Two down in Cessna out of KNEW

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Circuit Flyer

Pre-takeoff checklist
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Circuit Flyer
172 went missing about an hour after takeoff last night (11/13/14 about 8:30) from my home field/flight school, New Orleans Lakefront Airport. Some debris found in/near Lake Pontchartrain. Plane is not from my school but registered to a local company. Info is sketchy at this point. My thoughts and prayers are with the aviators and their loved ones.
 
People often underestimate just how big a body of water Lake Pontchartrain is :(
 
Henning said:
People often underestimate just how big a body of water Lake Pontchartrain is :(
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No Kidding.... I drove across that bridge once and not being able to see the other shore was "interesting"..:eek:..

Sad for the pilot and pax...:sad::sad::sad:
 
Yes, it is vast. Crossed by the longest bridge of its kind in the world, or so they say, the 24-mile Causeway Bridge. Its waters can be quite rough, too. Apparently, the Cessna was last observed about a mile from the airport, which juts out northward from the Southshore. I've heard it was about 20 minutes after takeoff. At this time, too little information.
 
Driving on that bridge always makes me a little nervous

causeway.jpg
 
And the bridge traffic is usually about 70 MPH. Total IMC here this morning. Rainy, cold, foggy. It was high 30s/low 40s overnight. Bridge closed to motorcycles and the like. Poor conditions for a search.
 
I've been on a few flights in the back of an R44 recently with this pilot. Just a really nice guy. Very, very sad.
 
Sounds like it was actual IMC to begin with. But even legal VFR with haze can make flight over bodies of water like this no different than "real" IMC. You might have legal visibility and reference to the ground. But with the haze, there is no horizon, and the water is the same color as the haze. The Delaware Bay comes to mind as well. If you aren't proficient in instrument flight, you might get screwed quick.
 
Pedals2Paddles said:
Sounds like it was actual IMC to begin with. But even legal VFR with haze can make flight over bodies of water like this no different than "real" IMC. You might have legal visibility and reference to the ground. But with the haze, there is no horizon, and the water is the same color as the haze. The Delaware Bay comes to mind as well. If you aren't proficient in instrument flight, you might get screwed quick.
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If you lose your engine over the lake you are also screwed either way.
 
Yes, here's what the Causeway looks like right now. Hard to see, but it the ribbon of road stretching up to the horizon from the right (east) of the taller buildings.

8e358dde4f3c03cdc51a15a0712a9681.jpg
 
It appears they departed VFR last night around 8:15, attempted to pick up a local IFR clearance, then requested return to KNEW about 2 min after departure with no further transmissions.
Lake pontchatrain can get pretty ugly. My wife knows the engine doesn't start unless her PFD is on. She's 30wks right now, but I'm signing us up for a ditching class early next year.
Anything to bump up the odds.
 
brentee said:
It appears they departed VFR last night around 8:15, attempted to pick up a local IFR clearance, then requested return to KNEW about 2 min after departure with no further transmissions.
Lake pontchatrain can get pretty ugly. My wife knows the engine doesn't start unless her PFD is on. She's 30wks right now, but I'm signing us up for a ditching class early next year.
Anything to bump up the odds.
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It's a manual activation inflatable right? If not you don't put on a rigid buoyant device until clear of the plane.
 
Yes, Manual. It comes automatic but is easily converted.
 
brentee;1608137[B said:
]It appears they departed VFR last night around 8:15, attempted to pick up a local IFR clearance, then requested return to KNEW about 2 min after departure with no further transmissions.[/B]
Lake pontchatrain can get pretty ugly. My wife knows the engine doesn't start unless her PFD is on. She's 30wks right now, but I'm signing us up for a ditching class early next year.
Anything to bump up the odds.
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Geez.. Just like those doctors a few weeks ago up north.....:sad::sad:.....:(
 
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Just talked to someone at the airport. They're still searching. No news.
 
Sad day,may they rest in peace.
 
I flew across it on my way to KNEW from Shreveport several years back with my ex wife and her boss and wife. It was a short portion of the flight but looking back yeah we would have been majorly hosed if the engine had quit midway.

These days I don't have that tolerance for overwater in a single, since I have a kid now and fly with him, and otherwise a new wife actually worth keeping. Solo, I'd strap in to a PFD and PLB and happily on my way all day. But I have different priorities now and people I'm accountable for. That one is a profile I want two mills on board.

Condolences to the family of the deceased.
 
My CFI was telling me a few weeks ago what he would do in case of engine out on takeoff, namely put down in Lake Pontchartrain (runway 36 shoots right out over it), or, if above 500', turn and put down on nearby Haynes Boulevard. Clearly he had a plan. Wonder if he's revising it. Sad day at KNEW.
 
...and your odds definitely drop with the drop in temperature and it being at night.
We just had another one go down a few months ago. I think he was on short final to RW 9, but a lot warmer and during the day. He got out and swam to the seawall.

I know many here would disagree but I simply don't fly at night, especially since I'm always over that lake.
 
Ugh. One of the few "to very minimums" IFR flights I've had was into NEW - there is no differentiation between clouds and water over the lake - you get the rabbit and follow it in.

Sad to hear this, but I can easily see how it happened. Prayers to the families.
 
brentee said:
...and your odds definitely drop with the drop in temperature and it being at night.
We just had another one go down a few months ago. I think he was on short final to RW 9, but a lot warmer and during the day. He got out and swam to the seawall.

I know many here would disagree but I simply don't fly at night, especially since I'm always over that lake.
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I am with you, flying a single at night no fun:no:
 
brentee said:
...and your odds definitely drop with the drop in temperature and it being at night.

We just had another one go down a few months ago. I think he was on short final to RW 9, but a lot warmer and during the day. He got out and swam to the seawall.



I know many here would disagree but I simply don't fly at night, especially since I'm always over that lake.
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I've heard of more than one person trying to swim in Lake Pontchartrain who got sucked under the seawall by the undertow. It's hollow under the steps. I don't have firsthand info on that, but it is regarded as a somewhat treacherous body of water.
 
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