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Family rescued from downed airplane by helicopter in subzero conditions
A family of five — including 2-year-old twins and a newborn infant — were rescued unhurt Monday after the airplane they were traveling in ran out of fuel and landed in a remote desert area that could not have been reached for hours by rescuers in tracked vehicles. (trib.com) Más...Sort type: [Top] [Newest]
As the FAA accident examiner is going to tell this pilot, "There is no excuse for running out of FUEL."
It is roughly 750 air miles from Wayne, Nebraska to Heber, Utah - the pilot’s destination. Let’s hope he was not expecting to make the flight non-stop, but rather was planning to refuel in Rock Springs (some 600 miles from his point of departure). Instead the headwinds he experienced more than 100 miles east prematurely depleted his fuel. He was lucky to be able to glide in for a safe touchdown. I hope he learned that better flight planning is required for his next journey.
The Eastbound leg was a piece of cake. What could possibly be different about going back? Hummm...
Gross negligence ,if you ask me....Forget learning a lesson ; his ticket should be lifted !!
Absolutely NO reason to run out of fuel not due to some mechanical issue. NONE!!!! As pilots the hardest skill to master is the ability to say NO to yourself. If you cannot develop the discipline you will eventually die. Unfortunately you will most likely take innocent people with you.
Totally agree. There is no excuse for a pilot to not make sure he has enough fuel. To put his family (and any passenger) in such a dangerous situation ishould have consequences for a fine and temporary suspension of his pilots license to hopefully insure it never happens again.
Very surprising but not uncommon. Day-VFR requires only 30 minute reserves. That’s tight. I tend to use 60 minutes.