Plane down in FL keys - 2 dead, 2 missing

[TDTURBO]

At the flight school I used to work at, after spending a lot of time with sstudents and developing friendships, a lot of time with became renters. The person that cleans the restroom at McDonald's shouldn't be considered "just the janitor". Everyone is just as important than the next guy. As far as the place being a plane short, that should be the least of one's worries after something like this hitting so close to home. It's not ALL about you Dude!

I don't think he meant it that way, he even explained himself if you bothered to read it above, geeez, give the guy some slack dude. I don't think anyone on this board would put schedualing a plane in front of someones life. If they do, they probably work for a PFT outfit.

 

[cforst513]

well, they've recovered all 4 bodies, which is good for the families. now we just sit and wait til the facts hopefully present themselves.

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/lo...sh02aug02,0,7355304.story?coll=sfla-news-sfla

people reported seeing a flash of light and hearing a bang, and accoridng to reports the airplane broke into pieces (as seen by the recovery teams finding a tire, a wing, and a seat cushion). my question is do you think that the lightning (if there was any) packs enough force to break a cessna 172 into pieces or did the ensuing crash probably cause the break-up of the aircraft?

 

[jehtplane]

well, they've recovered all 4 bodies, which is good for the families. now we just sit and wait til the facts hopefully present themselves.

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/southflorida/sfl-dcrash02aug02,0,7355304.story?coll=sfla-news-sfla

people reported seeing a flash of light and hearing a bang, and accoridng to reports the airplane broke into pieces (as seen by the recovery teams finding a tire, a wing, and a seat cushion). my question is do you think that the lightning (if there was any) packs enough force to break a cessna 172 into pieces or did the ensuing crash probably cause the break-up of the aircraft?

The weather report said clear skies and winds 110/10

 

[EDUC8-or]

well it did kind of come off that way..but its the internet...tone of voice and attitude don't translate well.

Agreed.

As far as the lightning is concerned, the most recent METAR from EYW read clear with 10SM visibility.

I had 4 former students and friends call yesterday. Two of them often lurk on flightinfo. They go to Riddle, and word of mouth travels fast. The big buzz on campus was about the Epic 172 that went down. I tried to google the crash and nothing came up, but I was able to find the links posted here. Obviously the family knows about it now, but word travels fast and I would hate for a family member to find out through the grapevine.

I know you didn't mean anything by posting so quickly and I'm sure you were/are curious about what really happened just like the rest of the Epic family. Our thoughts and prayers go out to the families of the deceased.

 

[FN FAL]

well, they've recovered all 4 bodies, which is good for the families. now we just sit and wait til the facts hopefully present themselves.

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/lo...sh02aug02,0,7355304.story?coll=sfla-news-sfla

people reported seeing a flash of light and hearing a bang, and accoridng to reports the airplane broke into pieces (as seen by the recovery teams finding a tire, a wing, and a seat cushion). my question is do you think that the lightning (if there was any) packs enough force to break a cessna 172 into pieces or did the ensuing crash probably cause the break-up of the aircraft?

It's amazing what eye witnesses see and don't see. Look at that old Northwest Airlines crash in Lake Michigan...they speculated on that one for a long time, I think they had eyewitnesses that saw UFO's that day or something.

Then there's that unexplained mid-air of caravan in Alabama a few years back, the NTSB is calling it a mid-air collision, but there was only one plane found crashed. Some hypothesize that a military drone struck it.

Maybe that's what hit this 172? A UFO...

 

[VampyreGTX]

IT doesn't matter that KEYW reported clear and 10. There WAS a storm nearby and tower was closed so it was most likely an automated weather observation. Here's a paragraph from the story:

"The U.S. Coast Guard did not conduct a search until Sunday because its officials first thought that someone who reported a plane crash to the Sheriff's Office on Saturday likely saw lightning from a nearby storm, Coast Guard spokesman Dana Warr said."


Remember, turbulance can effect you 20 miles our from a storm and I"ve heard of lightning stirking more than 3 miles from the edge as well. It sounds like it was night time already. If it was a lightning strike, I'd say it didn't rip the plane apart (the impact with the water did) but imagine the effect on your vision at night to have a bolt of lightning strike your airplane. I'd say you'd be effectively blinded for a considerable amount of time.

RIP to the 4....

 

[cforst513]

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/lo...keyscrash,0,6581708.story?coll=sfla-news-sfla

gkrangers, did you know the pilot? they named all four victims in this story. i thought she was a Riddle grad, but I guess that she is a current student.

 

[wmuflyguy]

I'm not familiar with where the crash was, but isn't there a teathered balloon or two out there that goes up to like 14,000 ft. I'm not sure wha would happen if a 172 hit one of those cables, but i don't think it would be good.

 

[grantrobarts]

Ah jesus, that is crazy. Im a renter at Epic too

 

[transpondersoff]

This plane crashed at night and crashed in the ocean. I am not a person who is big on speculating but I am thinking Black Hole Effect.