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Trouble for Indiana Jones?


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I have to admit my wife, also a pilot, saved me once from landing on a taxiway as I lined for it rather than the adjacent runway at MMH long ago. I wonder if he set up incorrectly as I did and then the sight of the jet and evading it is actually what distracted him from ever recognizing it wasn't the runway as he got real close. Perhaps so fixated on not hitting the jet, it distracted him from not recognizing the taxiway and runway for what they were. 

How horrible for any pilot to have a incident, especially a pilot deviation, and then be a celebrity so that the whole world hears about it!

I am guessing under the new FAA Compliance Philosophy he'll get 10-15 hrs of remedial training - not violated. But I think the "remedial training" he's getting from the press will be way more than enough :( 

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He's an experienced and well-respected pilot. This is his fourth incident:

1. In 2015, he crash-landed a World War II-era airplane on a Santa Monica, California, golf course after the engine failed.

2. While piloting a Beechcraft Bonanza in 2000, Ford was forced to make an emergency landing at Lincoln Municipal Airport in Nebraska. He and his passenger weren't hurt, but the plane clipped the runway, which damaged its wing tips.

3. In 1999, he crash-landed a helicopter in Ventura County, California, during a training flight with an instructor.

Are the FAA & NTSB  going to get tired of reading his name on incident and crash reports?

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8 hours ago, mithogo said:

He's an experienced and well-respected pilot. This is his fourth incident:

1. In 2015, he crash-landed a World War II-era airplane on a Santa Monica, California, golf course after the engine failed.

2. While piloting a Beechcraft Bonanza in 2000, Ford was forced to make an emergency landing at Lincoln Municipal Airport in Nebraska. He and his passenger weren't hurt, but the plane clipped the runway, which damaged its wing tips.

3. In 1999, he crash-landed a helicopter in Ventura County, California, during a training flight with an instructor.

Are the FAA & NTSB  going to get tired of reading his name on incident and crash reports?

I read the same thing in the press and I only know of the some of the details of the recent engine out landing accident on the golf course. He did an excellent job of dealing with the engine out off field landing with only injuries to himself and plane in very high density area. The second, described only as incident, and if true that "Ford was forced to make an emergency landing" that was also an excellent outcome since "He and his passenger weren't hurt".  In the third, I know nothing, but as a CFI I know its my utmost #1 responsibility to provide a safe environment for learning, so without further evidence to the contrary that accident/incident would go on his CFI's shoulder - not his. 

No one likes to see engine out accidents/incidents, but the FAA is not going to fault the pilot that gets the plane down without hurting innocents unless the pilot caused the engine out. Again, I surely don't have all the details on these, but it seems very rash to criticize him for probably doing far better than the average pilot in such situations. Of course one could say luckier than average too; but clearly made his own luck when he headed for the golf course in the first one. 

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Harrison is high profile and a huge spokesperson for general aviation.  

The media is sensationalism.  We all make mistakes, flying and everything else.  

I've used the wrong call sign at times on the radio.  I've almost landed on a taxiway years ago, etc.  Some survive, some don't.

We kill over 40K people per year on our highways...... but, accidentally fly over an airliner and land on a taxiway and wow!  Media frenzy!!  BS I say.

He made a mistake.  He flys a lot and flys many different types of aircraft.  So do many, many other pilots, we just generally don't hear about their mistakes.

BS media frenzy, I say again!

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9 hours ago, MooneyMitch said:

but, accidentally fly over an airliner and land on a taxiway and wow! 

I can see landing on a taxiway to some extent.  Flying directly at and landing over a jet in a Husky which moves at the pace of a snail is a bit of a head scratcher. 

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Ford made a mistake. It happens. As I read the news on this again... why doesn't anyone draw attention to the other pilots who didn't call for the wave off? If I notice someone flying over me who is in the wrong spot im going to try and help them.

 

If you are asking why didn't the Boeing pilots that were overflown by Ford not get on the radio? Don't know but after seeing the video with Ford's plane never getting anywhere close I wouldn't be surprised to hear they didn't notice him as they were also probably very busy configuring for departure. He stayed quite high seeing the traffic and never looked to be a threat. But I think he was so fixated on the jet he never realized he was lined up on the taxiway.

 

 

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28 minutes ago, kortopates said:

If you are asking why didn't the Boeing pilots that were overflown by Ford not get on the radio? Don't know but after seeing the video with Ford's plane never getting anywhere close I wouldn't be surprised to hear they didn't notice him as they were also probably very busy configuring for departure. He stayed quite high seeing the traffic and never looked to be a threat. But I think he was so fixated on the jet he never realized he was lined up on the taxiway.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

I want to be supportive, among other things he's about 6 months older than I am, but I think I saw that earlier in the same flight he reported in as "helicopter 123" and then corrected himself. We do have to be concerned about our older brains...

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I want to be supportive, among other things he's about 6 months older than I am, but I think I saw that earlier in the same flight he reported in as "helicopter 123" and then corrected himself. We do have to be concerned about our older brains...

True, but he's still a youngster at 74 and a very active busy guy. But as you say, there are way to many examples of early onset of dementia even under 40. David Cassidy was just in the news yesterday for going public with it at age 66 which sadly isn't uncommon. I am hoping I'll be more like Bennett here on MS!


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Huskys can land and takeoff in less than 500 feet.  Assuming Mr.  Ford can maximize the capabilities of the Husky then this is absolutely a nonevent in the practical sense.  In the legal sense and in our sensationalized world it may be a different story.  Heck the controllers may have just let it play out but won't say that in an interview or on camera.  We've got a Husky here(untowered) and he just taxies far enough from the hangers and is up in a couple hundred feet.  

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