R.I.P. 6922T

Jared Watkins — Thu, 06 Oct 2005 00:00:00 +0000

Yet another plane that I learned to fly in sits in pieces in the woods…

This comes less than a year after my primary trainer 4TK was crashed by another student. I don’t have all the details… but it seems that a 25 hour student took it out solo without checking with an instructor… (as is policy) or getting a weather briefing… and tried to land in 15-20kn crosswind when they were only signed off for 6kn. After a botched go-around.. they ended up in a cross controled stall about mid field at 100′ or so AGL… banked over.. sending them left of the runway.. and ended up hitting the trees nose down. At one point they were banked at about 90 deg.. and actually went off at a right angle to the runway.. according to a witness who was overflown during the accident. The plane is in several pieces… wings shorn off etc.. but the cabin held together and there was no fire. The pilot walked away with only bumps and scrapes… and from the pictures I saw.. they are very lucky to be alive after that little stunt.

You have to wonder what he was thinking… if he was thinking… I foresee changes coming in the policies.. and the control of the aircraft keys. At some level.. in learning to be a pilot you must leave some of the go / no-go decision making to the student.. but if a student shows the wrong attitude about this responsibility.. or shows little regard for safety.. then maybe it’s time to cut them loose and stop the training. In the end.. having unsafe people in the sky is bad for everyone. You have to know your limits.. and have a good feel for when things are not what you expected.

It’s really kinda sad to see both of these planes scrapped… During my training.. I would talk to people on the radio who had learned to fly in those same planes 15 and 20 years ago.. and now.. just a few months after earning my ticket in them… they are both gone. The only good thing is that neither pilot was seriously injured in these crashes.

R I P 4TK

Jared Watkins — Tue, 10 May 2005 00:00:00 +0000

They hauled off the wreckage of N714TK the other day… this was the plane I did most of my primary flight training in.

I was there when it happened too… waiting for the guy before me to return from a cross country flight. This has been just one of many setbacks and delays in my efforts to earn a private pilots license. At this point I’m a few weeks away from the check ride if all goes well. Since I’ve been sick and unable to fly I’ve been hitting the books again… there is a ton of info you are expected to keep in ‘working Memory’ and with my knowledge test pushing 4 months ago this is proving difficult. As long as this road has been… it’s definitely worth it. I hope to start working on an instrument rating soon after getting the private.

Flight-Training on The Infinite Unknown

R.I.P. 6922T

R I P 4TK