Student Pilot clings to life after plane crash

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Hedley
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Post by Hedley »

Here's the result of another bounced/balked landing, from another graduate from an approved aviation career college:

Image

It's a good thing these days, with all the fancy technology, that pilot's don't need to have stick & rudder skills any more :roll:
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CYQMer
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Post by CYQMer »

I hope the Durham guy did not require 12 hours of brain surgery to remove parts of his/her chipped skull.
Also to confirm the newspaper report is correct, the TSB is allowing MFC to conduct the investigation.
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CD
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Post by CD »

Student pilot injured in crash recovering at Saint John hospital
Chinese pilot | Flight school CEO says language barrier not a factor in Fredericton airport crash


THE DAILY GLEANER
ADAM BOWIE
November 24, 2007

The student pilot critically injured in a plane crash at Fredericton International Airport two weeks ago is recovering well, says the director of the Moncton Flight College.

Ding Liang is recuperating at the Saint John Regional Hospital after his plane left the runway on landing and crashed into an embankment Nov. 10. Liang cut his face and broke bones in his forehead during the crash.

Mike Doiron, the flight college's principal and CEO, said the student pilot, who is in his early 20s, is on the mend.

"He's doing very, very well and everything is heading in the right direction, " he said.

"He'll be in the hospital for quite a while yet as he's going to be undergoing some various reparative surgeries. But as far as his medical condition as a result of the accident, he's actually quite good."

Doiron said the student pilot will have to undergo several tests before being allowed to fly again.

The tests, which will take between six months and a year to complete, are used to test a pilot's physical capabilities.

Doiron said Liang is optimistic he'll get to complete the program.

"That's all he talks about," he said. "That's all he wants to do is get back to Fredericton and start his studies all over again. He's just cracking to get back in an airplane."

The Transportation Safety Board allowed the Moncton Flight College to conduct its own investigation into the incident. The college operates a school in Fredericton in addition to its Moncton operation.

Mike Cunningham, regional director for the Transportation Safety Board's Atlantic division, said it would be impossible for his organization to investigate every incident.

"If we did, we'd have another huge investigation, with a huge budget and that would be quite a burden on the tax-paying Canadian," he said.

"Our mandate is to investigate occurrences where we see the opportunity to enhance transportation safety. We're always able to provide advice or guidance."

At the time of the incident, two workers connected to the airport speculated that language barriers may have played some role in the incident.

Cunningham said he doesn't believe language was a factor in the crash.

"The information we have is somewhat limited because we're not conducting a full investigation," he said. "But if I could offer an opinion, if you think of the situation itself, the aircraft was about to touch down on the runway and all of a sudden the pilot ran into difficulty. At that stage of the flight, there's absolutely no communication going on whatsoever between the aircraft and the air traffic control unit, so how could it possibly play a role?"

Doiron said the college's investigation has yet to uncover any evidence that language played a role in the crash.

"Language wasn't an issue as far as we can see," he said.

"And we spend an inordinate amount of time doing English second-language training. They have to write written tests, so we're not just guessing that he understands (the course material). They have to prove to us that they understand it before they're allowed to take a plane up.

"It's not in our interest to give somebody a very expensive airplane and let them just go out there."

Doiron said the investigation is ongoing. But he expects some changes will be made to try to ensure mistakes aren't repeated.

"It usually takes between six months to a year to put one of these investigations to bed; however our preliminary indications are that it was just a bad landing," he said.

"Any time you have an incident, as part of our safety-management system, we review any kind of incident -- whether it involves injuries or damages or not -- and make adjustments to improve in any way we can. But odds are there will be some changes put in place."
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sissyphus
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Post by sissyphus »

Mikey D was an investigator for transport canada, and keeps a very sharp eye on what goes on at his school. I would trust his own investigation as much as any TSB report.

Hope he pulls through. With the amount of flights through MFC, its all a numbers game to accidents happening. Lets hope they're minor and non lethal.

safe flying
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invertedattitude
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Post by invertedattitude »

I doubt very much he will ever fly again.

TC is very strict on head injuries, I had a friend who was in a bad car crash with me who damaged their skull less than what this guy has done, and TC told him he'd never hold a medical ever again, years of appeals led to nothing for him.

Reason: You might be prone to seizures.

Even though after 10 years as far as I know, he's never had one.
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justplanecrazy
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Post by justplanecrazy »

CYQMer wrote:Pilot bounced on landing & initiated a balked landing.
Applied full power in a nose down attitude and hit the ground hard nose first.
Sounds like a communication error between pilot and ATC to me... :?
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We have no effective screening methods to make sure pilots are sane.
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