Bad FloatPlane Takeoff Video <link> (ot)

Why the hell didn't he just cut the freakin engines? Dumb S**T

Jeff, I'll bet that's gona' get in sumbodys wallet BIG time... Dan

It's hard to admit failure... many pilots, maybe most, would rather die than admit to themselves and their fellow pilots that they've screwed up and can't recover from it somehow (BTDT). This guy was apparently hell bent on getting airborne, no matter what. He saw a disaster unfolding and may have made it worse.

OTOH, maybe the throttle was stuck wide open (I don't know whether you can kill the magneto on one of those), or maybe he had to use both hands/arms (and all his strength) on the yoke to counteract the forces trying to cartwheel him. It does appear that he yanks the right wing float out of the water, only to rock it over quickly as soon as that wing gets free, and dips the left wing in, and then back. And we don't know what came before the video starts. Look at the bright side: in an airplane, any accident you can walk away from had a good ending.

BTW, your reaction is the one I had, and the one I always have in those movies where the guy loses his brakes going down a steep curvy grade with a drop-off on one side... I'm yelling "use the emergency brake, downshift, put it in reverse, turn off the d*** ignition, rub against the hill on the side ... do SOMETHING, don't just die!!! Easier said than to keep your cool while in a life-threatening emergency.

Your comment reminded me of a cold day in December in Hoffman Estates, Illinois back around 1976... I was driving the wife's fancy schmancy (used) Olds Toronado and we were holiday shopping. We went through a subdivision to avoid a major traffic jam at Roselle and Higgins road. Driving slowly, because it was slippery, I started to slow to stop for the stop sign at Arizona and Higgins (wacky that I remember the street names)... The car just slid....and slid...and slid. I tried shifting to low, neutral, park, tried the ditch, tried the other ditch, tried dragging my foot. We were only going about 4 miles per hour...and slowing down ever so slightly. The little Datsun B210 was setting at the stop sign waiting for a break in traffic. Closer we slid, like the barge that a Toronado is.. I kept trying everything and anything to stop or turn the pig. I was up to plan M (or was it plan N?) when I looked over at the wife... She was looking at me with 'The Look.." I said to her in the most loving voice I could muster "You know I am going to hit him, don't you"... She said "Yes, I know it".... When the scow did hit the Datsun the Toronado was only going about 2 mph, but it was like a bowling ball hitting a cue ball.. He was on ice too, and the big 'click' of impact sent him shooting out into the middle of Higgins road (a 50 mph divided 4 lane).. Then he had traction and he instantly backed up (insert the whoowhoowhooowhooo Flinstone cartoon noise here).. When he stopped and we both got out we both slipped and fell on the glare ice. I had no damage to the Toronado, and he had a quarter sized dent in the center of his bumper. I still remember all the steps in trying to stop that pig. I can imagine what a pilot must go through when things turn to shit and you are committed to either take off or land... Jeff

"WayneC" wrote...

Probably almost as much as the plane was worth as an airworthy plane. Your looking at a wing, an expnsive prop, a possible engine tear down, repair to the hull, and new cables. Plus if you think auto mechanics labor rates are high at $65 to $85 an hour, you can't imagine what an A&P guy gets.

BG

Bill,

Perhaps it was a landing incident. The sound effects were added after the fact.

Jack