

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 · **Posted:** Mon Mar 28, 2011 7:35 am

It's been a really bad start to the season

Holedigger · **Posted:** Mon Mar 28, 2011 7:57 am

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 · **Posted:** Mon Mar 28, 2011 8:07 am

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

Lynn Allen · **Posted:** Mon Mar 28, 2011 11:01 am

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... :wink:

cwmc · **Joined:** Fri Jan 28, 2011 2:43 am **Posts:** 322

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

Holedigger · **Posted:** Mon Mar 28, 2011 2:09 pm

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 · **Posted:** Mon Mar 28, 2011 3:23 pm

Holedigger wrote:

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.... :wink:

Randy Haskin · **Posted:** Mon Mar 28, 2011 4:12 pm

Holedigger wrote:

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 · **Joined:** Wed Aug 11, 2010 7:56 am **Posts:** 843

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

gary1954 · **Posted:** Tue Mar 29, 2011 7:50 am

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 · **Posted:** Tue Mar 29, 2011 8:11 am

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 · **Posted:** Tue Mar 29, 2011 8:42 am

gary1954 wrote:

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.

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

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