Singlecoil
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From adn.com
73-year-old pilot crash-lands in storm, sets up tent, awaits rescue
'I knew if I gave in, she was going to do a snap-roll and turn turtle on me'
By DOUG O'HARRA
Anchorage Daily News
(Published: March 2, 2004)
Safe at his south Moutain View home, Ted Greene, 73, described the crash of his PA-15. (Photo by Jim Lavrakas / Anchorage Daily News)
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Click on photo to enlarge
Ted Greene was flying home to Anchorage on Sunday afternoon from his cabin in the Susitna Valley, dodging thick weather and cruising at 80 knots, when his lightweight single-engine airplane suddenly veered sharply to the left.
Something in the controls had broken, and the plane was threatening to bank hard and stall about 1,000 feet above the ground. But Greene didn't lose his calm -- or his grip on the stick.
As the newly rebuilt Piper PA-15 spiraled lower and lower toward a remote site in the snowy Susitna Valley, the 73-year-old pilot fought to hold the plane upright with extreme right rudder.
"I knew if I gave in, she was going to do a snap-roll and turn turtle on me," he said Monday afternoon. "So I stayed with it, flying right down into the trees and picked a spot in between some big spruce trees and kind of landed on some small birch.
"Next thing I knew, the airplane was in shambles and I was right there, perfectly fine."
With fuel leaking from the crumpled fuselage, Greene scrambled out the sliding window, called for help on a hand-held radio, set up a comfortable camp on a frozen lake and changed into dry clothes.
When Alaska Air National Guard pararescuers arrived early Monday morning in a helicopter at the unnamed lake about 60 miles northwest of Anchorage, the retired insurance salesman with more than 50 years and 5,000 hours of flying experience was snug in a sleeping bag in a small dome tent.
"He was in pretty good spirits," said Senior Master Sgt. Carl Brooks of the 210th Air Rescue Squadron. "If he hadn't been so prepared, he would have been hypothermic this morning."
Greene was taken to Providence Alaska Medical Center, where he was examined and released. By early afternoon, he was sitting in his easy chair at his East Anchorage home.
"Oh, I'm getting a little stiff, but that's mainly from all the snowshoeing" while setting up camp, he said. "Boy, it feels good to get a shower."
His wife, Betty, was fielding phone calls from the couple's seven adult children, plus grandchildren and great-grandchildren. She said she was relieved and exhausted. "I sat up in that chair all night, waiting to see if they could find him," she said.
The couple, who married 24 years ago, have spent many hours on adventures piloted by Greene. They crashed twice while flying in the 1980s, once after catching a violent crosswind on takeoff after a caribou hunt near Stony River and once when a float struck a submerged log on the Beluga River.
"He's a good pilot and a good survivalist. I would trust my life with him, and I have," said Betty Greene. "So I knew he would be all right, as long as he didn't come down too hard."
Greene had been at his cabin near Shell Lake since Thursday. He'd told his wife he'd be home Sunday.
After his crash, Greene climbed out of the Piper's window and discovered that his hearing aid had been knocked out of his ear, possibly by a sleeping bag that shot out the window during the crash. Greene's cell phone didn't work, and the plane's emergency locator beacon had been left at home. He couldn't find matches. And his bluejeans became soaking wet from Greene's tramping around in deep snow. He never could find his hearing aid.
But Greene had radioed a commercial pilot on a hand-held radio and tried to tell him he was OK and give a general location. He changed into dry clothes, munched on granola bars and snuggled down for the night.
"I've found that it really pays to heed the admonition of having proper survival gear," he said. "I could have gotten hypothermic if I hadn't had the right clothes."
Meanwhile, the pilot relayed the message to the Air National Guard. By late Sunday, Betty Greene was worried and called her grandson, a master sergeant with the 210th squadron, with additional information.
An HC-130 Hercules aircraft and an HH-60G Pavehawk helicopter flew search patterns for six hours Sunday night and Monday morning before rain and snow forced them to quit. The search began again at 8 a.m., and 210th crews sighted Greene's tent and wrecked plane on the first pass about 8:30 a.m.
Greene doubts he will fix the plane, but he plans to get it back to town and take a look.
"I don't think I have the money or the inclination to rebuild another plane. I've done it three or four times now," he said. "I told Betty I think it's time to quit wasting money on airplane repairs."
73-year-old pilot crash-lands in storm, sets up tent, awaits rescue
'I knew if I gave in, she was going to do a snap-roll and turn turtle on me'
By DOUG O'HARRA
Anchorage Daily News
(Published: March 2, 2004)
Safe at his south Moutain View home, Ted Greene, 73, described the crash of his PA-15. (Photo by Jim Lavrakas / Anchorage Daily News)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Click on photo to enlarge
Ted Greene was flying home to Anchorage on Sunday afternoon from his cabin in the Susitna Valley, dodging thick weather and cruising at 80 knots, when his lightweight single-engine airplane suddenly veered sharply to the left.
Something in the controls had broken, and the plane was threatening to bank hard and stall about 1,000 feet above the ground. But Greene didn't lose his calm -- or his grip on the stick.
As the newly rebuilt Piper PA-15 spiraled lower and lower toward a remote site in the snowy Susitna Valley, the 73-year-old pilot fought to hold the plane upright with extreme right rudder.
"I knew if I gave in, she was going to do a snap-roll and turn turtle on me," he said Monday afternoon. "So I stayed with it, flying right down into the trees and picked a spot in between some big spruce trees and kind of landed on some small birch.
"Next thing I knew, the airplane was in shambles and I was right there, perfectly fine."
With fuel leaking from the crumpled fuselage, Greene scrambled out the sliding window, called for help on a hand-held radio, set up a comfortable camp on a frozen lake and changed into dry clothes.
When Alaska Air National Guard pararescuers arrived early Monday morning in a helicopter at the unnamed lake about 60 miles northwest of Anchorage, the retired insurance salesman with more than 50 years and 5,000 hours of flying experience was snug in a sleeping bag in a small dome tent.
"He was in pretty good spirits," said Senior Master Sgt. Carl Brooks of the 210th Air Rescue Squadron. "If he hadn't been so prepared, he would have been hypothermic this morning."
Greene was taken to Providence Alaska Medical Center, where he was examined and released. By early afternoon, he was sitting in his easy chair at his East Anchorage home.
"Oh, I'm getting a little stiff, but that's mainly from all the snowshoeing" while setting up camp, he said. "Boy, it feels good to get a shower."
His wife, Betty, was fielding phone calls from the couple's seven adult children, plus grandchildren and great-grandchildren. She said she was relieved and exhausted. "I sat up in that chair all night, waiting to see if they could find him," she said.
The couple, who married 24 years ago, have spent many hours on adventures piloted by Greene. They crashed twice while flying in the 1980s, once after catching a violent crosswind on takeoff after a caribou hunt near Stony River and once when a float struck a submerged log on the Beluga River.
"He's a good pilot and a good survivalist. I would trust my life with him, and I have," said Betty Greene. "So I knew he would be all right, as long as he didn't come down too hard."
Greene had been at his cabin near Shell Lake since Thursday. He'd told his wife he'd be home Sunday.
After his crash, Greene climbed out of the Piper's window and discovered that his hearing aid had been knocked out of his ear, possibly by a sleeping bag that shot out the window during the crash. Greene's cell phone didn't work, and the plane's emergency locator beacon had been left at home. He couldn't find matches. And his bluejeans became soaking wet from Greene's tramping around in deep snow. He never could find his hearing aid.
But Greene had radioed a commercial pilot on a hand-held radio and tried to tell him he was OK and give a general location. He changed into dry clothes, munched on granola bars and snuggled down for the night.
"I've found that it really pays to heed the admonition of having proper survival gear," he said. "I could have gotten hypothermic if I hadn't had the right clothes."
Meanwhile, the pilot relayed the message to the Air National Guard. By late Sunday, Betty Greene was worried and called her grandson, a master sergeant with the 210th squadron, with additional information.
An HC-130 Hercules aircraft and an HH-60G Pavehawk helicopter flew search patterns for six hours Sunday night and Monday morning before rain and snow forced them to quit. The search began again at 8 a.m., and 210th crews sighted Greene's tent and wrecked plane on the first pass about 8:30 a.m.
Greene doubts he will fix the plane, but he plans to get it back to town and take a look.
"I don't think I have the money or the inclination to rebuild another plane. I've done it three or four times now," he said. "I told Betty I think it's time to quit wasting money on airplane repairs."
