Is it possible that any pilot could be this dumb?

[Blakey]

http://www2.tbo.com/news/news/2011/nov/ ... ar-326621/

A pilot who mistook a road for a runway while landing in Pasco County on Tuesday damaged some mailboxes, small trees and a fence in a neighborhood, authorities said.

No one was injured during the "hard landing," said Kevin Doll, spokesman for the Pasco County Sheriff's Office.

The 23-year-old student pilot said his GPS indicated Citation Road in the Pasco Trails subdivision was a landing strip, Doll said. He was traveling from Sanford to Pilot Country, a community that has a landing strip and is home to pilots who own planes.

The pilot landed the single-engine Cirrus plane about 10 a.m., believing it was the Pilot Country landing strip, Doll said.

No more details were available.

[CanadianEh]

that guy =

[Flyboy757]

YES.............

[Nark]

I don't feel sorry for this dumdass, I feel sorry for his CFI.

I guess he will know what the sound of a plastic certificate sounds like being ripped up.

[Youngback]

I've heard that more than one person has nearly landed on 109th St in Edmonton after dark around CYXD. The airport is the black hole around there.

[azimuthaviation]

Student pilot in a Cirrus? You might assume he already had a ppl and was doing an additional rating.

[YYZSaabGuy]

Somebody correct me if I'm wrong, or chime in and confirm, but I seem to recall somebody landing in Edmonton on 97th Street one winter night, mistaking the road lights for approach lights. Supposedly happened back in the '70s. True?

[iflyforpie]

If somebody didn't get the memo that airports with their high-intensity lights are always the darkest part of a metropolis, I could easily see it happening.

But at 10am? C'mon!

[Indanao]

Somebody correct me if I'm wrong, or chime in and confirm, but I seem to recall somebody landing in Edmonton on 97th Street one winter night, mistaking the road lights for approach lights. Supposedly happened back in the '70s. True?

Yuh, I saw the airplane on the road after it crashed. And one on 109st & 107Ave.
The 97st occurrence was about 114th avenue. Nobody seriously hurt. Would have
thought he'd have noticed the trees in the center of the medium that he ran into.....
I thought at the time that the Pilot must be half blind. It was a single on 97st and a
light twin on 109st.

In those days it was the busiest airport in Canada in terms of aircraft movements
per month. Entering the circuit you would often be given number 10 or more for landing
sequence. ( e.g.: " your number 10 to follow the 737 on long final " lol ...) Being a new
Instructor there was the most stressful time of my life.

[Colonel Sanders]

the single-engine Cirrus plane

That explains it.

[flyingdan]

If somebody didn't get the memo that airports with their high-intensity lights are always the darkest part of a metropolis, I could easily see it happening.

Could you elaborate for those of us with no night experience? Is it because the lights are intended to be seen only from certain angles?

[Beefitarian]

If somebody didn't get the memo that airports with their high-intensity lights are always the darkest part of a metropolis, I could easily see it happening.

Could you elaborate for those of us with no night experience? Is it because the lights are intended to be seen only from certain angles?

It's because everywhere else the lights are on posts pointed at the ground so you can see where you are walking. That light reflects up from the ground making it look lit up when you are in an airplane.

[robertsailor1]

Common sense...ain't very common! This is just a single example of many thousands of stupid mistakes pilots make every year. I don't care if its a student pilot or an airline pilot there are plenty of examples to go around. We are a frail bunch, us humans!

[Indanao]

In the case of the C-172 on 97st, he thought it was the airstrip. There was a rumor going around that he ran out of fuel on Downwind. But, I lived three blocks away and remember the firemen on the scene saying, " there is fuel in the tanks ". Odd thing is there was 25ft high trees in the center of the four lane divided road, and he landed in top the trees....go figure. Apparently he felt he was committed to land...lol. In the case of the Cessna 310 on 109st., there was rumor that he had to go to the bathroom really bad and couldn't think straight, but that may never be known as there was one fatality there...and if memory serves me it was the Pilot.

[Siddley Hawker]

It must have been in 1970 or 1971 when the Churchill Falls Corp lost a 125 on approach into Wabush. Back then there was no ILS on 01, just an ADF off the Wiskey Zulu beacon, or the South beacon as everyone called it. A mile and a half north of the airport was the airways beacon, the Whiskey Kilo beacon. A mile or so north of that there was the automated train rail line from the Iron Ore Company mine down to the concentrator, located immediately beside the beacon. The rail line was illuminated by a straight line of sodium arc lights, looked like approach lights, I suppose if you weren't familiar with the airport sourroundings. Anyway, the 125 was cleared for an approach via the WZ beacon. He tuned and identified the WK beacon and carried out the south approach on the north beacon. He called the beacon final, then about a minute later there was an explosion at the mine. He'd hit the face of the mine pit. I seem to remember the accident report stated 'destruction of the aircraft was instantaneous and catastrophic.'

[YYZSaabGuy]

Somebody correct me if I'm wrong, or chime in and confirm, but I seem to recall somebody landing in Edmonton on 97th Street one winter night, mistaking the road lights for approach lights. Supposedly happened back in the '70s. True?

Yuh, I saw the airplane on the road after it crashed. And one on 109st & 107Ave.
The 97st occurrence was about 114th avenue. Nobody seriously hurt. Would have
thought he'd have noticed the trees in the center of the medium that he ran into.....
I thought at the time that the Pilot must be half blind. It was a single on 97st and a
light twin on 109st.

In those days it was the busiest airport in Canada in terms of aircraft movements
per month. Entering the circuit you would often be given number 10 or more for landing
sequence. ( e.g.: " your number 10 to follow the 737 on long final " lol ...) Being a new
Instructor there was the most stressful time of my life.

Thanks for confirming, Indano - much appreciated!

[CID]

So-called "professional" pilots have been known to land on taxiways occasionally and even land at the wrong airport.

viewtopic.php?f=54&t=76368

viewtopic.php?f=5&t=53178&view=previous


Or on a dragstrip.

viewtopic.php?f=54&t=19279&view=previous

['CauseTheCaravanCan]

Had a nice lady from Deer Lake up front with me the other day, as we were turning en-route she pointed down and she told me a story about a pilot "from Red, that was gonna land on the road in Deer" that same lady was sitting up front with the pilot that day. She asked the pilot "are we still going to the airport?...THATS THE ROAD DOWN THERE!? the pilot then "went back up" and flew north to the airport and landed. oops!
I suggest a ride-along to each of the communities your airline services before cutting someone loose.

[Cat Driver]

I suggest a ride-along to each of the communities your airline services before cutting someone loose.

Jesses, has it really come down to this level in aviation?

['CauseTheCaravanCan]

what level?

I've always thought it important that new pilots go swamping (when there's room of course) to familiarize with the new territory.
And actually even after a thousand hours I remember the boss man riding along to an ice strip, that on a low vis/overcast day, looked an awful lot like the winter road that was right beside it.

I thought you were all about overtraining, when it's better than the alternative.

[Cat Driver]

I am a believer in training, however I also am a believer in the simple concept that the holder of a commercial pilots license must have the common sense to identify the surface he/she is about to land on to determine if it is the correct landing site and the approach and landing path is safe.

It is quite frankly beyond my ability to imagine any commercial pilot would not have reached that level of competence before they were issued a commercial pilots license.

Does that explain my position on this matter clear enough for you to understand where I am coming from?

[Hawkerflyer]

Ah yes, the classic Michael Scott driving into the lake...GPS is always right!

[rigpiggy]

Kind of like

"But the flight director told me to go that way"

[mbav8r]

Anyone been to easterville in manitoba? First time I went there I had to circle around to confirm it was the strip. It double as the road to the landfill, I believe. It had a road that joined at both ends and the only way I could tell it was the strip was the windsock, which was leaning over at about a 45 degree angle. The GPS told me it was, but I had to be convinced, seems common sense to me. There was no where to park, so once on the ground, I was still expecting the RCMP to show up and tell me I landed on squirrlenuts drive.

[iflyforpie]

I know anytime that I go into a new strip in an area devoid of distinct geographical features it is usually a head scratcher. Having a passenger on board to show you where the strip is (yeah, it's over there by the dump, we race sleds on it all the time in the winter) makes a world of difference...