[Rhodes22-list] For Brad. . . Pilot Error

[Brad Haslett]

Philip,

The old expression is "those who have and those who will".  Depending on how
old the Bo' is, that may be the end of her.  Mine is worth more in parts
than whole  I haven't forgotten to put the gear down yet but I've forgotten
to retract it.  I was the F/O on a DC10 about 15 years or more ago, and we
were on our second march up/down the Pacific Rim on a 14 day trip.  The ramp
personnel woke the Captain and I up after falling asleep during the loading
process.  We took off from Taipei to Tokyo and when the tower handed us off
to departure they transmitted, "it appear your gear is down!"  I looked over
at the Captain and calmly asked, "you reckon the brakes are cooled enough
skipper?"  "Yeah, go ahead and raise it."  No doubt, we would have flown
halfway to Narita wondering what all the noise was about and why the fuel
burn was so high had they not said something.  Fatigue is a killer.  Sounds
like this guy just had a "brain fart".  Reminds me of the story about
"Pierre the Bridge Builder".

Pierre - "Ah, monsieur, do you see that bridge?  Pierre built that bridge.
I build over twenty bridges.  But do they call me 'Pierre the Bridge
Builder'?  Non!  But you f*#k a one goat ....."

Brad



Brad

On 7/15/07, Philip <3drecon at comcast.net> wrote:
>
> In the Army we would say it was the Pilot's headspace and timing.
>
> Phil
>
> Pilot Forgets to Lower Landing Gear
> By Associated Press
> MIDDLESBORO, Ky. - A pilot ran through the usual steps of getting ready to
> land his small plane, except for one little thing _ he forgot to lower his
> landing gear.
> Without wheels, Thomas Lepsch's Beechcraft Bonanza skidded a few hundred
> feet down the runway at Middlesboro/Bell County Airport before coming to a
> stop Thursday.
> "I'd never been at this airport before," Lepsch said. "There's a routine
> you
> go through as you prepare for a landing. I was distracted by another plane
> taking off and simply forgot to lower the landing gear. It was pilot
> error."
> Lepsch, 50, of Kingsport, Tenn., was not hurt, and he said there appeared
> to
> be little damage to his small plane, which he has owned since 1985.
> He said he didn't have time to panic during his unconventional landing
> because he was concentrating on controlling the plane and shutting off the
> fuel supply.
> "There was a moment when I saw smoke and sparks when I thought of my four
> children and thought to myself that I wasn't ready for them to be without
> a
> father," he said. "I thought 'I sure hope I don't go up in a ball of
> fire.'"
> Lepsch had been flying over eastern Kentucky "to scout out some good
> fishing
> sites."
> He said he considered driving, but after a storm front cleared out "it
> looked like a beautiful day for flying."
>
>
> "I cannot undertake to lay my finger on that article of the Constitution
> which granted a right to Congress of expending, on objects of benevolence,
> the money of their constituents...."  - James Madison
>
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