Dust Devil Rips Mirror Off of Car

[No Joy]

The mirror probably had prior damage, but still a dust devil was apparently strong enough to rip a side view mirror from a car and toss the mirror around the parking lot.

Ghostly Blur Tears Mirror From Police Officer's Car, Dust Devil Or Parking Lot Is Haunted ? Hartford
http://youtu.be/o01yvJAky9Q

It's my opinion, is strong vortexes can sometimes be dangerous to aircraft, particularly when they are landing and taking off. I've heard many "experts" claim that dust devils and waterspouts are harmless.

 

[tonycondon]

then they aren't experts

 

[denverpilot]

then they aren't experts

Well said.

 

[Velocity173]

We used to fly through them all the time in Iraq. You get a pretty good thump and dust in the cockpit but never had any damage. We weren't the brightest back then.

 

[Old Geek]

I've flown through invisible dust devils several times. On final in my light sport. The result is an upset in all 3 axis that lasts about a second. I've never felt in danger, but I am concerned that there may be a bigger one waiting that will be dangerous.

There's a good chance that the only fatal Flight Design accident in the US was caused by one:

http://www.ntsb.gov/AviationQuery/brief.aspx?ev_id=20130711X84910&key=1

 

[Henning]

I've hit them on spray runs with varying results but nothing that jeopardized the flight. The biggest risk was drift problems from the chemicals being sucked up.

 

[KSCessnaDriver]

I flew into some (purposely in the blimp) and it is a total loss of control event. Even saw a blimp crash because of a thermal.

 

[CT4ME]

A dust devil was responsible for a crash of a CTsw (1st ever US fatal) on July 10 2013, in New Mexico. They encountered a dust devil that was mostly invisible (due to being over pavement) at about 80 ft AGL on very short final. Flipped the plane and drove it into the ground. Pilot had a few thousand hours... 'said nothing could have been done to recover.
Here's a video of a small dust devil playing with a parachuter...

 

[pmanton]

They scare the hell out of me. I'm in the AZ desert and I've seen them lift heavy stuff off the ground and send it flying.
Paul
Salome, AZ

 

[flyer]

They scare the hell out of me. I'm in the AZ desert and I've seen them lift heavy stuff off the ground and send it flying.
Paul
Salome, AZ

Just fly early morning or late evening and they wont be much of a issue. This is one reason i dont like flying in the middle of a sunny day.

 

[ElPaso Pilot]

Ghostly Blur Tears Mirror From Police Officer's Car, Dust Devil Or Parking Lot Is Haunted ? Hartford
http://youtu.be/o01yvJAky9Q

I'm imagining said officer seeing his broken mirror, swearing, marching back into the building, and sitting at the security desk fast forwarding through a day's worth of video to find the punk that busted it off.

 

[MachFly]

I'm imagining said officer seeing his broken mirror, swearing, marching back into the building, and sitting at the security desk fast forwarding through a day's worth of video to find the punk that busted it off.

 

[Bill Watson]

They scare the hell out of me. I'm in the AZ desert and I've seen them lift heavy stuff off the ground and send it flying.
Paul
Salome, AZ

Many years ago I remember a glider guider in AZ was killed on the ground trying to hold the wing of a SGS2-33 as a dust devil went thru. It flipped over on him.

One person's turbulence is another's lift. I've certainly flown into them, at altitude, since they are just particularly well marked and strong thermals. I've climbed at 10 knots plus in them just barely under control... it's a very pleasant experience when racing.

Not sure where the line is drawn between a dust devil and a gust front but very similar air in either.