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The following is my response to someone who contacted me directly after
they not only did not read what I actually wrote, but accused me of
criticizing the pilot's performance. Name censored - this is not about
embarrassing someone, and perhaps his point is that I was sufficiently
unclear in my original post that others may also have misinterpreted
it. Or perhaps he just had a bad day a the office... ;-)
__________________________________________________
Dear xxxx,
You are exactly correct - opinions are one per person. That is why I
was very careful to specify that MY opinion was that of a rear view
mirror, armchair quarterback, given the choice (not assumed, as
you falsely indicate) point of view and only to be taken as a lesson
learned for the rest of us - so that if WE ever end up in a similar
position we might possibly do better. I did not criticize the pilot
nor his choices, that is your interpretation. Having suffered the loss
of many friends to aviation accidents, and even a few where they suffer
the guilt of a wrong (or even right) decision having unintentionally
cost the life of another, my advice for the COMMUNITY was both sound
and practical.
Your assertion that he is a hero, and that he did an excellent job, is
utterly baseless. Do you know if he ever practiced engine out
procedures? Do you know if he ever considered what to do in the event
of an oil leak destroying his visibility (a relatively common emergency
with C/S props)? Do you understand that it is just as dangerous to
glorify any aviator who befalls tragedy as it is to vilify them, when
doing so hurts the credibility of our community? At the end of the day
perhaps he IS a hero - but to ASSUME that he is is just as irrational
and unproductive as what the despicable author of that "news/slander"
article wrote.
I have personally lost 1/2 of a propeller over the ocean in a Lancair,
so the scenario is not totally unfamiliar to me. While I did not
suffer his visibility problems (it was a wooden prop), I did consider
it as a possibility - all I "knew" was that there was a horrible
vibration and that I might have blown a rod and could quickly blow a
seal, or even lose the engine off of the aircraft (a good friend once
threw a C/S blade on takeoff in a Lancair and broke 3 of 4 motor
mounts. He DID lose visibility, and very nearly his life...). I
reacted quickly and correctly, I am convinced, because I had prepared
for such an event and practiced for it. I also have the benefit of
several million dollars worth of taxpayer funded training behind me and
had the subsequent mind set that such benefit often results in pounded
into me - but there is ample evidence that that attitude is something
that any pilot can choose to adopt. Sadly, some do not.
The fact of the matter is, if the aircraft was flyable then given even
a few seconds before impact he could have side-slipped enough to
determine whether he would land in the shallow water rather than on the
beach. While he may not have been able to make out a person through
the oil, there is a good possibility that he may have seen a boat - or
that hitting a boat might not have resulted in anyone's death. Given
the time of year, it seems very unlikely that the water would contain
swimmers. Perhaps, as you suggest, he did not have that much time, or
perhaps he just panicked, etc., speculation, etc. None of that is to
be criticized; the first being uncontrollable and the latter being mere
human frailty which is just as utterly unavoidable as whether you were
born a man or a woman.
However, based on reports I've read over the years both in and out of
the military, statistically speaking he was probably worried more about
saving his beautiful airplane than he was about the consequences of his
decisions. The decision to sacrifice the airplane to save your
life, and potentially the lives of others, is counter intuitive to a
normal human - especially one who has spent thousands of loving
hours creating that aircraft. That decision needs to be made on the
ground before you fly, and that decision requires preparation and
discipline. That is the lesson to be learned from this, and if even
one person learns it then the aviation community will have benefited
from this tragedy.
Fly safe all,
Bill
_____________________________________________
<anonymity of this person preserved, since they did not wish the
community to see their response>
OPINIONS
are Like <profanity removed>. Does anyone Know the Facts! Does
anyone Know What the Situation in the Cockpit was at the Time of
Landing, NO. Does anyone Know if there was a CHOICE on exactly where or
How to Land, NO. Does anyone Know How Rough the Surf was at the Time of
Landing, NO. Does anyone Know How a Lancair IV handles without a Prop,
NO. All the Critics, All the Judges. How do you Know if he had Landed
in the Water Blindly he wouldn't have hit a Boat or someone on a
Jetski, Does Anyone Know if there where Boats in the Water at the time
of Landing, NO!! It was an "UNFORTUNATE ACCIDENT". I would Think One of
our OWN would get more Support from LML. My Sincere Heart Felt Prayers
go out to the Family, Wife and Children of Mr. Jones. Also, to ED
Smith. If no One Had Died in the Landing, Ed Smith would have been a
Hero, Right. Think about it. I think Ed did an EXCELLENT JOB Piloting
an Aircraft DEAD STICK BLIND.
Date: Fri, 19 Mar 2010 07:23:18 -0400
Why was she quoted? For the same reason Michael Moore gets even a
moment's notice in the press. People love emotional stupidity - it
sells papers.
As for his decision to land on the beach - in a strictly rear-view
mirror / armchair quarterback manner, I'll go out on a limb and suggest
that a lesson learned here is that if you can't see what is straight
ahead you should choose to land in the shallow water, given the
choice. Yes, it may be cold and damage the leather - but so is waking
up in the morning knowing you killed someone.
Our prayers go out to both the family of the deceased and the pilot for
what they have, and will, endure.
Bill
jeffrey rienzi wrote:
Schiavo, the former NTSB official. Absolutely Ignorant
!!!! Makes the NTSB look Bad. Why was a FORMER NTSB official even
quoted??
To: lml@lancaironline.net
Date: Wed, 17 Mar 2010 22:04:45 -0400
From: 2thman@cablespeed.com
Subject: [LML] More on Ed Smith's accident
Who on earth is this person Schiavo?
Was she misquoted? It’s become normal to expect comments like the
turbine engine and 387 mph errors made in the reports, but the quote
below is really ridiculous coming from anyone who knows anything at all
about flying an aircraft with an engine out, even a slow one but
especially for any Lancair.
“Even with oil smeared on the windshield, Schiavo, the former NTSB
official, said Smith should have been able to see through a small
window on the side of the plane and possibly yell out to anyone below.
Still, there may have been little time to try to avoid hitting the
jogger, she said.
She said Smith made the right choice in landing on the beach rather
than the water. The aircraft likely wasn't carrying flotation equipment.
"Planes like this sink like a rock," she said.”
This quote from an article on AP.
Regards,
John Barrett, CEO
Leading Edge Composites
PO Box 428
Port Hadlock, WA 98339
www.carbinge.com
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