Post by Tom Goodrick on Jun 19, 2011 7:07:49 GMT -5
Yesterday a Piper Cherokee 140 with two adults and two kids on board crashed just after takeoff from the Guntersville AL airport (8A1). The two adults died immediately but the kids were rescued as the plane burned and are recovering in a local hospital. They had left Nashville and were headed for a beach in south Alabama or north Florida. They stopped in Guntersville for gas. This indicates the pilot was carrying a reduced fuel load to allow more payload.
They must have stalled and spun in while turning left shortly after takeoff. The weather was rough and variable yesterday as storms came in from the north and pushed out the 90 degree weather cooling it 20 degrees in some places. There were very strong wind gusts. Our local weatherman predicted the change in the weather quite well.
When my kids were small, I loaded the family into a Cherokee 140 parked at Hopedale, MA where I was taking lessons. My instructor said I'd have no trouble flying that plane. It was priced just out of reach. I felt claustrophobic. When I got my ticket, I flew the wife and kids several times in a C172 and felt it was a lot more roomy with good visibility in all directions.
The kind of gusts we had yesterday could take away your flying speed real quick. If you just happened to be making a climbing turn at the time a gust hit it would be all over quickly.
We manage to kill 30-50 people each month in small planes in the US. It happens like clockwork. They probably had this trip scheduled for a couple weeks.
There are now three fatalities. The little girl died.
They must have stalled and spun in while turning left shortly after takeoff. The weather was rough and variable yesterday as storms came in from the north and pushed out the 90 degree weather cooling it 20 degrees in some places. There were very strong wind gusts. Our local weatherman predicted the change in the weather quite well.
When my kids were small, I loaded the family into a Cherokee 140 parked at Hopedale, MA where I was taking lessons. My instructor said I'd have no trouble flying that plane. It was priced just out of reach. I felt claustrophobic. When I got my ticket, I flew the wife and kids several times in a C172 and felt it was a lot more roomy with good visibility in all directions.
The kind of gusts we had yesterday could take away your flying speed real quick. If you just happened to be making a climbing turn at the time a gust hit it would be all over quickly.
We manage to kill 30-50 people each month in small planes in the US. It happens like clockwork. They probably had this trip scheduled for a couple weeks.
There are now three fatalities. The little girl died.