68 yr old gentleman killed at KLAL today

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old cfi

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Old CFI
Local FL news reports he was on his student solo flight when he slammed into the ground short of the runway. Plane burst into flames immediately with no chance to rescue him. Knowing what the media does to facts I hope at least he wasn't a student. Realizing what was probably a dream he had for years, I can't imagine how family feels. As a CFI, I don't even want to go there if this flight was indeed his first student solo.

RIP and condolences to friends and family.

Later report has his age at 64 and his name was Gary Alan Mansell.
 
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That’s terrible for everyone involved. I’d never heard of the plane. Looks like a pretty nice LSA.

 
Ugh...

A lot of accidents happening lately...

:(
 
There was also a multi engine trainer that went down at LAL that took out CFI and Student not too long ago.
 
Shawn said:
There was also a multi engine trainer that went down at LAL that took out CFI and Student not too long ago.
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If we’re thinking of the same one, that was several years ago. A Piper Apache I believe.
 
Clip4 said:
Wreckage looks like flat spin.
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"The pilot touched down successfully twice, but on the third attempt, his plane turned sharply to the left and crashed into the grass next to the Sun 'n Fun aviation education campus by the runway."

Does that mean he spun in, or that he landed and veered off the runway? Seems like too much damage for a ground-loop... So I guess the former?
 
Maybe tried to go around from very low, went full throttle without enough right rudder?
 
Half Fast said:
Maybe tried to go around from very low, went full throttle without enough right rudder?
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A CFI who knew both the pilot and the airplane suggests that as a probable cause on another site. He suggests it happened while the pilot tried to recover from a bounced landing.
 
Stan Cooper said:
A CFI who knew both the pilot and the airplane suggests that as a probable cause on another site. He suggests it happened while the pilot tried to recover from a bounced landing.
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Sounds plausible, except I thought he was short of the runway.

I was on site (had just landed) when this one happened back in Feb:
http://www.kathrynsreport.com/2018/02/tecnam-astore-n194ct-time-management.html

The pilot told me he had just rotated when the turbo boost came up and it caught him off guard. He was lucky; he hit a berm below a RR track and US 441. If he’d been three feet higher in the air he would have hit traffic on 441.

I don’t know if that Bristel has a turbo, but if so it might have been something similar that led to this crash.
 
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Half Fast said:
Sounds plausible, except I thought he was short of the runway.

I was on site (had just landed) when this one happened back in Feb:
http://www.kathrynsreport.com/2018/02/tecnam-astore-n194ct-time-management.html

The pilot told me he had just rotated when the turbo boost came up and it caught him off guard. He was lucky; he hit a berm below a RR track and US 441. If he’d been three feet higher in the air he would have hit traffic on 441.

I don’t know if that Bristel has a turbo, but if so it might have been something similar that led to this crash.
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Turbo boast came on at low power in the landing flair. Calling bunk on that account
 
Stan Cooper said:
A CFI who knew both the pilot and the airplane suggests that as a probable cause on another site. He suggests it happened while the pilot tried to recover from a bounced landing.
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Sorry, that’s not what happened. Didn’t you see @Clip4 post above? Already been determined to be a flat spin. Case closed. No investigation necessary.

Clip4 said:
Wreckage looks like flat spin.
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old cfi said:
Later report has his age at 64 and his name was Gary Alan Mansell.
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No one by that name in the airman database. Suggest may have been a recent student pilot.

Voter database confirms person by that name and age in Florida there.
 
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Photo in news article seems to show tracks leading to the crash site from the runway and the plane turned around 180 degrees. Possible ground loop?
 
My first solo was one lap around the pattern as my CFI has never had students do three laps. Sad day indeed.
 
Sluggo63 said:
Sorry, that’s not what happened. Didn’t you see @Clip4 post above? Already been determined to be a flat spin. Case closed. No investigation necessary.
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I’ve never seen a flat spin result in two perfectly parallel tire tracks that lead up to the wreckage.


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PeterNSteinmetz said:
Photo in news article seems to show tracks leading to the crash site from the runway and the plane turned around 180 degrees. Possible ground loop?
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Those tracks are rather large and deep to be from a LS aircraft moving and producing lift. I wondered if the tracks are from a fire truck at the scene.
 
I wonder if he was a basic med pilot. Could very well have had a medical issue.
 
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There's no way that airplane made those tire tracks.
 
Sluggo63 said:
Sorry, that’s not what happened. Didn’t you see @Clip4 post above? Already been determined to be a flat spin. Case closed. No investigation necessary.
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We'll see. There will be an NTSB investigation. drseti (Paul Shuch) is a CFI, knew the pilot and the airplane, and holds both LSRM and Rotax certifications. His observation of the huge internal rotating mass of the geared Rotax engines causing significant gyroscopic precession when at full power is relevant.

http://www.sportpilottalk.com/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=5250

The crash photo shows it could easily have been a stall and pancake fall as Paul Shuch speculates.

lakeland_plane_crash_lakeland_pd_2-1545553907-2538.jpg
 
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Groundpounder said:
I wonder if he was a basic med pilot. Could very well have had a medical issue.
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He was a student sport pilot. He may well have been using a driver's license in lieu of a medical certificate.

But what difference does that make? I'd say in this case a medical issue is the least likely of causes, and furthermore a medical issue can occur with any level of medical certification.
 
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