Tragedy in Longmont

[lesuther]

http://www.dailycamera.com/ci_20240396/reports-two-plane-crashes-longmont
http://www.timescall.com/news/longmont-local-news/ci_20240396/reports-two-plane-crashes-longmont
http://www.thedenverchannel.com/news/30748015/detail.html
http://www.9news.com/news/article/258386/339/At-least-2-dead-after-apparent-mid-air-collision-?odyssey=tab|topnews|bc|large

The pilot of the Wagon managed to crash just to the north of the airport property, and was pulled to safety by some clear-headed county employees on break. The other plane, reportedly a 172, was apparently hopelessly disabled and crashed with two fatalities. My condolences to the families. This is the second midair here in just a few short years.

[av8ingcouple]

Thoughts and prayers go out to those involved

[soyAnarchisto]

Bev Cameron was the survivor, a local DPE, according to reports.

Sincere condolences to the families of the other pilot/passenger.

'Greg

[mountainmatt]

Very tragic and my thoughts and prayers go out to the families. Glad to hear the woman flying the wagon is in good condition.

[Zzz]

Damn. I hate these.

[shorton]

I really feel for the persons involved in this but am furious at the idiot new people. In the first article they spend half the story going on about how a high wing and a low wing have blind spots that cause these sort of crashes. When was the last time you saw a low wing Cessna 180 or a low wing Cessna 172? How easy to get it right and how chicken shit to not make the effort>

[Tadpole]

I heard about it on the radio driving home from work but very little info. Dammit

[soyAnarchisto]

I really feel for the persons involved in this but am furious at the idiot new people. In the first article they spend half the story going on about how a high wing and a low wing have blind spots that cause these sort of crashes. When was the last time you saw a low wing Cessna 180 or a low wing Cessna 172? How easy to get it right and how chicken shit to not make the effort>

According to the article - that person who reported the low/high wing thing was a pilot of 16 years who flies out of LMO - who was on his bicycle at the time. By the time he saw it I'm sure he couldn't tell if it was high wing or low wing as it was spiralling in.

This location is the most common intersection point in this area. It's right on the 001 radial of the jeffco VOR and the most common visible landmark - Calkins Lake (union reservor) and the longmont stacks. It's a horrible place to practice - we usually go 5-10 miles north. I doubt it was a practice situation as everybody from BDU, EIK, BJC, LMO are all gunning for this spot at 7500 to get north and stay clear of bravo.

'Greg

[lesuther]

Ditto. That airspace there is so busy from Greeley, FtLuv, Erie, Longmont, Boulder, and Jeffco traffic on VFR weekend day flights that I give it a wide berth. There are some days when every sector of the windshield has at least one or two moving specks. I've gone to busy fly-ins with a lot less to worry about, traffic-wise.

[hicountry]

Saw it as a breaking news story on channel 9 out of Denver this afternoon just before I headed to DIA. Very sad to hear. Condolences to the family. It was a beautiful day to fly.
HC

[Zzz]

It was a beautiful day to fly.
HC

That seems to be an all-too-familiar scenario, unfortunately. Long winter, not much clear day VFR for the recreational pilots, and when the nice day arrives it seems everyone is out. A few months ago, I was out on a very nice day and only 2 hours later there was a fatal midair right where I had been.

[coloradokevbot]

This is a very unfortunate accident, and bev is a GREAT pilot. She is pretty well known around the area.

I was informed about the crash shortly after it happened. My school is right by the airport so I went over to Airwest right after class. She was taken to the hospital but has been released, unfortunately her 180 isn't in such good shape. Both wings broken, the tailcone completely bent, the tail feathers folded up, the engine was about 10-15 feet away from the plane. I couldn't see any gear, most likely folded beneath. Reports from witnesses say the plane was missing one landing gear, but who knows if they knew that it was a taildragger that's not supposed to have nose gear!

As I was flying this afternoon, I went over towards the new Walmart on 119 to check out the other crash site, the 172 involved did not even look like a plane any more -just a pile of metal with scraps laying all around the area.

Very sad, and prayers to anyone affected by this event.

[lesuther]

Yes, I was over there today too, a stone's throw from my hangar. I am thankful that the impact was already slow enough by the time it met the fence and equipment that the cabin remained relatively intact. I hope she recovers soon. I can't imagine what the families of the student and instructor are going through.

[soyAnarchisto]

Lots of pictures of Bev's ship. You can see the two mains folded together but who knows if it was still attached when it hit the deck or when she hit the power line:

http://www.9news.com/news/article/25838 ... s|bc|large

If she was unable to hold altitude - surely that points to a prop strike instead too.

Updated news reports a 64 year old instructor and a 31 year old student, both killed.

So sad...

'Greg

This is a very unfortunate accident, and bev is a GREAT pilot. She is pretty well known around the area.

I was informed about the crash shortly after it happened. My school is right by the airport so I went over to Airwest right after class. She was taken to the hospital but has been released, unfortunately her 180 isn't in such good shape. Both wings broken, the tailcone completely bent, the tail feathers folded up, the engine was about 10-15 feet away from the plane. I couldn't see any gear, most likely folded beneath. Reports from witnesses say the plane was missing one landing gear, but who knows if they knew that it was a taildragger that's not supposed to have nose gear!

As I was flying this afternoon, I went over towards the new Walmart on 119 to check out the other crash site, the 172 involved did not even look like a plane any more -just a pile of metal with scraps laying all around the area.

Very sad, and prayers to anyone affected by this event.

[Cary]

Very sad for all involved, especially the families of the 2 who died. Bev is a friend, and her rep as a pilot is stellar. It won't be easy for her for awhile, but I'm so glad she's OK.

Cary

[Littlecub]

HEAD OUTA DA PLANE!
HEAD ON A SWIVEL

Especially at VORs, near airports, where we all go around the edge of certain designated 'airspaces', etc.....

Maybe we should ALL placard our panels with the above big bold letters.....



We should ALL do better!!
We should all DO BETTER!!

I have plenty of room for improvement, too!
lc

[Cary]

You don't want those placards--because then you'd be tempted to read them when you need to be looking!

Seriously, we all tend to get complacent, even in high traffic areas, and of course, all of our airplanes have pretty huge blind spots that make it hard to see everywhere. Even if we're keeping as good a lookout as possible, it's not possible to see in all directions.

Cary

[soyAnarchisto]

Victims have been released:

http://www.coloradoan.com/article/20120 ... y=nav|head

'Greg

You don't want those placards--because then you'd be tempted to read them when you need to be looking!

Seriously, we all tend to get complacent, even in high traffic areas, and of course, all of our airplanes have pretty huge blind spots that make it hard to see everywhere. Even if we're keeping as good a lookout as possible, it's not possible to see in all directions.

Cary

[DBI]

Has the name of the flight instructor been released yet? Was it an Airwest plane? I flew out of Longmont for a long time and lost my good friend and flight instructor Dan Arnold out of there in 1993. I love the airport and all the folks there. My thoughts and prayers go out to all.

[soyAnarchisto]

"Longmont police Cmdr. Jeff Satur said today that 30-year-old instructor Ryan Brungardt, of Strasburg, and 64-year-old student Edward ``Lee'' Omohundro, of Evergreen, were killed when the Cessna 172 they were in crashed just before noon Friday about a half-mile from a Wal-Mart in southeast Longmont, close to two homes. Satur said it remains unclear who was piloting the plane when it crashed."

The plane was based out of BJC, as far as I know.

Again, deepest sympathies to friends and family....

'Greg

Has the name of the flight instructor been released yet? Was it an Airwest plane? I flew out of Longmont for a long time and lost my good friend and flight instructor Dan Arnold out of there in 1993. I love the airport and all the folks there. My thoughts and prayers go out to all.