Bonanza ditching in the Pacific

[tigers2007]

Check this out. I can't believe how fast that sank. Its my understanding that a Mooney may stay afloat for much longer?

 

 

 

[Davidv]

That guy is actually one of my friends.  He flew his Lance for over 1000 hours trouble free and just bought this a few months ago.  When I spoke with him today he suspected it was some bad fuel...

[jetdriven]

Bad fuel is an extremely rare event.   Water contamination, however, is possible 

[tigers2007]

I bet a few minutes into the ditching he wished he even had a $9 Sevylor 2-man raft. The battery powered inflaters are like $15. 

[Davidv]

6 minutes ago, jetdriven said:

Bad fuel is an extremely rare event.   Water contamination, however, is possible 

Yes agreed, he just said there were a ton of particulates in his sample that he thought he had sumped out, but we will probably never know.

[Oscar Avalle]

Yes, I fly quite often over water and I am not scared (actually I am scared, but I take it as a calculated risk). But, when I fly over water and I know that I won't be able to get back to shore, I take at least life-vests with me... I don't wear them but they are on board. After watching the video I will make sure that I have them ALWAYS on Board.

Also, I was surprised how fast the plane sunk! 

Thanks God nobody was hurt.

[MooneyMitch]

A positive outcome, thankfully.

We always learn from others....... first clue to not fly that aircraft.....much particulate discovered with repeated tank sumping.

I’m not claiming engine stoppage was from contaminants.  However, the excess amounts he describes is major cause for further investigation prior to next flight. My opinion only.

Congratulations on their success!

 

[flight2000]

29 minutes ago, tigers2007 said:

I bet a few minutes into the ditching he wished he even had a $9 Sevylor 2-man raft. The battery powered inflaters are like $15. 

Yep, he even mentioned that at some point towards the back of the video.  Even with two engines, I still carry life vests when going over extended periods of open water. 

Brian

[gsengle]

Um not even life vests over water???


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[Davidv]

I’m not trying to speak for David, but I believe this wasn’t planned to be an extended flight over water flight.  He had flown from Colorado to CA and found the best place to ditch when he lost his engine on climb out.  Living in Florida I always have life vests onboard but I’m usually taking off next to water or flying over for 10-20 miles at a time.

[eman1200]

dude seemed hell bent on videoing every step of the way and I didn't see him come close to consoling his passenger.  I'm SURE that was all edited out, but man, at least ask if she's friggin OK.  anyways, good to see a safe water ditching.

[Davidv]

1 minute ago, eman1200 said:

dude seemed hell bent on videoing every step of the way and I didn't see him come close to consoling his passenger.  I'm SURE that was all edited out, but man, at least ask if she's friggin OK.  anyways, good to see a safe water ditching.

Always good to see, especially when I have conversations with non-aviation people who assume that when you lose an engine in a single engine plane all is lost.

[EricJ]

1 hour ago, MooneyMitch said:

A positive outcome, thankfully.

We always learn from others....... first clue to not fly that aircraft.....much particulate discovered with repeated tank sumping.

I’m not claiming engine stoppage was from contaminants.  However, the excess amounts he describes is major cause for further investigation prior to next flight. My opinion only.

Congratulations on their success!

 

Yeah, glad they got rescued.   Sounded like they were getting hypothermic toward the end, though.

One of the mods that had just been done was the addition of the tip tanks.   He mentioned that there was a lot more crud in the sumps than usual, and kept taking sump samples until it was clear.   That just means that you got the stuff near the sump that wasn't settled.  Maybe a bunch of crud from the new installation got added, or it stirred up a bunch of existing crud.

I suspect some crap got in the fuel servo.   

1 hour ago, eman1200 said:

dude seemed hell bent on videoing every step of the way and I didn't see him come close to consoling his passenger.  I'm SURE that was all edited out, but man, at least ask if she's friggin OK.  anyways, good to see a safe water ditching.

She seemed to be taking it a lot better than he was.   Definitely a trooper.

 

[Niko182]

my favorite comment i've seen so far of this on beechtalk.

"Just because 90% of people carry cameras does not mean we get 90% of accidents on video.

How many engine failure off airport landings are caught on camera? Sure if it happens by a crowded beach or a busy road but if remote what’s the percentage of ones caught on camera?

I get it’s possible but it’s also unlikely to get your water dead stick landing on video.

Even the event itself is highly unlikely, getting it filmed is a very very unlikely.

Again I have no facts to base my suspicions on. Just saying it’s very unlikely. And these days there is plenty of insurance fraud going on. In fact I bet if you could see the real honest data it’s more likely this accident was insurance fraud than a random engine out caught by a well known Vlogger."

someone actually thought he purposely destroyed a quarter million dollar airplane for insurance fraud and for youtube views. lol

 

[EricJ]

FWIW, they were out there to take video and pics, so I don't think it's surprising that they were prepared to take video and pics.

[tigers2007]

Welcome to the new era of v-blogging everything. This is the second crash in a month that had an immediate post-upset vblogged. (Quebec Cirrus was the other). I wonder if LivePD will spread their coverage to USCG helicopters now.


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[gsxrpilot]

All you old farts need to try a little harder to keep up. It's the 21st century and everyone is carrying a still and video camera in their pocket, of better quality than cameras that cost more than your Mooney did just 20 years ago. Kids these days know how to use them as well. And why not. 

This might be different if he were filming instead of running through a check list after the engine quit. But once in the water, filming the situation probably was a very welcome distraction from the cold water, jellyfish stingers, etc. 

I for one, can't find any fault with the recording of the event and the ordeal. There are certainly lessons to be learned and visuals to go along with it. That's good for all of us.

Oh and by the way, posting videos on Youtube is a real career these days and can pay more than most of us have ever or will ever earn.

[jasona900]

I  think this is an excellent video with several lessons learned...and for now, putting aside anything they could have caught during preflight due to fuel contamination. 

Obviously he executed a perfect water ditch, and since it was captured on video, we are lucky we can learn from that.

It is really hard to see people in the water, unless you are right on top of them.  One of the best signaling devices you can own is a mirror to reflect the sun during the day, and a strobe during the night.   Google "survival mirror" and you can get one from REI for less than $5.  Simply waving at your rescue will not do.  They will not see you.  Chances are, they will fly right past you (assuming like in this case, there are no other debris in the water).  Assuming a calm sea state like the one they were in, they could have splashed the water to make them stand out a little more.  Not so much of course in rough seas with white caps all around.  Reflective tape goes a long way if you have a raft.  Had their friend not been orbiting overhead, I bet the Coast Guard would have had a really tough time finding them.    Even worse if there was a strong current.  It took the Coast Guard about 45mins to get to them.  With a good current, you can drift a long way from where you ditched in that amount of time, and drastically expanding the search area for your rescue.  They were lucky they were still within cellphone range.   

Put the water temperature into your flight planning  calculus (altitude/glide range) when you are going to transit over a large body of water.  They were showing signs of hypothermia after 30 mins.  Imagine if it was winter...or they were in the PNW.   

 

 

 

 

[kerry]

I enjoyed the interview.  I know he had a lot going on in the cockpit but I kept thinking it would have better if the door was sprung open prior to impact.  Hollywood should make a movie from the event. "Miracle on Half Moon Bay". 

[bonal]

Watched the story on our local news. Glad they were not injured. I'm betting this one will prove interesting. We all know how bad the news is when it comes to reporting on GA accidents. But if their recount of this fellows history is correct there is some very interesting events that make me kind of suspect something may not be as it seems.  We shall see said the zen master , we shall see.

[carusoam]

+1 on story book landing...

Each skip ditched more energy... no blood or broken body parts...

Guy leaves the water first, leaves the girl to the jelly fishes... my mom wouldn’t approve of that... 

Best regards,

-a-

[chrixxer]

https://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/2019/08/21/half-moon-bay-plane-crash-david-lesh/

 

http://www.ktvu.com/news/ktvu-local-news/details-of-pilots-criminal-history-and-past-stunts-emerge-following-half-moon-bay-crash

 

https://www.reddit.com/r/skiing/comments/ceo2ty/virtika_founder_caught_ruining_the_high_alpine/

[tigers2007]

Huh?
“He said he does not have insurance on the Beechcraft plane that crashed, but that it is under-insured, so he will likely lose money because of the crash.”




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[NJMac]

 

 

 

 

someone actually thought he purposely destroyed a quarter million dollar airplane for insurance fraud and for youtube views. lol  

 

I don't recall the name but there was a situation in the recent past where a (different) younger guy did that a number of times. Guess his game was to buy assets from salvage type situations, insure them for full value and then pocket the difference when he totalled them. Started with an Italian sports car, belive a high end yacht was involved, then a single engine plane, then I belive he got caught while videoing himself in a twin as he ditched in the gulf. Believe the net result was prison for insurance fraud.

 

People will do anything for those subscribes and likes. Not saying this one did. But like Paul said, there is real money involved and that makes for real motivation.

 

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[tigers2007]

The pieces of this story can be easily assembled to imply that this was a stunt. So let me get this clear: 

• Flying it from Colorado to SFO/NorCal.
• Coincidentally he was approximately five miles from "the bay" as radio chatter indicated.
• VFR day. So who goes on a long cross-country and then decides to go fly to Hawaii?
• Then coincidentally an acquaintance was flying nearby and was able to capture the ditching on video?

Knowingly and willingly with filthy fuel tanks, especially with a passenger, is immoral. I'm curious if the FAA will deep-dive into the events leading to the accident and give him the hammer.