Stearman Damaged in Takeoff From Texas Road 10/02/21

[Zac Yates]

I've found it interesting to follow this thread. Previously when we have a discussion about an incident or accident speculation is actively discouraged by most members, once or twice someone will say it's not our place and we should wait for the FAA/NTSB reports, one member is told their theory is garbage by someone with vastly more experience, and there's a kind of unspoken attitude that nothing ill is said of the crew involved for now.

Slightly different this time. Just an observation.

[BigGrey]

In the one video where he is rolling out of the parking lot on his takeoff run I don't see the palm fronds, trees or flags in front of the building moving. I doubt he had a sudden crosswind and he simply failed to maintain directional control. His speed suffered after getting in the grass and he pulled up and then pulled even more as he saw the wires with the traffic signal getting closer. A waste of a nice airplane.

[Dan Jones]

Well, I'm sure the guy feels like an idiot... but, that was a pretty idiotic stunt.

[RyanShort1]

In the one video where he is rolling out of the parking lot on his takeoff run I don't see the palm fronds, trees or flags in front of the building moving. I doubt he had a sudden crosswind and he simply failed to maintain directional control. His speed suffered after getting in the grass and he pulled up and then pulled even more as he saw the wires with the traffic signal getting closer. A waste of a nice airplane.

I'm willing to give the benefit of the doubt since I wasn't there, but yeah, it looks bad.

[RyanShort1]

Same thing with an airplane. Your track record is indicative of your inherent risk. Good track record in the air means you're relatively low risk and enjoy a relatively low premium. The opposite also applies. But the insurance company is gonna pay up when you prang the airplane, even if you make a dumb mistake (be it a physical mistake or a mental mistake).

More than that, even if they don't want to pay YOU, they will likely still be out money to settle with the city for the damage to the light poles and anyone else who's property was damaged. It's cheaper than going to court, and the city's lawyers will certainly go after the insurance company.

[menards]

There are “stupid mistakes” like forgetting to put the gear down and wrecking a nice Mooney. Then there are “stupid mistakes” like this one. Taking off from a street with tight margins and no room for error. It doesn’t seem fair to me that an insurance co would have to pay for a stearman, a light pole and some traffic signals. Also the recovery towing/ops.

Think about these examples:

Let's say you're driving under the influence and have an accident. Does your auto insurance pay?

Let's say you close the garage door on your new Porsche. Does your insurance pay to have the door and the Porsche fixed?

Let's say you screw up with one of those turkey fryers and burn your house to the ground. Does your homeowner's pay?

Let's say you chop your fingers off with your tablesaw. Does your medical insurance pay?

Same thing with an airplane. Your track record is indicative of your inherent risk. Good track record in the air means you're relatively low risk and enjoy a relatively low premium. The opposite also applies. But the insurance company is gonna pay up when you prang the airplane, even if you make a dumb mistake (be it a physical mistake or a mental mistake).

These examples of stupidity you provide are all well and good and akin to the example of landing your nice mooney and forgetting to put the gear down. There are also many examples where your insurance WONT pay. For example:

You take that nice shiny new Porshe out of the garage and drive it to the track because you want to see what it can do. You think your being responsible testing its limits off of public roads. You spin out and damage the Porshe. Insurance is NOT paying your claim. You're left with a wrecked Porshe.

As your house is ablaze due to your turkey fryer incident and all your neighbors are out at the curb watching your posessions burn, the neighbor you dont like asks "When is the turkey done?" You return with a slanderous remark. Your neighbor sues you for defamation. While your insurance company whill pay for your belongings, they are nowhere to be found on the defamation lawsuit. That said if you can prove that your remark to be true, its not slander, and the insurance company will defend you all the way.

There are many other exclusions baked into insurance policies. More and more of these accidents are seeming to be extremely preventable and nothing more than bad judgement. Maybe if insurance companies clamped down on owners/operators, they would have a little pause before they decided to take off on a public road with minimal (zero) safety margins. It baffles me to hear that aviation insurance is just quick to pay for the collossially stupid.

[RyanShort1]

There are many other exclusions baked into insurance policies. More and more of these accidents are seeming to be extremely preventable and nothing more than bad judgement. Maybe if insurance companies clamped down on owners/operators, they would have a little pause before they decided to take off on a public road with minimal (zero) safety margins. It baffles me to hear that aviation insurance is just quick to pay for the collossially stupid.

I don't think that's the insurance companies' fault, it is the fault of the judicial system, and ignorant jurors awarding money to people they shouldn't, creating a very hostile environment for insurance companies. What people forget is that all of that insurance money is invested for good in other places, most of the time, so other people also suffer when the insurance money has to take back their investments.

[phil65]

This story won't end...

https://aopalive.aopa.org/?utm_source=e ... dium=email

Phil

[PinecastleAAF]

His dog still loves him so there is that.

[bdk]

First time I've seen the video clip where the Stearman went into the grass median/ditch. Despite that, it seems like the margins were pretty slim for that departure. The AOPA video says that the pilot claimed a "power loss" on the takeoff. Probably a good reason to have some extra margin. Always easy to criticize after the fact though. If the takeoff had gone to plan it wouldn't really be in the news.

[StangStung]

This guy does an interesting analysis where he gets down to brass tacks - take off space, overrun space, how far away was the nearest runway he could have been towed to for a proper take off, etc. We all know what opinions are worth, but clearly there was a series of faulty decisions made in this case:


[youtube]https://youtu.be/xBz83CJLVGs[/youtube]

*not sure why it won't imbed.

[RyanShort1]

This guy does an interesting analysis where he gets down to brass tacks - take off space, overrun space, how far away was the nearest runway he could have been towed to for a proper take off, etc. We all know what opinions are worth, but clearly there was a series of faulty decisions made in this case:


[youtube]https://youtu.be/xBz83CJLVGs[/youtube]

*not sure why it won't imbed.

"This guy" is a member here.

memberlist.php?mode=viewprofile&u=11905

And yes, his stuff on YouTube is good.

Here's his channel for others: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCLjbnp ... IEY5pWKBzw

[airnutz]

This guy does an interesting analysis where he gets down to brass tacks - take off space, overrun space, how far away was the nearest runway he could have been towed to for a proper take off, etc. We all know what opinions are worth, but clearly there was a series of faulty decisions made in this case:

https://youtube.com/watch?v=xBz83CJLVGs

Fixed it as a direct link.

[JohnB]

A lot better than many YouTube accident investigation videos.
The guy "gunnyperdue" seems to have experience in the type and he doesn't resort to name calling like some others who try to look smart or tough.