Flew today...thought it might never happen again...

Warlock

Warlock

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Warlock
It took nine months for me to will myself and want to fly again...I have been flying for almost 45 years. Nine months ago my Arrow was involved in an avoidable accident (N7430J) killing a 1st grader who had been kidnapped by her father six weeks prior and was being sought by the authorities...He was an ATP who held a job with the FAA...the circumstances are beyond believable and the damage caused was also extreme...

Finally got in my Warrior today and did a flight review and updated my medical to basic med last week...felt good and did not realize how much I missed it....I must admit I was close to giving up, except for my daughter who works at Foreflight and her love of Aviation...Em thanks for the push to get your Dad back in the Game.
 
Such a sad story. Happy for your return to flight, however.
 
What a story. That does really stink for that little girl, but at the same time, congratulations to you for getting back in there and going up again.
 
Warlock said:
It took nine months for me to will myself and want to fly again...I have been flying for almost 45 years. Nine months ago my Arrow was involved in an avoidable accident (N7430J) killing a 1st grader who had been kidnapped by her father six weeks prior and was being sought by the authorities...He was an ATP who held a job with the FAA...the circumstances are beyond believable and the damage caused was also extreme...

Finally got in my Warrior today and did a flight review and updated my medical to basic med last week...felt good and did not realize how much I missed it....I must admit I was close to giving up, except for my daughter who works at Foreflight and her love of Aviation...Em thanks for the push to get your Dad back in the Game.
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I'm glad to hear you're back up in the air. The pilot in question was a colleague of mine whom I'd never met personally but was supposed to work with on an upcoming project the week after the accident happened. My office is spread across the country so we never really get to know many of our colleagues personally, but regardless of the circumstances, an accident by someone who's experience is similar to mine is a sobering reminder of why safety is our primary objective.
 
Brad thanks for your reply...the FAA has been silent on this. I have been told through a retired source they were in the process of revoking his access credentials at the time of the incident. Any inquiries by me were quickly dismissed...I am the only primary operator owner I know that has never been interviewed in a fatal accident by either the FAA or NTSB...zip...nothing...they picked up the logbooks but would not answer any questions...three weeks later they were delivered by FedEx to my doorstep...I knew something was wrong when no one wanted to claim his body...
 
If the insurance has settled with you (granted, I'm assuming they did), I'd let the whole personal story angle of the deceased and his family drama go. Can't bring back the dead, you weren't involved in the accident beyond being the paper owner of a club use airplane, and the FAA even spared you the drama by not involving you. But that's me and my general aversion to the FAA kabuki. At any rate, congrats on getting back in the air!
 
Glad for you that you were able to work through it...
 
I'm speechless with the story you told. Take care, enjoy flying and have fun..:thumbsup::thumbsup:
 
I'm speculating when I say you may not get quite another 45 years....
But here's to getting started on it. :cheerswine:
 
Horrible story but glad to see that you're moving on. Good luck in your journeys!
 
So what was the full(er) story?
 
EdFred said:
So what was the full(er) story?
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Not sure where it goes from here, other than some failures happened along the way...One police department admits they could have done more to find the child. The local Police did not know he was a Pilot or worked for the FAA. Parental Kidnapping is handle very different and most often resolved but in this case, no. The Vermillion Parish Sheriffs department responsible for the crash location showed great frustration over the whole episode and probably most forthcoming on what had happened. FAA went silent and have no real information on their actions of an Employee who was awol or the civilian version of that. He had the airplane for four days and went to Kissimmee and hit the tower on the way back...Strange behavior of disabling the transponder and not talking to any ATC...he had asked by text if he could keep it longer but we said no. I think we put additional pressure on him to return. CAVU day and center punching a 2000 foot tower at 1800 ft 15 miles from take off...we have no explanation and there was no note, but in the words of police "he was paranoid and on the run" . He used the club credit card for fuel so we sort of knew were it was the whole trip. He live in the same community and an Amber report probably would have helped end it, but that never happened. Death ends investigation for small town Police Departments other than a request for a dna sample to run him through the system to check him against the data base.

Waiting on the NTSB report....maybe some answers...maybe not

We will be shutting down the club as well...with 3+ million in damages and a wrongful death claim (Club members are Insureds) the cost of continued insurance takes us out of the game, but frankly that's a non issue with the death of a six year old...her name was Caylee.
 
So sad. Any thoughts on forming another club, but are you out of the club scene for the foreseeable future?
 
Warlock said:
Not sure where it goes from here, other than some failures happened along the way...One police department admits they could have done more to find the child. The local Police did not know he was a Pilot or worked for the FAA. Parental Kidnapping is handle very different and most often resolved but in this case, no. The Vermillion Parish Sheriffs department responsible for the crash location showed great frustration over the whole episode and probably most forthcoming on what had happened. FAA went silent and have no real information on their actions of an Employee who was awol or the civilian version of that. He had the airplane for four days and went to Kissimmee and hit the tower on the way back...Strange behavior of disabling the transponder and not talking to any ATC...he had asked by text if he could keep it longer but we said no. I think we put additional pressure on him to return. CAVU day and center punching a 2000 foot tower at 1800 ft 15 miles from take off...we have no explanation and there was no note, but in the words of police "he was paranoid and on the run" . He used the club credit card for fuel so we sort of knew were it was the whole trip. He live in the same community and an Amber report probably would have helped end it, but that never happened. Death ends investigation for small town Police Departments other than a request for a dna sample to run him through the system to check him against the data base.

Waiting on the NTSB report....maybe some answers...maybe not

We will be shutting down the club as well...with 3+ million in damages and a wrongful death claim (Club members are Insureds) the cost of continued insurance takes us out of the game, but frankly that's a non issue with the death of a six year old...her name was Caylee.
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**** that guy!
 
The loss of Caylee is tragic, and the loss of the flying club is sad, too. I'm hangared in the building behind yours. Learned to fly via the FBO that was in the office before your club took that space (though I don't miss them and am sorry to hear you won't be able to continue to operate there). Glad to hear you got back in the saddle.
 
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