Only birds should roost in trees

[kaz3g]

[/url]https://www.avweb.com/multimedia/best-of-the-web-how-to-survive-a-tree-landing/

 

 

[onetrack]

What is it about 79 year old male pilots and trees?? Do you have to get to 79, before you can land in trees successfully??

 

 

 

In early September 2017 a twelve-second video clip capturing a 79-year-old Connecticut pilot's incredibly lucky crash was widely disseminated on the internet.

 

People talked about a lot of things, but notably missing was discussion of what happened in the first place.

 

How did this guy end up flying into a tree - in a parking lot? And what happened afterwards?

 

Here is the rest of the story, along with the rest of the video footage, presented together with a collection of accident scene photographs.

 

Unfortunately, the "story behind the story" isn't nearly as thrilling: This incredible footage only exists because the pilot improperly executed a go-around, after bouncing the pictured Cessna 172P Skyhawk on landing.

 

The NTSB's accident narrative is incredibly short: "The pilot reported that during touchdown the airplane bounced, and he chose to go-around. He applied full power, set the carburetor heat to cold, and began incrementally retracting the flaps. The airplane drifted left of the runway centerline, towards a parking lot, but was not gaining altitude. The pilot started looking for a spot to execute a forced landing when the airplane impacted a tree and collided with the ground.

 

The pilot reported no pre-accident mechanical malfunctions or failures with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation.

 

The National Transportation Safety Board determines the probable cause of this accident to be the pilot's failure to properly execute the go-around, which resulted in the airplane failing to maintain a climb, which resulted in collision with a tree."

 

One other item of note, as the events described can be clearly seen in this footage: The accident pilot stated that after crashing, "Several individuals appeared within seconds. They lifted the wing and forced the door open. When I exited the plane, I noticed gasoline dripping from the wing." Did I mention that this guy was lucky?

 

 

[pmccarthy]

Looks like he had stalled it and was entering a spin when he hit the tree. Very lucky.

 

 

[farri]

A guy I instructed way back when went on to become a commercial Helicopter pilot and instructor...This day he had a guy on board with him in his R22 Helicopter, something went wrong, he lost control and they fell onto the top of a fairly big tree then fell to the ground! result! R22 wiped out, both guys, moderate injuries! Had it not been for the tree, breaking their fall, it may have been a totally different outcome.

 

Many years ago I read an article on surviving an in-flight engine failure in an Ultralight aircraft if you were over timbered land! It stated that you should pick the biggest, busiest, tree and fly straight into the middle of it, it also stated that you should carry a long rope for getting down from the tree.......Not for me, thank you!!! I`ll continue to fly within gliding distance of a suitable landing area! It has served me well in the past!

 

Franco.

 

 

[facthunter]

I don't agree that the C-172 would have stalled and was entering a spin. With only one person in it and nothing in the rear they are particularly disinclined to do that. Even if one is trying to make it happen. The most difficult thing to do is get the flap up neatly and the forward stick force can be quite high till you trim. Of course on the other hand you may be too slow airspeed wise to raise the flap all the way safely and just be able fly in ground effect only for a little while. It probably has the electric flaps but it's still distracting and a few things to co ordinate. OAT has an effect too. Trees can create eddies Nev