Plane Ditches Near Wawa

CD · Post by CD » Wed Jul 21, 2004 6:35 am

Plane Ditches Near Wawa
Tb News Source
Web Posted: 7/21/2004 8:34:09 AM

A pilot and his wife have escaped with their lives after their small plane ran out of gas and crashed near Wawa.

Provincial police received a call about a plane in trouble and soon got a distress call about a plane going down. Once the missing aircraft was spotted, search and rescue technicians began parachuting to the site. When they arrived, they found the pilot and his wife sitting on the wing of their plane.

Alan Dunkley of Caesarea, Ontario suffered minor bumps and bruises but his wife, Janet, was airlifted to hospital. She has neck and upper back pain.The single-engine Piper landed on its belly in shallow water.

http://www.tbsource.com/localnews/index.asp?cid=68824

loopy · Post by **loopy** » Wed Jul 21, 2004 7:05 am

Here's hoping her injuries are not serious.

N2 · Post by N2 » Wed Jul 21, 2004 7:22 am

Where was the plane based out of?

CAL · Post by **CAL** » Wed Jul 21, 2004 10:40 am

Good job on the ditching, I am sure that wasnt easy....you know it worked out well when you can sit on your wing after.

Sulako · Post by **Sulako** » Wed Jul 21, 2004 11:03 am

Good job on the ditching I guess.

I still can't think of a decent reason for running out of gas. Ever. Can you?

//edited by Sulako to overtly ask the question.

eep...2 Green · Post by **eep...2 Green** » Wed Jul 21, 2004 11:22 am

You know...I was pleasantly surprised at the response to this story up to this point. Someone always has to pipe up about someone elses mistake. Grow up. Yeah, everyone knows that you are not supposed to run out of gas...I guess all the people that do it...well they must be doing it on purpose. They must just want some alone time in the bush. Way to go Sulako.

LT · Post by LT » Wed Jul 21, 2004 11:27 am

ROFL,

You're knocking on Sulako??

His point is valid, how come they ran out of Gas???

Do you want more people to fly on 1/4 tanks so they can ditch and feel warm and fuzzy about it, getting

pleasantly surprised at the response to this story up to this point

Or would you want people learning from this mistake?

Sulako · Post by **Sulako** » Wed Jul 21, 2004 11:32 am

eep...2 Green said...
You know...I was pleasantly surprised at the response to this story up to this point. Someone always has to pipe up about someone elses mistake. Grow up. Yeah, everyone knows that you are not supposed to run out of gas...I guess all the people that do it...well they must be doing it on purpose. They must just want some alone time in the bush. Way to go Sulako.

You're kidding, right? Otherwise you should see a doctor - you may be retarded.
Oh wait, you didn't answer my question. Can you think of a decent reason for running out of gas?

eep...2 Green · Post by **eep...2 Green** » Wed Jul 21, 2004 11:38 am

His point is valid? Ok...try to break the wheels free of rust in that vacant wearhouse you call your brain. He did not make a point. He believes that people should not run out of gas, as does everybody else. Yet it happens. It is not as simple as people taking off with 1/8th tanks in a cessna single to go 500 miles because they don't care. There are always more circumstances involved and Sulako or anybody else on this board doesn't know them all. Do not pass judgement on somebody just because it appears they have made a mistake. You will feel better about yourself. Sulako, I'm not sure if you have trouble seeing your screen, remembering what you posted or simply can not read...but you did not ask a question.

Sulako · Post by **Sulako** » Wed Jul 21, 2004 11:42 am

Alright, semantics-boy. Can you think of a decent reason for running out of gas? Why are you so sure it was a grand conspiracy instead of poor fuel management?

ahramin · Post by **ahramin** » Wed Jul 21, 2004 11:44 am

Granted that saying good job on something like this is rather naive to say the least. But still we do not really know why the aircraft ditched. Why did they run out of fuel? Because there was none left, or because none was getting from the tank to the engine? Fuel line blockage? Did they even run out of fuel? Or did the reporter just make that up?

LT · Post by LT » Wed Jul 21, 2004 11:44 am

eep...2 Green wrote:He did not make a point.

He believes that people should not run out of gas,

So, he made a point.. "don't run out of gas"

It is not as simple as people taking off with 1/8th tanks in a cessna single to go 500 miles because they don't care.

There are always more circumstances involved and Sulako or anybody else on this board doesn't know them all.

So, maybe they didn't care, and it is possible they did fly at 1/8th tanks?

Do not pass judgement on somebody just because it appears they have made a mistake.

You passed judgement onto Sulako..

These double standards..

LT · Post by LT » Wed Jul 21, 2004 11:46 am

ahramin wrote:Or did the reporter just make that up?

*sorry for a new post*

That's most likely the case, the media.. =(

If they reported "mishaps" properly it would help everyone out.

eep...2 Green · Post by **eep...2 Green** » Wed Jul 21, 2004 11:59 am

You two have obviously got tens of thousands of hours of experience...you've seen the worst of situations and have never made mistakes...you have always been able to learn from others mistakes (after pointing them out to them of course). I'm not going to get into a big ordeal with a couple of people far brighter than myself. You are better pilots than me and could probably kick my ass.

I meant to tell you about this thing I saw on the news here. Jesus...this guy was so stupid...crashed his damn car into a pole. I mean, come on...doesn't he know that you're not supposed to crash into poles? I'd like to find him and tell him not to do that anymore.

SkyKnight · Post by **SkyKnight** » Wed Jul 21, 2004 12:38 pm

epp...2 Green

lol

LT · Post by LT » Wed Jul 21, 2004 12:38 pm

eep...2 Green wrote: I meant to tell you about this thing I saw on the news here. Jesus...this guy was so stupid...crashed his damn car into a pole. I mean, come on...doesn't he know that you're not supposed to crash into poles? I'd like to find him and tell him not to do that anymore.

Yeah, he was drunk, they tell you not to drink and drive.. C'est la vie...

Unless you're talking about the guy who lost control last year and skid on the ice road, when he was going 80km/h in a 50(during dry conditions) road???

Yeah, common sense was lacking for that guy too..

Oh well..

You two have obviously got tens of thousands of hours of experience

No silly, while everyone was taking mountain rating and/or water crash ratings courses we just took the "common sense" rating course.

You sound like a nice guy, I'll give you a deal, $5000, includes meals, transportation and accommodation for the 3 day course.

eep...2 Green · Post by **eep...2 Green** » Wed Jul 21, 2004 1:27 pm

LT...There is really no more to say on this one. If you can not absorb the point I was making there with the fictitious car accident, there is simply nothing more to be said.

LT · Post by LT » Wed Jul 21, 2004 1:35 pm

fictitious car accident

So you made it up? <hrmph>

Maybe the reporter made up the story about the plane running out of fuel and ditching too?

Mister · Post by **Mister** » Wed Jul 21, 2004 1:37 pm

Guys...guys!...calm down. Sh!t happens.

LT · Post by LT » Wed Jul 21, 2004 1:40 pm

No, I'm grumpy, ate something terrible last night and I've been running to the can every 30 minutes, and I couldn't go flying today because of the bowels.

So.. It's my potty, and I'll be naughty if I want to..

*assuming AV isn't looking*.. =)

flyinthebug · Post by **flyinthebug** » Wed Jul 21, 2004 1:48 pm

Sulako... Im waiting to see if anyone can give a good reason for running out of fuel as well? I think he was just looking for a bit of direction change to this thread, related to the topic. Im not jumping to any conclusions about this particular incident. Great job done by the pilot. I`m just curious if theres ever any reason that an aircraft should run out of fuel? Beyond the obvious of course. (i.e mechanical issues in flight etc). I always run heavy on fuel, ALWAYS. Am I too paranoid? I dunno, but one thing I DO know is that i`ve never had a fuel emergency ever in my career, and if its within my control, I never will have. Opinions?
Cheers

PS.. Sorry to hear LT, those days kinda suck! Be as pissed off as ya want

SourApple · Post by **SourApple** » Wed Jul 21, 2004 2:09 pm

Maybe wait until they actually find the cause before starting pissing contests. If the pilot ran out of fuel due to his own stupidity then by all means, slam away. If the tank developed a leak or a fuel cap decided it was time to leave then maybe it wasn't totally the pilot's fault.

eep...2 Green · Post by **eep...2 Green** » Wed Jul 21, 2004 2:23 pm

Bingo

Sulako · Post by **Sulako** » Wed Jul 21, 2004 5:11 pm

eep...2 Green wrote:You two have obviously got tens of thousands of hours of experience...you've seen the worst of situations and have never made mistakes...you have always been able to learn from others mistakes (after pointing them out to them of course).

You obviously have some issues regarding this particular subject; one can only imagine why. But I won't jump to conclusions

I don't have tens of thousands of hours, merely thousands of them. But that means nothing; I'm still a student of aviation. However:

I have never run out of fuel.

And you haven't been able to come up with a good reason for anyone doing so.

If you want me to give the pilot an attaboy for not killing himself or his wife, I already did that.

However, being a reasonable sort of fellow, I'll make you a deal. We'll wait for the report to come out, and if I'm totally wrong and there was a good reason for running out of gas, I'll promise to grow up. But if there wasn't a good reason for running out of gas, then I expect you to apologize for being a moron, and a bitter one at that. Most dumb people are happy. Be happy.

hz2p · Post by **hz2p** » Wed Jul 21, 2004 5:24 pm

I'm not sure there's a "good" reason for running out of gas, just as there probably isn't a good reason for a taxiing accident.

However, as the GA fleet ages (1,000TT used to be high time, now no one think twice about 10,000TT airframes) there are certain traps.

For example, as they age, tachometers will under-read. This is supposed to be checked at annual but sometimes isn't.

Let's say someone dials in 2400 rpm and they're actually turning 2600 rpm. This is more common than you might think. And, they don't have an EGT so they don't lean optimally. Those two things can make a noticeable difference to your fuel burn.

Also, some aircraft are notoriously difficult to completely fill the gas tanks, especially on less-than-level surfaces. This guy may have trusted a line guy to top his tanks, but he may have taken off with noticeably less than full tanks.

And maybe he had a bit more headwind than he really planned.

Without a fuel totalizer and a GPS, you can get caught out, because gas gauges are by design and manufacture, almost totally useless in light aircraft. You must accurately know your fuel burn, and you must know how much usable fuel you took off with.

So don't crap on the guy. He may not be a lunatic, but may have been caught by a number of accumulated minor mistakes that ordinarily, we all get away with.