Yeah, 105.5 is a general “whatever you do, don’t break something or hurt people” clause that pops up in several places in the regs.
How much should a high-wing pilot do, or how much can he do, to see what is above?
The pilot can see what’s ahead above just fine. It’s stuff above off to the sides that’s a problem – and perhaps only if the pilot is turning in that direction.
One of my instructors taught me to always raise the wing on the side I’m about to turn toward, before starting the actual turn, to take a peek at what’s there. This seems to get you a view of things off to that side that are about the same altitude as your own plane, or perhaps just a bit higher – but probably not much higher (like a descending guy on a parachute).
I’ve assumed that this is standard pilot practice. Is it?
Sure. You lift the wing before turning, you can lift the nose slightly or the direction the nose is pointing to change the field of view… but there are limits. Some aerobatic planes have “skylights” above the pilot’s head that further increase visibility and it’s one of the reasons I liked to fly aerobatic airplanes even though I don’t fly aerobatics - fewer blinds spots, or smaller blind spots.
The absolute worst visibility I’ve ever experienced in an airplane was while flying a Stearman. No, the wings weren’t above your head, they were in front of you, along with a honkin’ big engine and nose that pretty much made your blind spot cover where you were going. In that airplane you did “S-turns” not only while taxiing on the ground but also why flying in the air.
The best visibility I’ve ever experienced in an airplane was the Max-Air Drifter, which is basically a long pole with seats, engine, wings, tail, and other bits attached to it. The pilot sits waaaay out front, with everything - wings, engine, etc. - behind him or her. GREAT views, completely unobstructed (well, OK there’s a bit where your feet and rudder pedals are, but it’s a pretty small percentage of the overall view). The downside is that, should you hit anything while on the ground or in the air your body basically functioned as a bumper for the rest of the airplane. I remember hearing about a particularly gruesome accident in Australia involving a collision between a Drifter and a wire fence the pilot didn’t see while planning his landing roll-out. Damage to the airplane was minor, to the pilot… well, you don’t want to hit a wire fence at 80 kph, m’kay?
All aircraft have trade-offs. A common problem is blind spots. Low wing airplanes can resolve some of the overhead issues but then the blind spot is what’s below you - which means you can descend on top of someone because you don’t see him/her.
Worst possible configuration - a high wing airplane rising and a low wing descending, with both in each others’ blind spot. That’s how this happens.
The skydiver says he’ll jump again “as soon as he feels safe”. link
How long will that take? <rolleyes>
I guess it must be a fore-shortened perspective, but what kind of airport is this? I see a road and what looks like an apartment building right there next to the runway, which itself seems to be a grass field. It’s like there’s just some random field there in a suburban area that people use for all kinds of flying-related activities.
I can sure see how the accident happened, but from the pics I can’t understand why ANYONE was at that site doing whatever they were doing. And that includes the people watching TV in their living rooms 20 yards from an active air strip.
Here is the airport; the skydiving operation and landing zone are in the southeast corner. Here is a close-up of the landing area. It’s fairly tight and if the wind is out of the east or northeast a skydiver is going to cross the runway in order to land there.
I think there is enough blame to go around- both individuals should be looking for traffic and trying to avoid a collision. The skydiver has around 100 jumps which is not really a lot. He was probably focused on landing and just didn’t see the plane. The pilot apparently has an out-of-date medical certificate and (at 87) may not have been fit to fly.
Still, the skydiver has better visibility and can turn to land parallel to the runway or in one of the yards across the street. Just about anywhere is better than landing on an active runway. That’s something they teach from the first jump course on- watch out for airplanes, in the air and on the ground. Look both ways before crossing a runway, in the air and on the ground.
I think the jumper was focused on his landing and didn’t look for traffic. So was the pilot, for that matter- but it’s in the jumper’s best interests to avoid a collision, even if he has the right-of-way.
It’s easy for me to criticize, and when I was an inexperienced jumper I could have done the same thing. With experience comes more awareness and as I got comfortable with landing a canopy I became more aware of my surroundings and kept my head on a swivel throughout the landing, including while gathering up my canopy and leaving the landing area.
The airport is a fly in community owned by Southwind Homeowners Association. The residents along the northeast side of the runway have airplanes and hangars by their houses (like a garage) that open facing the runway.
Do airplanes have horns??
I’m a private pilot and have flown similar Cessnas. In short, upwards visibility sucks and when flying touch and gos at an airfield, the pilot’s tasks are far more focused on checklist procedures (flaps, gear, throttle, mixture, etc) that you’ll be practicing continually on each go-around. At uncontrolled fields, you do what you can to radio your intentions on general frequency and visually check the pattern for others, but when in the pattern you don’t have a lot of time or luxury to dip your wings for a robust visual sweep. When on final approach, or takeoff, dipping your wings can be downright hazardous when you are in slow speed near stall.
I’ve had many an asshole cough fellow pilot cough barge into an unannounced base or final approach when I’m obviously in the pattern and not seen them until they’ve already passed in front of my canopy. A parachautist would certainly be difficult to see, especially at the point where they tangled each other.
There is video of the collision from a security camera across the road. Interestingly, it shows another jumper landing 30+ seconds before the collision. Even if he didn’t have a radio the pilot should have known skydivers were in the vicinity.
Also, it appears the pilot was landing very close to the end of the runway, in an exclusionary area used for taxiing (he landed short of the threshold marked by white buckets, visible in the photos where the jumper is on the ground). It’s still not a good place to land a parachute and I think the jumper bears more than 50% of the responsibility.
Mine does. Not sure if it could be heard above the engine noise though ;).
Looking at the aerial view of the airport it looks like the only place you could land a parachute.
It’s a tight landing area I’ll admit, but for an experienced jumper there are lots of outs- and he should have made his decision on where to land much earlier. Apparently the pilot was doing his third touch-and-go; the jumper should have been watching the plane all along as he had probably been under canopy for several minutes.
Honestly, the jumper should have been able to fly his pattern and land in the target (the light patch in the aerial photos) without crossing the runway at all using that canopy. It’s a big docile thing without much forward drive, similar to my first parachute. He also could have turned left while he was still west of the road and chosen a front yard to land in (while avoiding the power lines); it wouldn’t be that difficult or dangerous. Certainly preferable to landing on a runway.
I wonder what the ind strength and direction was? That would have an affect on the parachutist’s options.
What is the actual airport? I don’t see it listed anywhere.
Looked at G-Earth but I must have a mental block, don’t see one that matches the pictures…
I’m assuming he was landing into the wind and it sure looks like the photographer is facing west (more or less) so I’m guessing the wind was out of the east- no idea on the windspeed however. We also don’t know what his exit point was so we don’t know if he was fighting the wind the whole way back and was focused on making it back to the airport, or if he exited far enough upwind to fly a normal pattern.
Either way though, he should have been looking for traffic the whole time and could easily have landed in a front yard instead of in the runway.
It’s the South Lakeland Airport in Florida, between Tampa and Lake Wales. There’s a link to a Google Maps photo in post #26.
Too late to edit previous post:
If you click on my “South Lakeland Airport” link above, then scroll down a little you’ll see an aerial photo of the view the pilot had on final approach. The landing area for the skydivers is the large triangular green patch on the right.
Looking at the wear patterns, the local custom seems to be to go past or start before or land quite a bit before or outside of the 6 white buckets.
Not too sure that they are the rule but more of a suggestion on that particular airport.
I presume when the pilot figured out what happened, he said “AW…SHOOT”.
Which reminds me of an old joke:
What’s the difference between a golfer and a skydiver?
A golfer goes whack “Shit!”
And a skydiver goes “Shit!” whack