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Two pulled from ocean after plane crash near Half Moon Bay

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"Pilot David Lesh said he had siphoned particulate matter out of the gas but doesn’t think he got all of it. “This definitely was more stuff than I was used to seeing,” he said." Lesh, the founder of Denver-based outerwear company Virtika, said he bought the plane nearly three months ago for more than $200,000 and spent about $40,000 for upgrades. He said Tuesday’s flight was its first real trip. (www.mercurynews.com) More...

Pa Thomas
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airuphere
airuphere 4
Crazy it was caught in video from above... and then a selfie video from the raft while coast guard comes... can’t anyone just be rescued in the moment anymore? Hah..
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richardorgill
Richard Orgill 2
One of those Meme floating around on social media where the Titanic is sinking and all the passengers in the water have their cell phone. The caption reads: IF the Titanic sank today.

Reminds me of the British Airbus and Chinese Aircraft that burned in Vegas, and crashed in SF> Video shows the passengers w/ luggage in hand.
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raleedy
ALLAN LEEDY 1
Raft?
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airuphere
airuphere 1
Sorry I meant on the wing some of us aren’t prepared as others I guess
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bennettgaryw
Gary Bennett 3
Rule #1 you drain until clear of all "particulate matter"!
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ToddBaldwin3
ToddBaldwin3 3
An interesting follow up on this story:

http://www.ktvu.com/news/ktvu-local-news/details-of-pilots-criminal-history-and-past-stunts-emerge-following-half-moon-bay-crash
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airuphere
airuphere 1
Could post it as a new squawk for those of us on mobile, can explain the difference in the comments.. good article tho :)
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asdepique
Martin Nichol 2
Canadian law forbids flights beyond glide distance to shore unless a personal floatation device is available for each passenger. CAR602.62.

Does the US have similar requirement?
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bbabis
bbabis 4
Good for Canada. Why laws are needed for common sense is beyond me. If you violate common sense, often the result is penalty enough.
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[This comment has been downvoted. Show anyway.]


nightflyer182
nightflyer182 8
You are an ass, sir!
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watkinssusan
mary susan watkins -2
the video taken by the pilot who is in the water,shows the tail of the aircraft and another person in a lifevest floating close to him..he obviously had on a life vest to be able to stay afloat,take video picures and keep saying "there she goes"!!!on boats in lakes and rivers and oceanside aroud the u.s., there are sate wardens,lake patrols and on the coastline,the coast guard to verify ife vests etcetera on board..they don't do it however for every boat in the water..only if there appears to be an issue..as far as flying a private plane over water just for pictures or sightseeing,there are no "patrols" who check at the airport before a personal aircraft leaves the ground,and certainly not in the air..they do require that sort of thing for a commercial ventures that might be doing sightseeing tours over water..
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asdepique
Martin Nichol 3
I saw a video from the pilot himself who admitted he only had the seat cushions to assist with flotation. He did not have a pfd.
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chalet
chalet 2
The man seems to need a screw or two. The story that he had drained some stuff from the tank -but not enough- is pure and simple BS trying to deflect the real reason: a stunt that went sour. Pull the guys license NOW before he hits the TV News again with likely worse ending.
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upchucked
C. WESLEY GRADY 3
Sounds like 'buyer's remorse' to me .... given several clues... price, first flight, particulates in the fuel, didn't get all of them, history of the pilot/owner. The obvious one, You buy a plane, put $40k in updates and repairs, take your first flight, after getting particulates from the fuel drain, and you head out over water, not just any water, but the biggest ocean on the planet." If he collects from his insurance company, it is only because they don't want to be seen as a bad insurer.
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bdarnell
bdarnell 1
He said he does not have insurance on the Beechcraft plane that crashed, but that it is under-insured, so he will likely lose money because of the crash.

Huh ??
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mldavis2
Mike Davis 1
Interesting article posted by @ToddBaldwin3 about the pilot's profile and history. But a stupid question from a non-pilot and former auto mechanic -- don't they use fuel filters on aircraft like that?
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airuphere
airuphere 3
Check it out! Was too long to copy and paste.. I will post as a squawk too.

https://www.flight-mechanic.com/engine-fuel-system-components-fuel-filters/
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mldavis2
Mike Davis 3
Had to be one, thanks @airuphere. That really throws the "fuel particles" claim out the window and, combined with the pilot's background for sensationalism makes it a very interesting question.
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airuphere
airuphere 1
No prob Mike
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wbnethery3
Bryan Nethery 1
Just curious about this squawk... there are words below the title, but they don't come from the linked web page (mercurynews dot com). Comments here seem to be reacting to those words, so I was just trying to find more details.
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pthomas745
Pa Thomas 1
You are correct! I was looking at a couple of different stories when I posted that, and I guessed I crossed them up. And now the story has gone viral with thousands of hits, I can't find the exact article. In this link, the quote about the "particulate matter" is pulled from an AP story.

https://www.pressdemocrat.com/news/9933209-181/pilot-blames-bad-gas-in?ref=most&sba=AAS
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