Around the World Flight Crashes Short

[201er]

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2014/07/23/haris-suleman-teen-attempting-world-flight-record-killed-in-plane-crash/

 

"An Indiana teenager who was attempting to set a record for an around-the-world flight was killed when his plane crashed in the Pacific Ocean"

[MHemperly]

So sad! Prayers to the family and our fallen birdmen.

Mike

[neilpilot]

Coincidence - also out of Greenwood IN

[rbridges]

I saw that yesterday.  Really sad to hear.  I wonder what happened?

[KSMooniac]

The father was a very active and popular member on beechtalk. Lots of nice tributes are posted over there. A really awful story.

Sent from my VS985 4G using Tapatalk

[scottfromiowa]

Sorry to hear about this...Bad couple of weeks for GA and Commercial Aviation.

[PTK]

Horrible news...again.

 

May they rest in peace. Prayers to their family.

[PaulB]

Seems like it's been a really bad few weeks for aviation.

[KSMooniac]

Here is the link to beechtalk:

http://www.beechtalk.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=41&t=95037

 

The thread is already 18 pages long, filled with tributes to what a great man Babar was, and he apparently touched many lives.  His son was not falling far from the tree, either, from what I gathered.  I never met him, but was able to get a great sense of how great he was from reading these comments.

 

RIP Harris and Babar

[carusoam]

Online news indicate the two were raising charitable funds using the flight...

RIP,

-a-

[Seth]

Absolutely terrible.

-Seth

[PMcClure]

http://online.wsj.com/articles/tragedy-ends-father-son-bid-to-fly-around-world-1406245208?mod=WSJ_hp_EditorsPicks

[DaV8or]

This was posted today over on PoA by a guy named Eddie Gould. It sheds some light.

 

 

Dear aviators, after reading the comments on here, good and bad, I felt it neccessary to sign up for PoA to be able to put right the facts to stop the continued specualtions I am seeing everywhere; some so called facts fuelled by the world's media and the rest by speculation.
Why am I privvy to these facts?
I am the last person (besides the people at the airport on Pago Pago) who Babar talked to and was on shift for his departure. I am the owner of the flight support company who were tasked with supporting the flight around the world...obtaining permits, clearances, handling, fuel and hotac.
I worked with Babar personally on the planning since late last summer and if you had seen the original routeing he proposed back then compared to the one he eventually took then you will see that many changes had to be made for one reason or another.
We had advised Babar to take the longer but safer route (more places to find avgas) through Japan and Alaska but the previous successes of other circumnavigators like CarolAnn Garratt and Matt Guthmiller did give Babar the incentive to go with the Pacific island route.
One of the common themes in this thread is about the range to Hawaii and the thought that he was also going to make a landing in Kiribati.
This is the truth of the matter...
Kiribati was always on the planned route. But right up to their departure from Noumea there was no evidence of avgas being available at Christmas Island. The authorities at PLCH need arresting because for 3 weeks continuous phone calls and countless emails, not one person thought it decent enough to reply or pick up the phone.
The only information we had to go on was from passing aviators who had visited the island recently (and that is within the last 6 months) all of whom used JetA1 but either said 'no avgas there' or 'I think we saw some barells of avgas on site'...not the best info to decide on whether a flight should make a stop there or not.
We did find avgas at Tarawa, another Kiribati island but by the time we received this information the guys had flown to Pago Pago and this made a flight to Tarawa unfeasible.
For two days we discussed weather and range whilst still waiting for contact to be made with PLCH. I personally found the pilots ideal accomodation and they were thoroughly enjoying their stay on Pago Pago. In fact, 12 hours before departure, Babar told me that he thought they would be stuck there for another 2 - 3 days. This was after checking weather forecasts and fuel - range computations.
Another conversation was about the need to shed weight; they had accumulated a fair weight of souvenirs; and I expect this happened with maybe the souvenirs being packaged up and sent by carrier to their home. But this is speculation...but the idea of shedding weight was in their thoughts.
The aircraft had performed faultlessly for the whole of the flight so far and routine maintenance and hours checks were made by FAA authorised engineers along the way.
In answer to a previous comment...they had made the flight from Goose Bay to Reykjavik at near max weight and yes, they do have the documentation for an overweight ferry.
So why would they have a nightime departure?
This had already been discussed between us and one person had the right answer...it was so they would arrive in Hawaii during daylight hours, and also be abeam Kiribati in daylight if they needed to divert.
There was no 'suspicion' in the night time departure.
What does mystify us is that they actually departed. My last conversation, as I said, was about the fact they may stay in Pago for another 2 days at least. With this knowledge I went to bed...that was because of the time differences...and Babar said he and Haris were off to explore the island.
When I cam back on shift I checked my emails and found a Flight Plan that had been filed for a departure on the same evening that they had said they were going to explore the island. This was a shock to me, so I quickly fired up the company tracker (one that allows communication between us and the pilot) and found the aircraft had started up and was taxying.
I received the automatic ping for a departure and it was timed at 0856Z (2156 local).
The next ping stated they were at 97ft and doing 77 knts. The tracker showed them over the end of the runway on the runway heading in a SW direction.
Then there was no update. I started sending messages to the crew to see if there was a problem but got no answer.
After 10 minutes I received the automatic signal that said the tracker was unable to transmit...but there was no emergency signal which it can send out.
I waited a while and then contacted the airport; which is uncontrolled and the airport ground crew would have had to be asked to be on duty...and it was our handler who did stay up for the departure.
The reply came within 45 minutes of departure that the aircraft appeared to have gone into the sea just after Take Off. Then a frantic couple of hours ensued in which the following information came to light...and these are the facts...
The aircraft took off on runway heading. It then made a turn to port and hit the sea about a mile off shore and SE of the airport. The weather was reportedly windy and the sea was choppy.
Haris's body was found at around 0115 local by the local rescue services...which are not close to being as organised or well equipped as the US versions.
The next real information came last night when a USCG C130 spotted wreckage, but not the fuselage or wings. The media and others have reported 'plane found' and this is not true.
The position has been marked and triangulated with an eyewitness report and the tracker information. The tides have been taken into consideration and when a diving team arrives they will then have somewhere to search.
Until an official report is given from the people at the scene (not media or agencies half way around the wordl) then all other information should be classed as speculation.
To clarify the Kiribati query. The flight plan submitted was for a continuous flight to Hawaii. PLCH was added as an alternative and would have been used if weather or technical problems made it neccessary.
If this had happened then it would have had to be an emergency landing as no one on Kiribati knew they were coming and as i said earlier, they should all be prosecuted for the way they run an airport.
But of course, this was never to be used as the aircraft perished within a mile of take off from NSTU.
We now await further information from the people at the scene and are working wth the family to get members to Pago for the repatriation of the body(s). The search continues for the airframe and Babar.
Personally, I had become great friends with both of them and was in contact with them many times a day for the whole of their flight and had the pleasure to show them the sights of Cairo and spend 3 happy days laughing and joking wth two of the most professional pilots I have had the pleasure to have worked with...and I have worked with many so called more experienced pilots who didn't have the dedication to planning that Babar and Haris had. They will be sorely missed.

[flyboy0681]

The article stated the following:

 

But others questioned the wisdom of putting a 17-year-old at the controls for such a grueling journey.

 

I beg to differ, he probably had more stamina than most of us old fogies.