Hygiene, Co. Plane down.

[ltdiver 3]

Ok....they were expecting a fireball when they recieved the 'Mayday' call. It didn't flame up.

Now, I'm not a pilot, but 2 thoughts come to mind....

1) No fireball=he ran out of fuel.
or
2) No fireball=very skilled pilot.

Discuss.... :^)

http://www.longmontfyi.com/Local-Story.asp?ID=1421

Quote

Plane lands in pasture
Pilot walks away after having engine trouble at 1,000 feet

By Brad Turner
The Daily Times-Call

HYGIENE — An 86-year-old pilot walked away from an emergency landing in a cow pasture Friday morning after the engine on the small plane he purchased Thursday in Salt Lake City seized up near Longmont, police said.

Spencer Grant of Stockbridge, Ga., radioed for help just before setting his plane down at 6914 St. Vrain Road, about two miles west of Vance Brand Municipal Airport, according to Don Yarbrough, a pilot who was flying nearby.

“He just said, ‘Mayday, mayday’ a couple of times,” Yarbrough said. “We were expecting to see a fireball.”

Instead, Grant landed uninjured at about 11:50 a.m., though his single-engine, two-seat plane suffered a broken right wing and other damage, police said.

“It looks like he did a good job,” Yarbrough said as he visited the scene of the landing. “If you’re in a situation like that, you’ve got to break the airplane and try to save yourself.”

Grant declined an interview request.

He purchased the experimental two-seater plane Thursday in Salt Lake City and had planned to fly it back to Georgia on Friday, according to sheriff’s Lt. Jim Smith. Grant planned to stop in Longmont for fuel but ran into trouble.


“As he’s making his approach, the engine seizes on him,” Smith said.

Grant was flying about 1,000 feet off the ground when he encountered engine trouble. He landed the plane less than a minute later, Smith said.

Sheriff’s investigators were not sure why, or if, the plane malfunctioned, Smith said.

The National Transportation and Safety Board will investigate the incident, Smith said.

Grant’s plane ripped a 100-foot gap in a barbed-wire fence during the landing. No livestock escaped, property owner Vicky Andrew said.

Longmont’s airport typically sees three or four emergency landings a year, Vance Brand airport manager Tim Barth said.

“It’s not uncommon for malfunctions to happen, but usually they make it to the airport,” he said.

The last fatal plane crash in the Longmont area occurred April 26, 2004, when Mile-Hi Skydiving Center owner Jeff Sands and a friend, Thomas Bullington of Boulder, crashed an aerobatic biplane in a field near the intersection of 83rd Street and Yellowstone Road. Sands and Bullington both were killed.

Brad Turner can be reached at 720-494-5420, or by e-mail at bturner@times-call.com.

Don't tell me the sky's the limit when there are footprints on the moon

[bhammond 0]

The location is Hygiene Colorado, about 1 mile west
of mile high Skydiving in Longmont, we have plenty of nice flat fields out here, not to minimize the pilots skill, he did a good job getting it on the ground...

[ltdiver 3]

Thanks. Fixed it.

Yeah, the pilot sure showed some skill brining the plane in. That's for sure.

Yet, to quote a CFI I know....the majority of plane crashes amongst private pilots happen because they simply ran out of fuel.

ltdiver

Don't tell me the sky's the limit when there are footprints on the moon

[wartload 0]

I don't know about the majority of light-plane crashes being caused by running out of fuel, but that's one of the main causes, for sure. This report said that the engine "seized up", which, if true, suggests that it could have managed to blow out all of the oil somehow, or it otherwise had a major mechanical failure.

To be honest with you, whomever was expecting a fireball sounds pretty inexperienced. If you've got a light plane and a pasture of any size at all, one of the last concerns is that the thing is gonna burst into flames.

[ltdiver 3]

Quote

This report said that the engine "seized up", which, if true, suggests that it could have managed to blow out all of the oil somehow, or it otherwise had a major mechanical failure.

Yes. Perhaps. Yet, who among us completely believe what the news reports? I'd like to see the FAA prelimary report, first.

ltdiver

Don't tell me the sky's the limit when there are footprints on the moon

[riggerrob 643]

Grant’s plane ripped a 100-foot gap in a barbed-wire fence during the landing. No livestock escaped, property owner Vicky Andrew said.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Local priorities are obivous.