Plane kills 2 on the ground in emergency landing.

Beaches are tempting emergency landing spots, but if the beach is packed, I have to sacrifice the airplane and go for the water, close enough offshore to have a reasonable chance of swimming in.

Skin, Tin, Ticket. That includes (especially) the "skin" of innocent bystanders.

Of course, we don't know what the pilot saw.
 
SCCutler said:
Skin, Tin, Ticket. That includes (especially) the "skin" of innocent bystanders.

Of course, we don't know what the pilot saw.
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We don't, but I totally agree with you. I will pull up short of calling the pilot a coward, but he should have put his butt on the line by ditching in the water, not running over others.
 
Of course there may have been no good options here other than avoiding the situation in the first place. Both beach and water may have been crowded. Sad to hear and sympathies for the families, let's learn from this. And improve GA technology so this doesn't happen.

How about we dedicate this thread to brainstorming technology that might have prevented loss of life in this instance?
 
PaulMKE said:
Of course there may have been no good options here other than avoiding the situation in the first place. Both beach and water may have been crowded. Sad to hear and sympathies for the families, let's learn from this. And improve GA technology so this doesn't happen.

How about we dedicate this thread to brainstorming technology that might have prevented loss of life in this instance?
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How about an emergency landing air horn, pull a knob and an ear piercing wind based siren alerts ground dwellers to look up and run.
 
PaulMKE said:
Of course there may have been no good options here other than avoiding the situation in the first place. Both beach and water may have been crowded. Sad to hear and sympathies for the families, let's learn from this. And improve GA technology so this doesn't happen.

How about we dedicate this thread to brainstorming technology that might have prevented loss of life in this instance?
Click to expand...

Or instead of more tech, pilots dedicate time/funds to advancing training and skills. Tech is a good SA builder, but if stick, rudder, and ADM skills are lacking, nothing will help.
 
PaulMKE said:
Of course there may have been no good options here other than avoiding the situation in the first place. Both beach and water may have been crowded.
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If so, I'd bet that the water was less crowded further out.
 
I don't like beaches in the Summer, for emergency landings. Go out in the water a bit, beyond the swimmers.
 
I think all planes should be equipped with a handle (blue) that will jettison the landing gear.
Opens up a lot more possibilities when the engine quits.
 
SixPapaCharlie said:
I think all planes should be equipped with a handle (blue) that will jettison the landing gear.
Opens up a lot more possibilities when the engine quits.
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This is not a bad idea. We had a similar discussion around this at the airport not too long ago. Just another option.
 
455 Bravo Uniform said:
This is not a bad idea. We had a similar discussion around this at the airport not too long ago. Just another option.
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No. It's a terrible idea for an entire host of engineering and design reasons it could constitute an entire thread on its own. I think and hope 6pc was joking.

It would be such a big, expensive, complex system you might as well just get an RG and reap the benefits of it.
 
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Very sad. Any loss of life is tragic, but I think the lives lost on the ground are the worst. They didn't accept the risk of the flight and were just minding there own business. RIP.
 
SixPapaCharlie said:
I think all planes should be equipped with a handle (blue) that will jettison the landing gear.
Opens up a lot more possibilities when the engine quits.
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We call that a retract... and you get to reuse the gear...


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How do insurance/lawsuits go when innocent bystanders (IBs) are killed when we force-land?
Is everything pretty much at risk, if we consider what happened in past cases?
If I have $1M smooth, who gets what when the plane is totaled, occupants are uninjured, two IBs on ground killed?
 
A really bad time and place for the chance of hitting innocent people: August, on a beach in southern Europe.
 
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Let'sgoflying! said:
If I have $1M smooth, who gets what when the plane is totaled, occupants are uninjured, two IBs on ground killed?
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Hull and liability are different parts of a policy. The $1 million smooth you mention is for liability, which has nothing to do with a totalled airplane, but it will pay for bystander deaths. Assuming you are flying where the policy is valid, etc.
 
Im aware, Im asking what typically happens - what are some examples (I've heard of none myself).
do they collect all the insurance - and get the pilot's assets?
 
Let'sgoflying! said:
Im aware, Im asking what typically happens - what are some examples (I've heard of none myself).
do they collect all the insurance - and get the pilot's assets?
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No experience, but I believe this is what happens:

Liability:
The insurance company would offer something, not more than $1 million total (since your liability limit is $1 million smooth), to the estates of the two dead bystanders. If those estates refuse the offer, they may sue you, and in that case your insurance company will provide a lawyer, in the defense of the case, at its expense, with the goal of minimizing its losses. If the case goes to trial and more than $1 million total is awarded the estates by the court (or it is settled for more than $1 million without a trial), the difference is what you owe personally to the estates. However, if the award or settlement totals less than $1 million, you owe nothing to the estates. (Variant on this: if you died in the crash, the party that is sued is your estate instead of you, but otherwise it's mostly the same.)

Hull:
As for the totalled airplane, since it is totalled the insurance company will pay you whatever limit you have chosen for the hull ($100 k for example) and the company will then own the airplane.

Maybe I'm wrong, but that's my understanding.
 
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