No, fortunately.
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Anyone Here Had Friends Or Relatives
- Thread starter Redbow
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Two friends killed in a helicopter crash, pilot and platform lineman. They were working a 750 KV line in northern California and got the blades in the line. It was a span between two mountain tops and they were about 1500 feet above the valley floor. It took a couple for days to get to the bodies.
Rest in peace, Dennis and Randy.
Rest in peace, Dennis and Randy.
Resica
Senior Member
Two relatives. The first was a bombardier on a B-25 and was killed off Sicily in April of 1943, not quite a year after he bombed Tokyo in April of 1942. The second was the assistant engineer and right waist gunner on the B-24 " Flak Alley". Killed in late Feb. 1944 near Eisenbach Germany during "Big Week". On a mission to an a/c factory at Gotha, Germany.
fireman32
"Useless Billy" Fire Chief.
I knew one person that died in a single engine plane crash, he was a local business man. Another acquaintance of mine passed in a crop duster crash, he was a young man with an infant son and wife he left behind.
I’ve worked one single plane crash, guy was practicing touch and goes at night, he went nose down in a pecan orchard. It took us awhile to extricate him, sadly he didn’t make it. I know his son very well, and they were/are very experienced pilots.
Another shift at my dept. worked a different plane crash, there was some type of mechanical failure and the pilot lost all control of his wings and tail fins. He nor his wife made it.
I’ve worked one single plane crash, guy was practicing touch and goes at night, he went nose down in a pecan orchard. It took us awhile to extricate him, sadly he didn’t make it. I know his son very well, and they were/are very experienced pilots.
Another shift at my dept. worked a different plane crash, there was some type of mechanical failure and the pilot lost all control of his wings and tail fins. He nor his wife made it.
Redbow
Senior Member
If I remember correctly Gary Francis Powers the pilot who was shot down over the Soviet Union in a spy plane I think in 1960 he was killed in California many years ago when the Helicopter he was flying ran out of fuel and crashed. You would think that a man of Powers experience in aircraft and all the training he had with flying that a man of his caliber in the cockpit would notice the fuel gauge before leaving the ground. It was said John Denver was killed the same way. Denver ran out of fuel in his ultralight airplane, falling into the Pacific Ocean and losing his life maybe because he didn't check his fuel supply before taking to the air. Pilot errors become pilot casualties all to often.
I had couple friends die in crash several years ago . Crash on trying to land in fog I think it was in West Virginia . Joey Mines was on ground waiting to guide them on hunting trip and saw them crash. Joey used to host Georgia Outdoors TV show and was friends with Wesley and Steve so it really bothered him.
Redbow
Senior Member
We had two guys killed in our outfit in Nam just working around aircraft. One walked into the # one engine prop rotating on a Mohawk recon airplane. The other guy walked into rotating helicopter blades which cut his head off. Another guy and I witnessed that accident with the helicopter. We didn't sleep for a night or two after that happened.
Just a couple days to the anniversary.
https://www.adn.com/military/video/...anniversary-fatal-anchorage-crash/2015/09/22/
https://www.adn.com/military/video/...anniversary-fatal-anchorage-crash/2015/09/22/
NE GA Pappy
Mr. Pappy
it is said that there was a issue working the fuel selector valve on his plane, and that he was aware of it, and aware that the tank he was flying on was low. It is thought he ran that tank out of fuel, and then was unable to switch to the tank with fuel.
Gator89
Senior Member
I went to school with this fellow, he worked in our watermelons some before he got old enough to work in his father's electrical business:
Ex-Lake schools leader killed in plane crash - Orlando Sentinel
I had a neighbor in LA killed in an ultralight crash.
My oldest brother, myself and 3 others witnessed a plane explode in midair in Dixie county FL back in 1975, killed a father (the pilot) and three kids.
Ex-Lake schools leader killed in plane crash - Orlando Sentinel
I had a neighbor in LA killed in an ultralight crash.
My oldest brother, myself and 3 others witnessed a plane explode in midair in Dixie county FL back in 1975, killed a father (the pilot) and three kids.
Been a long time but I can still see their faces.
Steve, Engineer, was early 20s, tall lanky farm kid from MO.
When the team was put together to give the notices to family they quickly noticed Steve’s wife was a teenager with a 1 year old child. Comes with young enlisted military families. She was tough, representing their family through a local memorial service and then services to lay him to rest at home.
I can remember the sweet smell of Steve’s pipe, always dangling From his mouth, as we laughed and kidded ramp side waiting for takeoff time to near.
https://www.upi.com/Archives/1982/0...-seven-crewmen-aboard-exploded/8781390110400/
Steve, Engineer, was early 20s, tall lanky farm kid from MO.
When the team was put together to give the notices to family they quickly noticed Steve’s wife was a teenager with a 1 year old child. Comes with young enlisted military families. She was tough, representing their family through a local memorial service and then services to lay him to rest at home.
I can remember the sweet smell of Steve’s pipe, always dangling From his mouth, as we laughed and kidded ramp side waiting for takeoff time to near.
https://www.upi.com/Archives/1982/0...-seven-crewmen-aboard-exploded/8781390110400/
NE GA Pappy
Mr. Pappy
How does a plane just explode in the air?
Sorry for your loss. I have lost people close to me, and although the pain subsides some, there is always that empty spot.
Yes, several lost in aviation accidents. Two of them were my best friends.
georgia_home
Senior Member
Back about 2012, a friend / coworker went up with his friend near Cumming.
got up near lake Lanier and the engine just stopped.
plane was a home built kit iirc.
got up near lake Lanier and the engine just stopped.
plane was a home built kit iirc.
GeorgiaGlockMan
Senior Member
Roommate from Texas A&M got shot down in gulf War I in an ac130 over Persian gulf. Was MIA for a goodwhile then moved to the KIA column.
Tough way to have a TX park named after you.
RIP Clifford Bland.
Tough way to have a TX park named after you.
RIP Clifford Bland.
The wing cracked and came off. They had a minor maintenance delay before taking off so were rejoining on the end of the formation catching up. The procedure is to meet the formation head on 1000 ft above and offset to the side to allow for the turn radius, it allows the pilot to stay visual during the maneuver. when they entered the turn to rejoin the wing snapped off. The entire fleet was inspected and dozens of planes found in various degree of needing repair. Eventually, the entire fleet had new wings installed.
Flash
Actually I Am QAnon
85 or 86 Hadn't knew him long but he was from GA and we was friends since we shared that. Barry along with 4 others died in a helicopter crash, only one made it. Young lady from Alabama. Ellsworth AFB
Gator89
Senior Member
In the incident I witnessed in the winter of 1975 in Dixie county:
The weather was cold and damp, low cloud ceiling. We had built a fire to warm up and eat lunch. We heard an airplane coming from the south, the engine would increase RPMs then go quiet. This sequence repeated over and over with the plane passing almost directly over us, but the fog was too thick to see it. As the plane got a little past us, it finally dropped below the clouds where we could see it, banking steeply to its right as if trying to do 180 degree turn. Suddenly the left wing separated from the plane and shot back up into the clouds. There was some fire as the plane was falling, but when the fuselage hit the ground a fire ball shot up into the sky. There was debris scattered over a couple of acres. We used CB radios to call in the emergency responders.
Speculation was the plane could see our fire on the ground and was attempting to circle to look for a place to set down. But since no survived, no one knows for sure why the plane attempted to turn toward us.
The plane's engine behaved similar to that of a chainsaw revving up really high on the last fumes in the tank. But the pilot was able to restart the plane repeatedly until it came apart.
I can only imagine what those three kids and their father were feeling in the time preceding the crash.
Redbow
Senior Member
Yep, I think what others posted about John Denver was right, he couldn't switch to his other fuel tank that had fuel in it. Other reports I have heard about John being killed he was under the influence of alcohol, I don't know that for sure. There were several things that came up which speculated about his death. One article I read said John's plane was not fueled before he took off but should have been. Anyway what the real truth is about John's death I really do not know except he died that day. It was sad to hear.
My friend and his Wife flying back from visiting her family near Waycross Georgia in the fog was one of those things that should not have happened. I remember that Sunday very well the day Pappy and his Wife died in that airplane. It was foggy all day long. Pappy should have continued on to the Florence airport instead of trying to land in that very small Timmonsville SC airport that was surrounded by woods. But Pappy thought he could manage to land in Timmonsville he kept his airplane there but they flew into the woods instead. Pappy gave me my Novice test for Amateur Radio way back in the seventies. He and I became good friends I worked for the railroad also. I used to go by his house and leave him a mess of fish every now and then. He and his family were good people, it sure hurt to hear of he and his Wife's tragic death.
My friend and his Wife flying back from visiting her family near Waycross Georgia in the fog was one of those things that should not have happened. I remember that Sunday very well the day Pappy and his Wife died in that airplane. It was foggy all day long. Pappy should have continued on to the Florence airport instead of trying to land in that very small Timmonsville SC airport that was surrounded by woods. But Pappy thought he could manage to land in Timmonsville he kept his airplane there but they flew into the woods instead. Pappy gave me my Novice test for Amateur Radio way back in the seventies. He and I became good friends I worked for the railroad also. I used to go by his house and leave him a mess of fish every now and then. He and his family were good people, it sure hurt to hear of he and his Wife's tragic death.
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As I remember the report on this accident the fuel feed selector was over/behind his shoulder. Thus, not in his line of sight in a crisis. Something a seasoned pilot would have drilled into his routine. With an occasional pilot a risk factor.
