Very confused NY pilot

colomtnflyer

colomtnflyer

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iAM in AK!
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,535285,00.html?test=latestnews


"A blundering small-town pilot nearly caused a disaster over Kennedy Airport when he steered his single-engine plane for a landing in front of a Boeing 747 and forced controllers to reroute other airliners out of his meandering path."


This guy appears to have been more than a little disoriented...
 
Hundreds of lives were endangered around noon Saturday because 69-year-old John Prendergast, a retired Navy pilot from of Sterling, Va., couldn't find his way to Republic Airport in Farmingdale, Long Island.
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Leave it to Fox and the NY Post to create fear and sensationalism.

Every time someone does something like this and allows the media to sensationalize, then we lose something.

To paraphrase a recent politician's comments: "Media, tell the truth".
 
wsuffa said:
Leave it to Fox and the NY Post to create fear and sensationalism.

Every time someone does something like this and allows the media to sensationalize, then we lose something.

To paraphrase a recent politician's comments: "Media, tell the truth".
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He didn't file a flight plan, either.

:yikes:

Which Navy did this guy fly for...?
 
wsuffa said:
Navy. That 'splains it. :D He was looking for a carrier.
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Good thing he didn't fly up the Hudson!!

NY+-+USS+Intrepid+and+Concorde.jpg
 
NBC New York reported it this way:
NBC New York said:
Hundreds of lives were threatened over the weekend as [the pilot] la-dee-da-ed his way around the sky ...
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GO GO Sensationalism! Sell that copy! :mad3:

Pilots name removed by me.
 
... and was escorted to Republic by an NYPD helicopter sent to chase him down.
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What happened to the jets that should've scrabbled to intercept him?
 
I heard about this earlier this morning, but couldn't find an article on it. The jones beach inlet does look similar to the fire island inlet, so i can understand his mistake. There are even traffic roundabouts with monuments similarly located to the inlets.
 
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I wonder if he has a GPS on board. Should have been following a magenta line.
 
Leave it to those who dole out chicken feed for Chicken Little to point out his age and the fact that it was a homebuilt...:frown2: And oh, yeah- he didn't file... as if that would have helped avoid this fiasco. :rolleyes:


But he did, in fact, put hundreds of lives in jeopardy (potentially). The guy wandered into one of the busiest Class Bs in the world, causing two (?) go-arounds of heavies. I can only wonder how low he was... not sure I want to know. :nonod:

And if he was where the map shows, how in blazes could he not ID the airport positively, or at least locate himself at the shoreline? How do you get lost on a shoreline? With very distinctive islands, etc?? I simply can't understand that.
No GPS? No chart? Did his plan consist only of "I'm gonna fly NE out over the water, then land at the first airport near the shore that's in front of me"??? I think an RV might be too much airplane for this guy.
 
Ya gotta admit, our collective performance in New York hasn't been very good for PR. There's gotta be a Hayden Scheaffer in every city....
 
bbchien said:
Ya gotta admit, our collective performance in New York hasn't been very good for PR. There's gotta be a Hayden Scheaffer in every city....
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Let's not forget,
[The pilot] took off Saturday morning from Martinsburg,
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Funny how Martin keeps coming up in these things! :)
 
bbchien said:
Ya gotta admit, our collective performance in New York hasn't been very good for PR. There's gotta be a Hayden Scheaffer in every city....
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I talked to the AOPA press rep at Oshkosh. This incident was the last headline he had to answer for.

Based on Nick's post above, I reminded him this "hick" VA pilot lived a few miles from Dulles.
 
gprellwitz said:
Let's not forget,


Funny how Martin keeps coming up in these things! :)
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Naughty naughty!!! Grant, you should know better than to invoke the name of He Who Must Not Be Named....:D
 
"Blundering" is right. This guy is an idiot. Sorry, but he is. If you are going to fly that route, you better bring your A game. I'm going to assume that he wasn't in touch with NY Approach (why else would they have to send a helo to intercept). That means he didn't have Bravo clearance. You better know exactly where you are at all times if you're going to try that.

No excuses. None. Jeez Louise -- what is SO hard about making sure you know where you are going and what you are doing, ESPECIALLY in crowded airspace?????!!!!!!!!!:mad3:
 
flyersfan31 said:
"Blundering" is right. This guy is an idiot. Sorry, but he is. If you are going to fly that route, you better bring your A game. I'm going to assume that he wasn't in touch with NY Approach (why else would they have to send a helo to intercept). That means he didn't have Bravo clearance. You better know exactly where you are at all times if you're going to try that.

No excuses. None. Jeez Louise -- what is SO hard about making sure you know where you are going and what you are doing, ESPECIALLY in crowded airspace?????!!!!!!!!!:mad3:
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yep +1
 
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