Gear down to go down, unless you're in a floatplane

Pilot was Ken Gedney, local broker & insurance guy. The story at the airport is that the passenger was his assistant at the office.
 
Oh, sorry to hear that Wayne. Did you know him? Any word on his condition?

Some of the stories are indicating there were three people on board, one still missing... the woman passenger didn't make it. :(
 
Dunno about third person, pix and listing are on Ken's website (Optisky). I know him well, have had lunch numerous times. I didn't know he had the Maule, looks like he bought it at the end of the year.

TangoWhiskey said:
Oh, sorry to hear that Wayne. Did you know him? Any word on his condition?

Some of the stories are indicating there were three people on board, one still missing... the woman passenger didn't make it. :(
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What kind of gear warning system (if any) is provided with amphib floats?


Trapper John
 
There may be some jumping to conclusions here...
Witness (non pilot) estimated the plane at ten feet above the water and suddenly hit the water hard... Ya, ya, I know all about non pilots and their versions of what happens to a plane...
But his statement raises the question of a sudden loss of lift (stall) that caused the plane to pancake hard, possibly bending/collapsing the float structure and deploying the wheels during the crash, or one of the bodies in the plane slamming into the control for deployment during the crash...

denny-o
 
Trapper John said:
What kind of gear warning system (if any) is provided with amphib floats?


Trapper John
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I don't think there is any for any amphib, simply because you might be landing on water or terra firma. The usual warning triggers for such systems- low rpms, airspeed, flaps- wouldn't work.
The system would have to know what kind of surface you're landing on.
There are probably gear-position indicator lights, however.

I wonder (assuming this really was a gear-down water landing) if the PIC simply forgot to retract after takeoff (from land), then forgot to confirm gear position before landing, or if he just lowered the gear for the landing, out of habit?
 
I was playing golf about 10 miles from the accident site, the nicest day we've had for weeks.

Dr. O said:
There may be some jumping to conclusions here...
Witness (non pilot) estimated the plane at ten feet above the water and suddenly hit the water hard... Ya, ya, I know all about non pilots and their versions of what happens to a plane...
But his statement raises the question of a sudden loss of lift (stall) that caused the plane to pancake hard, possibly bending/collapsing the float structure and deploying the wheels during the crash, or one of the bodies in the plane slamming into the control for deployment during the crash...

denny-o
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True tradgedy but G-d bless the efforts of Mr. Hopkins who dove in and saved the pilot.
 
Ken Gedney is in good condition at Parkland hospital, per the news. The passenger, Kristen Rochelle Kolby, was learning to fly, and was an active young lady--they reported she was one of the world's top ranked jet ski athletes.

http://www.wfaa.com/news/local/Woman-killed-in-Lewisville-Lake-had-passion-for-flying-88639277.html

Wayne is right about her working for the pilot:

Friends say Kolby worked for the pilot of the plane at his aviation business in Addison. They said she agreed to her boss's request to fly with him in his newly-purchased plane, as he celebrated his birthday. The last text she sent to her closest friend said: "I'm going up. Keep your fingers crossed."
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Trapper John said:
What kind of gear warning system (if any) is provided with amphib floats?
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A blue and yellow annunciator that sits on the glareshield that says 'water' or 'land'. I believe it beeps if you drop the MP, you then have to look at it to confirm what you are about to land on.
 
Trapper John said:
What kind of gear warning system (if any) is provided with amphib floats?


Trapper John
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The Husky Amphib I flew had a box with 4 green lights and 4 blue lights (and 1 in-transit light). Green=land landing, Blue=Water landing. Seem to recall that it had a verbal warning on it too, when the airspeed dropped below a specified number. Something like "Gear down for land landing" or "Gear up for water landing".
 
Ken is an experienced professional pilot. I don't know about his amphib background.

TangoWhiskey said:
Ken Gedney is in good condition at Parkland hospital, per the news. The passenger, Kristen Rochelle Kolby, was learning to fly, and was an active young lady--they reported she was one of the world's top ranked jet ski athletes.

http://www.wfaa.com/news/local/Woman-killed-in-Lewisville-Lake-had-passion-for-flying-88639277.html

Wayne is right about her working for the pilot:
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KSCessnaDriver said:
The Husky Amphib I flew had a box with 4 green lights and 4 blue lights (and 1 in-transit light). Green=land landing, Blue=Water landing. Seem to recall that it had a verbal warning on it too, when the airspeed dropped below a specified number. Something like "Gear down for land landing" or "Gear up for water landing".
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Unless (and even if) it is on a HUD, pilots will still miss it. You see the colors, get distracted, then don't think about the colors any more. I have a bright yellow "Speed Brakes" annunciator above my PFD. I will admit to having landed with them deployed. :redface: Makes for a great short-field landing.

No substitute for a checklist. Not saying the pilot in question didn't use one. No implied criticism either way. I'm just saying there is no foolproof solution to the problem.

What a shame about the death! Just tragic. :(
 
Has there been any news of what the woman died of? These kind of accidents are hard on the equipment but almost never fatal.

EDIT: I saw one report that said that she'd drowned. Man, what a tragedy.
 
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Local news reported that divers were unable to free her due to structural deformation/interference. Dunno what that means on a Maule.

PittsDriver said:
Has there been any news of what the woman died of? These kind of accidents are hard on the equipment but almost never fatal.
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wabower said:
Local news reported that divers were unable to free her due to structural deformation/interference. Dunno what that means on a Maule.
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I have no personal experience with Maules but I've heard people talk about them in a manner that suggests that, while very capable performance, they may not be the most crash worthy aircraft you could be flying. Has anyone here owned or have experience with them that knows first hand how well built/strong they are?
 
It could have been low level wind shear, Ive had that happen three times when everything goes to heck just before touchdown. Of course my vast experience is limited to hard runways in So. California, so I'm just making another one of my wild guesses.

John
 
Winds in the area were very light, a very nice day. Based on eye-witness account, I wondered if he got slow, maybe realized the gear was out, tried to recover/reconfigure and didn't get power up in time. Maybe he will remember, maybe not.

John Baker said:
It could have been low level wind shear, Ive had that happen three times when everything goes to heck just before touchdown. Of course my vast experience is limited to hard runways in So. California, so I'm just making another one of my wild guesses.

John
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