87-year-old pilot dies after plane crashes into trees at Bolivar golf course

I hope to die in my sleep peacefully like my dad.



Not screaming in terror like his passengers....

Seriously, my dad passed away following surgery without ever regaining consciousness. Gotta be an easy way to go.
 
I can see actually enjoying the thrill of a crash at that age. Count me in.
 
I hope he wasn't on Basic Med and they determine the crash was due to a medical problem.
 
mscard88 said:
I have other ideas on how I want to go out. Yes, involves boobs, more than one pair. :D
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First time I've ever seen suffocation described in such a positive context. :p
 
He had a good run with a tragic ending. Reminds me of Scott Crossfield who died at age 84 in his Cessna 210. He also had a good run, full of flying right to the end.
 
Screenshot_2018-05-23-07-50-20-1.png Is the golf couse on the site of the old Bolivar airport?
 
If I'm on the right side of the grass at that age I'll count myself lucky. If I can still competently fly an aircraft I'll have exceeded everyone ever in my family. It is possible, I'm the only one without any exigent cardiovascular diseases.
I think crashing an aircraft would be better than a slow decline. But I'd rather not, since it would involve destroying a working aircraft.
 
Brad Smith said:
He had a good run with a tragic ending. Reminds me of Scott Crossfield who died at age 84 in his Cessna 210. He also had a good run, full of flying right to the end.
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Or Bob Herendeen. That dude was a stud
 
Die an early, prolonged, painful, death from cancer, like everyone else in my family, or in a plane at 87 years of age.
At 87 years of age, I seriously doubt it's going to be in bed with a bunch of nubile young women. The pretty one's stopped smiling back years ago.
I suppose I could go in my sleep, but I'd appreciate it if it happened immediately after a great day of flying.
You listening, Boss?
 
My friend, mentor and CFI flew and instructed until he was 84, even getting an SI after his bladder was removed. The last year 6 months of his life was spent fighting the cancer after it spread to his pancreas. I know he would rather have augured in somewhere out in the boonies. Y'know what, his wife and family probably would have preferred that too, for his sake.
 
Brad Smith said:
He had a good run with a tragic ending. Reminds me of Scott Crossfield who died at age 84 in his Cessna 210. He also had a good run, full of flying right to the end.
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Scott Crossfield tore a wing off his 210 in a thunderstorm. For a guy who flew on the edge for so many years and was such an accomplished pilot, I thought it was a dumb way do die in an airplane.
 
At 87 it is possible he died before the crash.

aftCG said:
Or Bob Herendeen. That dude was a stud
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My dad built and sold Bob his first Pitts N66Y.

e86bcca8584c026f5c145b91abfdaac6.jpg





Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
 
Sac Arrow said:
Not a bad way to go, if you must.
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Something tells me some FAA pencil pusher is reading this thinking: Oh gee - We don’t need planes falling out of the sky because pilots wanna go out like Λ firework.
 
TK211X said:
Something tells me some FAA pencil pusher is reading this thinking: Oh gee - We don’t need planes falling out of the sky because pilots wanna go out like Λ firework.
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I don’t think anyone from the FAA needs to read POA to form an opinion regarding an accident, its probable cause, or its implications. They are actually involved in the accident investigation process and have access to information that we on POA don’t.
 
Capt. Geoffrey Thorpe said:
Um, no. Check the definition of LSA in FAR 1.1. Sez nothing about how it is registered.
I fly an E-AB under the Sport rules with no medical.
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You are right.

I really did not state what I was trying to say very well, I thought only the 601-xl met the definition, but after looking it up, I saw the 601hd can meet the definition and the 601hds does not.
 
LS aircraft can be flown by pilots flying under LS rules, BasicMed, PPL, ATP. So a LSA crash does not imply the pilot was flying as LS pilot.

One of the reasons LS and BasicMed came in was because having a FAA medical was not a good predictor of the health of the pilot.
 
According to the FAA airman database, the pilot (James Donald Baker of Bolivar, MO) was flying under BasicMed (CMEC 5/1/2017, and completed BasicMed Course on 5/3/2017). With BasicMed, the Zodiac model did not have to meet LSA requirements. From photos of the crash, the airplane appears to be a CH601HDS featuring a tapered and shortened "speed wing" which doesn't qualify as an LSA.

http://zenithair.com/zodiac/601-hds.html

The pilot was a retired university professor.

http://www.ozarksfirst.com/news/sbu...lty-member-involved-in-plane-crash/1194742181
 
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N3368K said:
At 87 it is possible he died before the crash.
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Apparently not
"87-year-old, James Donald Baker, died of injuries suffered in a plane crash Tuesday morning near Bolivar, according to a Missouri Highway Patrol spokesman."

At 87 it is possible that the engine pooped out and he ended up in the trees, or did a stall/spin on the base to final turn.
 
Capt. Geoffrey Thorpe said:
Apparently not
"87-year-old, James Donald Baker, died of injuries suffered in a plane crash Tuesday morning near Bolivar, according to a Missouri Highway Patrol spokesman."

At 87 it is possible that the engine pooped out and he ended up in the trees, or did a stall/spin on the base to final turn.
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Maybe, maybe not. He was pronounced dead at the hospital. That doesn't mean he didn't die in the crash. Doesn't mean he did either. I've heard the phrase died of injuries when a person dies on the spot. Unlike "died of wounds" in the military means they died following evacuation vs Killed in Action.

My point being his death (or incapacitation leading up to) could be the cause of the crash. Hard to say without an autopsy.
 
If I'm not mistaken in some states emts can pronounce death and in some states only a doctor can. Don't know the rules there.
 
mscard88 said:
I have other ideas on how I want to go out. Yes, involves boobs, more than one pair. :D
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Just ensure your loved ones are prepared for the 15 minutes you will get in the international news cycle!
:p
 
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