Airplanes was Re: [AT] an Iowa snowstorm

[Dudley Rupert]

Ron,
Just curious - what is the threshold for triggering an investigation of an
accident involving a small airplane?  Does it take a death or multiple
deaths?  If that threshold were crossed and an accident investigation were
launched would the FAA or NTSB conduct it?
I'd say you are a very fortunate man -
Thanks -
Dudley
Snohomish, Washington

-----Original Message-----
From: at-bounces at lists.antique-tractor.com
[mailto:at-bounces at lists.antique-tractor.com]On Behalf Of Robert Brooks
Sent: Wednesday, March 17, 2004 6:59 PM
To: Antique tractor email discussion group
Subject: Re: Airplanes was Re: [AT] an Iowa snowstorm


Ron;

I'm glad to hear you are on the mend!
There a lot to be said about having good safety equipment!
I'm surprised the FAA didn't look at things harder.

Bob


At 08:00 PM 3/17/04 -0600, you wrote:
>The only "story" is that I screwed up!  It was kind of a silly REC wire
>arrangement cutting across the corner of one field and going to the other
>side of the road.  I was finishing the field.  Going to do a headland
>pass.  Apparently caught that angling wire with the landing gear.  Just
>the top wire of the two.  That does absolutely nothing to a 6000 lb.
>aircraft traveling at 130 mph.  However, the parted wire must have whipped
>around part of the tail damaging it.  The airplane did some unusual pitch
>changes.  Full travel on the controls from up to down about 3 times
>overpowering me and then settled down to level flight.  I figured, well, I
>guess I must have hit something and I better go back to the airport and
>see what needs fixing.  And in the meantime I better hang on to this
>damned thing.  I went about 1/8 of a mile and it pitched down abruptly at
>about 45 degrees and smacked into the soybean field. HARD!  The wreckage
>is laying in the torn up soybeans.  It didn't slide anywhere.  Just kind
>of ran over itself.  Some part of the tail had to have failed.  Nobody
>investigated.  I never saw the wreckage after I left the scene.  Just
>those pictures that someone took.  The FAA says I hit a pole and
>crashed.  There was a broken pole, but that would have happened from the
>wire snapping.  I would have heard me hitting a pole.  No need discussing
>what I think of the FAA.  They suspended my license for 30 days in the
>interest of safety.
>         Yes I was maybe lucky to survive.  The airplane did exactly as it
> was designed to protect the pilot.  The safety harness was up to date and
> in good shape and I was wearing a custom fitted Kevlar crash
> helmet.  There was no fire.  I crawled out of it, although I don't
> remember how.  I couldn't walk, as my right leg and foot were broken, and
> crawling on my hands and knees wasn't going too good either as my sternum
> was also broken.  I was glad to see help arrive.  I was in the hospital
> for 5 weeks and have been recovering ever since.  I finally was able to
> walk a little with the aid of a cane by the end of December.  I am
> getting better every day.  Kind of limpy gimpy, though.  The cane is hung
> up now.  I lost the whole darned winter of tractor fixin'.<g>  Better
> times is a comin'.
>
>Ron Cook
>Salix, IA
>
>Robert Brooks wrote:
>>Ron;
>>There has to be a story behind those pictures.  It's amazing you lived
>>thru the crash.
>>Bob
>
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