Airplane Crash in Hot Springs Arkansas

[Vardog]

Last night at about 7:15 while beginnig our missed approach in Pine Bluff AR the silence on the ctaf was broken by a pilot declaring and emergency. He had stated that he was on a 2 mile final into Hot Springs and that his engine was out. His voice sounded calm, like I imagine that it would if he were just making a standard position report to the local traffic. About 20-30 seconds later he stated that he he was on a mile final and again stated that his engine was out. A few moments later he stated that he was not going to make the runway and was going into the water. That was the last transmittion that we heard.
Neither of us could believe what we had just heard. We contacted Little Rock's approach control and told them about the accident. After we landed we called the Watch Sup. in Memphis at the request of Little Rock approach and told them what we had heard.
When I had reached my house, the crash was on television, the pilot did not make the runway and in fact did not make the water either. His plane struck a house on Lake Hamilton @ a half mile from the runway threshold. The news people said that the pilot was taken to the hospital and his passenger was fatally wounded.
I have not stopped thinking about this since it happened. I wonder if I would be as calm as this pilot sounded? What were the circumstances of the accident? No details have been reported yet.
As I told the guy that I was flying with a couple minutes after hearing that that pilot say he was going into the water - "I feel terrible for him, I hope that he isn't married and has no children." Us pilots accept the risk of something like this happening before we ever fly our first plane. This risk, however, is something that our wive's and families are forced to accept, and if he has a family, I feel worse for them than for him. They are the ones that have to live with this accident."
This accident has made me more conscious of flying as close to perfect as I can each and every time that I go up. This pilot who crashed last night may have done it all correctly, and still just run out of options and lift all at the same time. This new dedication to my own safety is for the benefit of my family so that they have less of a chance of having to be the survivors of my decision to be a pilot.

 

[avbug]

Every time you go fly, you stand a 50 percent chance of something. Either it will happen, or it won't. I'm no mathmatician, or statician. However, either you come back, or you don't. Either you land successfully, or you don't. Either your engine works, or it doesn't. And so on.

This doesn't improve with time or experience; you take the same chance every time. You can mitigate it somewhat, but the possibilities still exist, each with equal opportunity.

The truth is that it could just as easily have been you in that airplane. Or me. Or any one of us. We all do the same thing, fly in the same atmosphere, and take the same gamble by flying an airplane.

I flew for an old man years ago. He was a combat veteran, many times over, and had watched many of his friends blown out of formation around him. He was a lifelong crop duster, and engaged in many practices in his life and work which some might be considered to be risky. For him, it was another day at the office. He died about ten years ago, in his sleep. His son, not much older than me, had a heart attack a year later. His other son made some mistakes, got a little crazy, and stabbed himself to death.

Don't get too caught up in how someone died...but how they lived. Don't get too caught up in being whitness or party to a death or a loss. Some emotion is normal, even necessary. But don't let it get you...we all die. You'll get your turn. Me too. Until then, we can only look at the deaths of others, and the lives of others, and draw out what can help us and let the rest go. Nothing profound...but something I learned after watching a lot of friends and co-workers die over the years. What I remember is how they lived, and that's the part that in some small way is a piece of who I am, too.

Take the calm you heard on the radio and make it part of you. You admire it, adopt it. Of course you can. We all can. Tension is what we make it, and I can tell you that more emergencies are pilot induced than not. Many times a situation isn't an emergency until we work ourselves into such a lather or panic that it becomes one. Take three deep breaths, sit on your hands and count to ten, then act with deliberate intent. Have a better day.

 

[bulldog]

Avbug,

Great advice thanks.

Bulldog

 

[Birdstrike]

Insightful post, AvBug, appreciate the voice of experience yet again.

A few years ago I was flying out of Fort Chaffee and refueled at Hot Springs. It was daytime and I noted all the close-in hills surrounding the field. I remember recalling to myself that this must be why I was taught to never try a circling approach at night into a strange airport. With those hills around, that guy would likely never had a chance if he hadn't been able to establish himself on a straight in. Here he was, trying to do the right thing, avoiding the hills, and then he falls into a lake short of the threshold.

It's true, sometimes even doing the "right things" aren't enough. When it's your time, it's your time. Sounds like he did all he could do. Again, prayers and condolences to this pilot, his family, and those that knew him.

 

[Timebuilder]

Good observation.

Another one that I heard years ago is advice on the first action to take in any emergency: wind your watch. I think that's another way of giving the same advice. Keep your head. Think first, then act.

More to the point of the accident, I have given a great deal of thought over the past several years to flying single engine planes in hard IFR. I've done it, but I am considering placing a ceiling and visibility limitation on doing so in the future, along the order of 3,000 AGL, with three miles below the ceiling to allow for engine emergencies. The idea of breaking out at 600 AGL without an engine running has no appeal. Night IFR? Two engines, thanks.

 

[Vardog]

Avbug

I appreciate the advise, I think it is good advise too.

 

[LR25]

Aggreed, you cant even start to make the right decision if your panicing.

When I went to Lear initial at Simu-Flite. They taught you dont do anything except "fly the airplane" to 1500AGL then secure the engine or whatever might be the problem.

Fly like you train. It works.

 

[hyper]

How's that old saying go? Complacent pilots are surprised when something goes wrong. Good pilots are surprised when nothing goes wrong.

I believe it was Flight Express:

IDENTIFICATION
Regis#: FLX714 Make/Model: C210
Description: 210, T210, (Turbo)Centurion
Date: 12/04/2002 Time: 2346

Event Type: Accident Highest Injury: Fatal Mid
Air: N Missing: N
Damage: Destroyed

LOCATION
City: HARRISON State: AR Country: US

DESCRIPTION
ACFT WAS CLEARED FROM HRO (HARRISON, AR) TO SGF
(SPRINGFIELD, MO) TO
MAINTAIN 4,000. ACFT REPORTED OFF HRO A 2346. NO
FURTHER CONTACT. ACFT
CRASHED INTO TERRAIN AND WAS DESTROYED. THE PILOT
SUFFERED FATAL INJURIES.
HARRISON, AR

INJURY DATA Total Fatal: 1

# Crew: 1 Fat: 1 Ser: 0

Min: 0 Unk:

# Pass: 0 Fat: 0 Ser: 0

Min: 0 Unk:

# Grnd: Fat: 0 Ser: 0

Min: 0 Unk:

WEATHER: HRO 2339 SP AUTO 34005KT 3SM -SN BR SCT 008
OVC014 M03/M04 A3015

OTHER DATA
Activity: Unknown Phase: Unknown
Operation: General Aviation

Departed: HARRISON, AR Dep Date:
12/04/2002 Dep. Time: 2346
Destination: SPRINGFIELD, MO Flt Plan: IFR

Wx Briefing: U
Last Radio Cont: CLRD FROM HRO TO SGF
Last Clearance:

FAA FSDO: LITTLE ROCK, AR (SW11)
Entry date: 12/05/2002

 

[TurboS7]

50 years from now most of us won't be here. All this stuff will not amount to a hill o beans. Something to think about........it is Christmas, maybe it is time to think.

 

[V-1]

Hyper,

Why did you post information about an accident at Harrison? I thought the thread was about an accident at HOT? Did I miss something?

 

[hyper]

Arkansas - Arkansas ? It's the only fatal I heard about.

"I believe"....I left it with question.

 

[JCJ]

From the KARK-TV Web Page (KARK is the Little Rock, AR NBC Affiliate)

Are Small Planes Really Safe?
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Story by Mike Hellgren Posted 12/6/02 9:32:46 PM


Police say the preliminary cause of a deadly small plane crash in Hot Springs last night, was engine difficulty. Right now, the pilot, Michael McCarthy, of Little Rock, is in critical condition. One passenger, from Little Rock, died. He's 43-year-old Carlos Honeysuckle.

NTSB investigators flew into Little Rock around 1:00pm, Friday afternoon, from Denver, to head to the scene. The plane crashed right into a home near Lake Hamilton, just before 7:00pm, Thursday night. Minutes before, Hot Springs Memorial Field received an emergency transmission from the airport, with the pilot reporting engine problems.

We've seen several small planes go down recently, including one in Harrison, on Wednesday. That crash killed the pilot. Other recent crash sites include Baxter county, Saline county, and Pulaski county, in Wrightsville, last month. But, those who fly, say they're confident they're safe.

A scary sight: a plane crashes into a fireplace, at a home that is less than a mile from the Hot Springs Airport. "Steve yelled to me, ‘call 911, there's a plane. It hit our house’", says Markie Van Schenck, whose house was hit by that place.

The pilot of another plane, that crashed in Wrightsville last month, had to be cut from the wreckage. Searchers looked for remains in Saline county, a month before, where a crash killed four people onboard a plane in Paron. "It's travel, and travel, in general, comes at some sort of risk”, explains Cameron Baker, a Flight Instructor.

Baker instructs new pilots at Central Flying Service, in Little Rock. "Pilots, in general, know how to handle certain situations. It's just sometimes, for whatever reason, they happen."

Baker says small planes have almost as many safety devices as the big jets, and they're safer than more common ways of getting place to place. "People pay attention more to an airplane accident than to a car accident…aviation is by far more regulated, in methods of safety, than any other form of transportation."

The average pilot in training gets four to five months of instruction. Combine that with safety devices already onboard these small planes, and that makes accidents like this of little consequence to most pilots. "We don't worry any more about the equipment than we did before."

Central Flying Service teaches people to fly in all sorts of weather conditions. And, even if they don't fly all the time, Cameron Baker says their skills should always be second-nature.


Watch KARK News 4 for more on this story!

 

[350DRIVER]

avbug- pretty impressive post, although aren't all your posts just as impressive ...


you appear to be "one of a kind" and I hope one day I am fortunate enough to run into you.

I think many appreciate the time that you put into this board and I for one am very thankful.



3 5 0

 

[Sparks]

We all certainly are aware that what we do is dangerous. Every time our wheels leave the ground we knowingly isolate ourselves within an environment that is naturally hostile to us. So why? We make the sky our territory because we suppose that it adds to the value of life. We also settle down and have our families for the same reason. We all live for the beauty of what we do and spend our lives and hopes avoiding the dark side of it that some fall into. Is it worth it? Who knows. It depends whether you make it down safely from the next flight. To me, flying is not worth just shooting out on a tangent of luck and hoping I get home safe.

I don't like to have anything in my life where I'm just rolling the dice. I wouldn't fly if I believed that's what I was doing. There is an order to what we do. There are rules and priciples that operate between life and death. If you love your family more than you love flying (and you should), then don't let it mean that you won't fly anymore, just make it to mean that you check your engine better before you go, that you do a better preflight, that you're not afraid to say "no go," and that you study your books before you blast up into the wild blue yonder. We are in control up there. We are not playing russian roulette when we put the throttle in. The risks we face can be brought to an acceptable level of chance. I even believe we have the opportunity to be safer in the air than on the ground. We have to be disciplined with the knowledge available to us and use it for our own preservation.

There is an order to what we do and don't let anyone deprive you of that knowledge. Safety is in the hands of those who want it. Most of the time, its ignorance is what kills people up there. If you invest into flying with a proper fear of it, a proper love for your life, and with every effort towards prudence, knowledge, and safety, and if you still die in the air, then you can't truly blame it on flying anyway. Sometimes things just happen, but most of the time we have the opportunity to forsee a disaster before it claims us. There is enough knowledge and wisdom in the aviation world today to make flying safe. We just have to grasp it and live by it and never let it go. Discipline will save lives, not some fantastical entity like "luck" or "fate." If anything, let it be God, whom it never hurts to take a moment to invite on board before throttling up. I hope your flying stays safe and that you are not too discouraged by this event. I also hope the best for the pilot injured in the crash. There's no shame in logical questions though, like "is this worth it?" Maybe not. Who knows.

 

[LR25]

With respect to that crash in MIA where the experimental hit a building.

Those 2 guys were just in Fernandina Beach, FL last Thursday at the EAA meeting showing off that airplane. I looked at the airplane, it was very nice, the size of a Cardinal, maybe a little bigger, it also had 4 doors 1 for each seat.

I did a double take when I saw the news and the crane picking up the tail section of that unmistakeable paint job.


A couple of nice guys.

This has been a tragic week indeed.