Mooney down in Petaluma CA

[Jerry 5TJ]

1 hour ago, mike_elliott said:

Perhaps we can avoid beating him up for what we think he did wrong on this thread. RIP Carl.

Well, he departed into really lousy conditions and quickly ended his flight in a location he should not have gone.  

Seems reasonable to me to critique his actions based on just those two known facts.  

I was based at Petaluma ~20 years.  From the airport at 80 feet MSL the terrain rises rapidly to a 2400’ ridge 4 miles to the northeast.  

Speculation: If he departed 29 and engaged his GPS “direct to” SGD shortly after takeoff he would end up about where the wreckage lies.  

[kortopates]

2 hours ago, FlyDave said:

Mike,

I don't know him and I'm not sure if he's based at o69.
Does anyone have an N-Number?

I don't know where he is based either nor have I seen a N number yet, but the references news article says he was a San Diego area pilot. Mike's reference to his firm references Fallbrook which suggest he could be based at Fallbrook, L18. And more recent news articles are confirming his '90 M20J was based at Fallbrook.  So I think @neilpilothas properly matched the N number as N9133Z. 

Edited April 7, 2018 by kortopates

[ArtVandelay]

[mention=11242]mike_elliott[/mention]
Here is the website for his law practice. I imagine someone there could put you in touch with his wife. There are phone and email contacts listed on the site.
http://morrison-law.net/

Someone on BT knew him.

[Sven]

Just like Bug Smasher, I'm hangared at KSTS and concur about the horrible weather here late afternoon and evening yesterday. Our local paper has updated all the information on this accident. You can find the link here with more on his story including pictures and video:

http://www.pressdemocrat.com/news/8197786-181/san-diego-county-pilot-dies

"Carl Morrison, 75, was piloting his 1990 Mooney M20J propeller-driven plane from the airport back home after a work trip north in his role as a consultant with the Sonoma County Water Agency, according to a Facebook post from his family. Morrison, an attorney and vice commander of the Pacific Region’s Civil Air Patrol, had served in the U.S. Marines and often flew his plane for meetings around the country."

Peace be to his memory.

 

 

[bonal]

Based just 20 Mooney minutes NE of 069 I concur with how poor the weather was all day yesterday can't imagine flying in such bad conditions.  A normal departure from 29 for us takes several minutes straight out before we can make the NE turn in order to clear that ridge.  Very sad news to be sure. 

Thoughts and prayers to his family and friends

[FlyDave]

21 minutes ago, Sven said:

Just like Bug Smasher, I'm hangared at KSTS and concur about the horrible weather here late afternoon and evening yesterday. Our local paper has updated all the information on this accident. You can find the link here with more on his story including pictures and video:

http://www.pressdemocrat.com/news/8197786-181/san-diego-county-pilot-dies

"Carl Morrison, 75, was piloting his 1990 Mooney M20J propeller-driven plane from the airport back home after a work trip north in his role as a consultant with the Sonoma County Water Agency, according to a Facebook post from his family. Morrison, an attorney and vice commander of the Pacific Region’s Civil Air Patrol, had served in the U.S. Marines and often flew his plane for meetings around the country."

Peace be to his memory.

----------------------------------------------------------

I agree - peace and respect. I don't think anyone is being disrespectful of this man.

But, I just don't get that he was the "vice commander of the Pacific Region's Civil Air Patrol" and he flew into the side of a mountain. Maybe he had failure of sorts. NTSB report should be pretty definitive.

I remember reading about 2 CAP guys with tens of thousands of hours between them in a new 182 with glass/terrain warnings departing the Las Vegas area and flew into the side of a mountain. These incidents/accidents/occurrences confound me and I'm left speechless thinking about it.

Peace to Carl's family. These are the hardest of times for the surviving family members and I think Mike's experience, support and the situational understanding he provides the families and loved ones is invaluable.

 

 

 

[mike_elliott]

33 minutes ago, FlyDave said:

Peace to Carl's family. These are the hardest of times for the surviving family members and I think Mike's experience, support and the situational understanding he provides the families and loved ones is invaluable.

Some of the hardest questions I have ever answered came from Bill Gilliland's widow Angie. One, in particular, she asked why people would state authoritatively of what caused his/our accident when they were not there, or have any real background.

I'm sure non of us want  Mrs. Morrison to go thru this also. Carl Morrison sounds like he was a very qualified pilot who was not unfamiliar with the risks he faced.

As I type this, my wife Alice is composing a letter to Mrs. Morrison offering her comfort and assistance.

We still do not have confirmation of the victim of the March 26th accident, so we are holding back on this.

I did not mean to insinuate you were being disrespectful Peter, and my statement wasn't meant to attack you.  I just hope this wont take the typical turn of speculation until we have some more information out of respect for the surviving family.

Thanks for the kind words, Dave, but it is not me, it is the whole Mooney community that really comes together to provide this comfort.

[PTK]

2 hours ago, mike_elliott said:

Some of the hardest questions I have ever answered came from Bill Gilliland's widow Angie. One, in particular, she asked why people would state authoritatively of what caused his/our accident when they were not there, or have any real background.

I'm sure non of us want  Mrs. Morrison to go thru this also. Carl Morrison sounds like he was a very qualified pilot who was not unfamiliar with the risks he faced.

As I type this, my wife Alice is composing a letter to Mrs. Morrison offering her comfort and assistance.

We still do not have confirmation of the victim of the March 26th accident, so we are holding back on this.

I did not mean to insinuate you were being disrespectful Peter, and my statement wasn't meant to attack you.  I just hope this wont take the typical turn of speculation until we have some more information out of respect for the surviving family.

Thanks for the kind words, Dave, but it is not me, it is the whole Mooney community that really comes together to provide this comfort.

Mike, no worries and no explanations necessary. I'm very thankful to the higher power who kept you with us. I am very happy to have you here my Mooney brother! Be well for many years to come. You make the world a better place.

[MyNameIsNobody]

A veteran and an accomplished life.  He was loved and he will be missed.  A very competent pilot.  Just a tragic loss.

[SanDiegoflyer]

3 hours ago, kortopates said:

I don't know where he is based either nor have I seen a N number yet, but the references news article says he was a San Diego area pilot. Mike's reference to his firm references Fallbrook which suggest he could be based at Fallbrook, L18. And more recent news articles are confirming his '90 M20J was based at Fallbrook.  So I think @neilpilothas properly matched the N number as N9133Z. 

He's based at L18. I didn't know him but he keeps his Mooney in a hangar right next to his law practice that is on the field. Very sad. 

 

Edited April 8, 2018 by SanDiegoflyer

[HRM]

Well, he was 75 years old, could have been an event. I only hope I am still flying then--condolences to his family and we'll know more after the NTSB report is released.

At this point it is all speculation, but one thing is certain, and for that I'll quote Donne:

...any man's death diminishes me, 
because I am involved in mankind. 
And therefore never send to know for whom 
the bell tolls; it tolls for thee. 

 

[Steve W]

I didn't realize the correlation, I knew him through CAP when I was in California, saw the announcement that he had passed through CAP contacts, saw the Mooney down in Petaluma but didn't know it was him.

[aviatoreb]

11 hours ago, HRM said:

Well, he was 75 years old, could have been an event. I only hope I am still flying then--condolences to his family and we'll know more after the NTSB report is released.

At this point it is all speculation, but one thing is certain, and for that I'll quote Donne:

...any man's death diminishes me, 
because I am involved in mankind. 
And therefore never send to know for whom 
the bell tolls; it tolls for thee. 

 

I had a friend who died suddenly during a bike ride at about 75 years old, about 3 years ago. He was as healthy as an ox. At first people thought he crashed his bike and strongly the crash caused him to crash.  But in reality he died and that caused the bike to crash.  I am not sure exactly how this relates here,  but in any case my friend was loved and missed.

Edited April 8, 2018 by aviatoreb

[DaV8or]

I think the wreckage pretty clearly shows that this was not a CFIT accident. He didn't just fly into a mountain. When that happens, there is a long debris field with parts of the airplane everywhere. The photo shows this airplane literally plopped down on the hillside.

I'll speculate that he took off, engaged the autopilot so that he could pick up his clearance in the air, or some other departure task, the auto pilot took him towards the mountain, but he was aware of the mountain and judged that the airplane could out climb the mountain and it probably could... but then the motor failed.

The wreckage indicates more to me a stall, or spin type accident rather than just flying into a mountain in the clouds type accident. I suspect he was either trying to return to the airport and spun in, or just tried to land straight ahead like we are told and it didn't work out. Either way there likely wasn't enough time to announce anything to anyone. Possibly the wreckage will tell us the story.

[M20F-1968]

The take home message at this juncture is that humans and the decision making process are both fallible.  This accident occurred to an experienced and capable pilot and professional.  My condolences to his family and all who knew him.  My he RIP. 

Our minds can play tricks and we must have a healthy respect for what we can do wrong in all endeavors, especially in aviation.  We do not know at this juncture what went wrong, whether it be caused by weather, impatience, stress, something mechanical or other causes.  This discussion is kind of like a physician thinking through the differential diagnosis when seeing an ill patient.  The mental and academic exercise helps put things in the order of probability and helps to relearn that which you think you already know.  But what one can too easily forget is that faulty decision making can occur at the spur of the moment, when over stressed, overworked, tired or for other unrecognized reasons.  Like the physician, the appropriateness of his decision and treatment is confirmed when the labs, X-rays, and pathology reports and available.  In this case it is the NTSB results determined to the best of their abilities.

I was at a MAPA Pilot Proficiency Program 1 1/2 years ago.  One of the instructors asked how many of us have second thoughts when we get into our planes.  He congratulated those that raised their hands.  That questions was the one question that was the most memorable for me of the session.  Smart people concentrate on what they do not know, not revel in what they think they do know.  Skepticism is many times healthy and in aviation, it is necessary tool.  Be careful out there as faulty decisions can be made without one being fully aware it has happened, and be mindful of the accident chain.

John Breda