RICHARD MCSPADDEN, Sr. VP of the AOPA Air Safety Institute, Dies In Plane Crash

[1980Mooney]

"Richard McSpadden died in an aircraft accident outside Lake Placid, New York, on Sunday afternoon. The Cessna 177 Cardinal in which Richard was in the right seat experienced an emergency after takeoff. The airplane attempted to return to the airport but failed to make the runway. Both occupants lost their lives."

McSpadden was a former commander of the USAF Thunderbirds air demonstration team and joined the Air Safety Institute in 2017.  Personally I found his analysis and review of GA accidents the most balanced and insightful of all those in GA.  

What a shock and saddening to hear.  It highlights again how dangerous GA flying really is even for those with the skills, knowledge and insight of the best.  For those of us that are barely weekend warriors of flight (many barely once a month warriors) this should be a sobering reminder that there are many weak links in GA - both machine and man.  It only takes one of those "weak links" to fail which many times leads to catastrophe.

https://www.aopa.org/news-and-media/all-news/2023/october/01/aopa-mourns-death-of-richard-mcspadden

https://www.flyingmag.com/air-safety-institutes-richard-mcspadden-dies-in-crash/

[toto]

Oh that's really awful.  I listen to his ASI podcast regularly - he's been an amazing member of the aviation community for a very impressive career.

[MooneyMitch]

Such a huge loss to the aviation community.  So very, very sad for his family.  

[1980Mooney]

https://www.lakeplacidnews.com/news/local-news/2023/10/01/two-dead-in-lake-placid-glider-crash/

I has a picture of the fire dept. trying to get to the C177RG in a ravine.

Edited October 2 by 1980Mooney

[mike_elliott]

This really hits home. Richard was the keynote speaker at last years Mooney Summit, and someone a lot of us were very fortunate to meet and get to know. Aviation has lost a giant.

Tailwinds, Richard a toast will be made at the wing ding and at this years Summit

[RescueMunchkin]

This is really sad and hard to believe. I've really learned a lot from watching his videos on YouTube.

[hubcap]

I met him at the Mooney Summit last year. What a tragic loss to the aviation community.

We are diminished.

[Andy95W]

1 hour ago, bluehighwayflyer said:

Agreed.  It is truly humbling to the rest of us when a pilot as accomplished and he dies in a small airplane crash.  What a loss to us all.  

Humbling and cautionary.  If this can happen to Richard McSpadden, it can happen to any of us.  Please be careful out there.

[DXB]

What a tragedy.  He seemed like a class act on the safety content he created for AOPA. I've been in and out of that field a number of times.  It's very sobering when someone of his experience making a career out of aviation safety perishes in a crash.

[Echo]

Great loss for GA.  I respected Richard's content.  He made me a safer pilot.  Looks like left seater was a former Patriot NOT Bear as I initially stated.  They both will be missed.  Photo 1980 shared was very inhospitable terrain to go down in.  I have woods like that in Northern Wisconsin.  A lake gear up will be my choice as they and trees are literally everywhere.

Edited October 2 by Echo
error on content

[whiskytango]

Our sincere condolences to Richard's family and friends.  This includes anyone who watched an ASI video, and saw how dedicated Richard was to aviation safety.

[1980Mooney]

Russ Francis, 70, former NFL player, was the pilot. Apparently quite an aviation enthusiast.  He flew a Sea Fury.  

https://www.petaluma360.com/article/sports/former-49er-great-russ-francis-still-flying-high/

https://www.lakeplacidnews.com/news/local-news/2023/10/01/two-killed-in-lake-placid-airplane-crash-identified/

https://www.timesunion.com/news/article/report-former-patriot-russ-francis-killed-lake-18400984.php

 

[aviatoreb]

This is really a very sad and especially humbling accident.  If a guy as accomplished as that....

Its also in my neck of the woods - close enough that I had friends contact me asking me if I was ok (not knowing it was a different kind of airplane).  KLKP is about 15 min flight from here.  Also - right where the wreck is - I have even walked with my son as a fun thing to do was to go to KLKP with fishing rods and then walk off the end of the airport grounds through a hole in the fence, down that ravine and at the bottom there is a nice trout stream.

Also I was in the air flying right past that spot within 10 miles that I looked over and saw lake placid thinking how lovely on a gorgeous autumn day - just 1 hr after the accident - not knowing on a beautiful day that something tragic had happened right where I was looking.  I had been with my friend in Schenectady and we had done a crew race in a 2x.  :-(

[Scott Dennstaedt, PhD]

Richard was a good friend and colleague and a champion for aviation safety. He reached out to me quite regularly on issues related to aviation weather. Will greatly miss his contributions.   

[Ragsf15e]

Very sad loss.

Ill be interested to see what happened and why, especially considering that it’s a C-177, maybe an IO-360?

[Ibra]

Very sad loss for GA, I always enjoyed watching his videos and talks, sincere condolences to his family and friends...

A stark reminder of GA risks: even with knowledge and skilled crew, there is always a part that is down to luck !

Edited October 2 by Ibra

[DCarlton]

Yes sobering and cautionary.  An experienced mechanic once told me, when you stop having fun, stop flying.  When something like this happens, it's hard not to question whether you should get out while you're still ahead.  I remember seeing a post once...  something is going to kill you, you might as well pick something fun (or something like that).  It's no time for joking but it gets me through events like these.  

[EricJ]

5 hours ago, Ragsf15e said:

Very sad loss.

Ill be interested to see what happened and why, especially considering that it’s a C-177, maybe an IO-360?

Most (if not all) 177RGs have an IO-360-A1B6D, which is the same engine as in a J model Mooney.

 

[toto]

22 minutes ago, EricJ said:

Most (if not all) 177RGs have an IO-360-A1B6D, which is the same engine as in a J model Mooney.

 

 To be super pedantic, most J model years had an A3B6D

 

[EricJ]

52 minutes ago, toto said:

 To be super pedantic, most J model years had an A3B6D

The only difference is how the prop is attached, which only affects the location of the indexing bushings on the hub flange.  The 177RG TCDS shows only the IO-360-A1B6D and IO-360-A1B6.   The Mooney M20J TCDS shows IO-360-A1B6D, -A3B6D, and -A3B6.  

[hais]

I remember the one he posted around Christmas about Santa's violations... he will be deeply missed. 

[Schllc]

22 hours ago, DCarlton said:

Yes sobering and cautionary.  An experienced mechanic once told me, when you stop having fun, stop flying.  When something like this happens, it's hard not to question whether you should get out while you're still ahead.  I remember seeing a post once...  something is going to kill you, you might as well pick something fun (or something like that).  It's no time for joking but it gets me through events like these.  

Well said…..  

I go through these machinations as well after hearing a story like this, or the other well known aviator who forgot to remove the elevator lock.  
This hobby/profession/vocation requires respect for the stakes, and will bite anyone and everyone without warning.   
Personally, while I mourn the pilot and empathize with the family, I try to embrace these as a learning tool, and use the things I can from the accident to shape my emergency planning. 
No one expects the kind of event that precipitates an accident, but every single decision after it happens can make the difference, sometimes even doing everything right isn’t even enough, but such is life. 
I’ll honor the memory by becoming better every day, and the day I don’t have that burn in my gut to do it better, I will know it’s time to move on.

[DCarlton]

3 hours ago, Schllc said:

Well said…..  

I go through these machinations as well after hearing a story like this, or the other well known aviator who forgot to remove the elevator lock.  
This hobby/profession/vocation requires respect for the stakes, and will bite anyone and everyone without warning.   
Personally, while I mourn the pilot and empathize with the family, I try to embrace these as a learning tool, and use the things I can from the accident to shape my emergency planning. 
No one expects the kind of event that precipitates an accident, but every single decision after it happens can make the difference, sometimes even doing everything right isn’t even enough, but such is life. 
I’ll honor the memory by becoming better every day, and the day I don’t have that burn in my gut to do it better, I will know it’s time to move on.

That last sentence is a keeper.  

[Shadrach]

On 10/2/2023 at 9:30 AM, Andy95W said:

Humbling and cautionary.  If this can happen to Richard McSpadden, it can happen to any of us.  Please be careful out there.

It could certainly happen to any of us. I have seen this sentiment echoed on a lot of other forums.  Some are going so far as to suggest that there is some tragic irony in one of the most prolific safety advocates passing in what has been speculated to be an "impossible turn" attempt.   In actuality, Richard was probably more along for the ride than anything.  He was sitting right seat in an airplane that belonged to someone else in which he may or may not have been checked out. Russ Francis (an accomplished pilot in his own right) was PIC and owner of the aircraft. He likely had primary influence over the controls and decision making. That does not mean that the outcome would have differed significantly with McSpadden in the left seat, but it may have.  We still don't know what happened or when or at what altitude.  We can discern from previous flights that ADS-B coverage directly around the airport is limited.  Looking at departing and arriving traffic ADS-B returns, coverage is nil below about~3000' but improves in the surrounding areas. That means no coverage in the 900-1200AGL range directly around the airport. There is no ADS-B return for this flight so it's likely the engine event occurred at or below pattern altitude.  What's clear is that they had completed the turn and were roughly on heading for runway 14 but came up ~500' short of the threshold. A very sad day.  None of us will ever know the exact events that led up to this tragic ending. What we do know is they avoided causing damage or harm to anyone else.  If one cannot avoid a fatal outcome in an aircraft accident, the next best outcome is for the pilot(s) to avoid damage and harm to others. Looks like these gents missed making this workout by the thinnest of margins but managed to confine the damages to themselves. Tailwinds to them both. RIP.

[Ragsf15e]

The urge to turn around is strong. Sometimes it even works.  I’m not second guessing their decision because we don’t know all the facts about airspeed, altitude, partial power, etc.  One thing we should try to do is think about what we will do if we lose power on takeoff and where we’re willing to put it down.  Pre-thinking might help you fight that urge to return to the nice smooth runway if it’s not a good idea or there are other options.  It takes a lot of forethought and commitment to turn toward a golf course or roughly plowed field instead of the airport.  The terrain around there looks bad.  There are some fields and golf courses within 1/2 mile of both ends of the runway that would be in my head if I flew out of there, but that doesn’t mean the outcome would be any better.  Those are still tough places to land.  I want to be committed to destroy the airplane to save my passengers lives but it’s easier said than done.