It looks like the Cirrus passengers exited the plane at an altitude of 500 feet or better. Starting to wonder if I should buy another fire extinguisher for my plane. All I have is a small Halon unit.
Wow! That’s a hard way to go. Fire or five hundred feet to the ground. Whatever the descent rate of that rescue chute was, it would not be fast enough for me.
I hope this tragic accident motivates every pilot, and their passengers to look for other air traffic.
In this case it was probably more a case of people making and listening to radio calls. Mid-Airs are more likely to occur around airports because aircraft are climbing which obscures everything at a right angle to the path of flight. This means neither pilots could see each other on an intersecting flight path. The best way to get ahead of a bad situation is for both pilots to listen to radio transmissions announcing intent. The Cirrus should have listened while taxiing and run-up for planes departing but staying in a traffic pattern or an established flying zone. The tow plane should be listening for departing planes and communicating updates. It’s common for pilots to verify location and visual contact between each other with traffic pattern reports and there is an entire vocabulary describing landing/take off patterns.
The Cirrus was in the air 45 minutes before the tug/glider took off.
Tow-planes in operation have the right of way over most other aircraft. Tug pilots have a lot on their plates pilot wise. Airspeed, AoA, engine health, and constantly glancing at the mirrors to check that the towed glider is in the slot , and looking for other aircraft.
The Cirrus appeared to be returning to the airport. At 2000 feet about the landing pattern and an estimated descent rate of 500 fpm they were probably 5 miles out. I would expect them to be on the frequency at 10 miles out listening for traffic.
This reinforces the benefits of preemptive communication. I’ve pulled away from airport approaches when I can’t see traffic that has called a position report.
The majority of tow-planes I’ve dealt with either had no radio or didn’t use one. I’ll never, ever, depend on someone else to clear my airspace. Just look out the windows, please.
glider and tow without a radio? I’ve been to Oshkosh enough times to know what a closing rate of 200 mph looks like head on. I’ve had people fly over and under me and I had a low wing fly 50 over the top of my high wing.
When I’m around an airport, I want to hear people talking. If you’re inbound, say it. Staying in the pattern, say it. Doing a straight in long final, sound off the distance.
See-and-avoid sounds good, and it does work to some extent, but it is no match for alerted see and avoid, i.e., carrying and using a radio. The only times I’ve been able to successfully use see-and-avoid, it’s been a late pick up and has left me with no faith in the system. Alerted see-and-avoid works well though, but it relies on everyone having and using a radio.
I’m seeing (well, hearing) more and more pilots in no-radio and ultralight type aircraft carry hand-held transceivers. They don’t have a lot of range but they work very nicely in traffic patterns, which is where you need them most.
Of course, even with a radio you need to look where you’re going. If only because birds don’t have transponders or transmitters.
When I’m around an airport with a lot traffic I do use a radio. I stay in class G airspace and stay clear of victor airways. I also stay current on all the FAR’s and NOTAMS. I’m a grassroots pilot and no doubt a Luddite. I love to fly, but I and many like me will soon be extinct. Soon the FAA will require anything that flies to have a radio and a transponder. Too many close calls and complaints from airplane “drivers” that can’t be bothered to look out the windows.
BTW; If you look at the Boulder sectional, you will find the silhouette of a glider with the letter G in a diamond above it, a few miles WNW from Boulder Municipal Airport. That symbol on the map is precisely where three people lost their lives on Saturday due to a mid-air. What does that symbol mean? Ask your radio.