Another Incident at Northwest Regional (52F)

[BigTex]

Not sure if everyone saw this video of the SUV being clipped by a landing plane out at Northwest Regional (52F) but it's pretty dramatic. Thankfully everyone is okay.

http://gma.yahoo.com/video/news-26797925/plane-collides- with-suv-while-landing-at-texas-airport-31053677.html#crsl=%252Fvideo%252Fnews-26797925%252Fplane-collides-with-suv-while-landing-at-texas-airport-31053677.html

[fantom]

Cezzna student with poor peripheral vision, airport road with poor signage and SUV driver with head inserted in rump, possibly due to shrill passenger.

[chrisk]

I visited this airport 2 days ago. The road is very poorly marked. The runway is also poorly marked. A displaced threshold would help. Real signs on the road would help too. Being a pilot (driving a car), it was not clear that I should look for planes at the crossing.

[rbridges]

The local grass field has a yellow street sign warning about plane traffic. The cost of repairing the 172 would have bought a lot of warning signs.

[aviatoreb]

Not sure if everyone saw this video of the SUV being clipped by a landing plane out at Northwest Regional (52F) but it's pretty dramatic. Thankfully everyone is okay.

http://gma.yahoo.com...t-31053677.html

I am amazed that the airplane didn't get flipped onto its nose for a much harder crash landing thank goodness.

[KSMooniac]

It is a bit of a challenging airport, and it does have a displace threshold. Complicating matters is that the road is on private property not owned by the airport owners, and they're powerless to change anything. The road is also only used by people going to the other side of the airport and it is not a "regular" road used by the clueless public...ie they know they're on an airport and *should* be cognizant of airplanes coming and going. This driver surely wasn't.

[chrisk]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8xU2HxqXUtk

This is a different report that might give a better idea of the area.

[flyboy0681]

I love it when the driver vehemently said that "we didn't pull out in front of an airplane".

Also looks like the pilot was going to land way short of the displaced threshold.

No doubt the driver and passenger are retaining an attorney.

[Riq]

Im new here,(proud piper and mooney owner) so give me a break..... but....Looks like a 400' threshold, and he was about to land short regardless.(91.13(a). That could have been fatal if at another(numerous) field(s) had he attempted a low approach like this, with his noob skill set.

Maybe im way off....but maybe hes lucky to have it happen now instead of killing his family.

Bummer regardless; the only winners will be the lawyers.

[kortopates]

Amazing to me how we all can look at the same video and draw entirely different conclusions.

To my eyes the real fault goes to the driver and the pilot was fine, the plane had cleared the fence and then it really looks like we see the nose and left main gear of the aircraft come down on black asphalt. That wouldn’t happen if the plane was going to land short since the impact would further shorten its approach path. Although that's a bit challenging to say with certainty due to some camera shake occurring, but it really appears there was no doubt it didn't and wasn't going to land short. Does anyone have any factual data to the contrary?

Lets also not forget that the telephoto view through the camera gives the illusion of things appearing much closer than they are.

Sure, he could have/should have been a bit higher, but all he had to do was clear that fence. The car was suppose to stop and wait, which we clearly saw didn’t happen. Although the very poor marking on the surface will no doubt prove to be a major issue. It’ll be interesting to hear what the NTSB comes up with in addition to the obvious lack of real stop signs.

Grateful nobody got hurt, but saddened the student pilot is throwing the towel in. Any way you look at it, GA suffers.

[chrisk]

My take is the NTSB will put the blame on the student pilot, instructor, and the airport, and in that order. The airport facilities directory lists a 400 ft displaced threshold for this runway. The student should have know this. The instructor always seems to be blamed. And the airport is really poorly marked. Take a look on google maps. http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=33.049844722,-97.232237500&t=h&z=16 It's runway 17.

I think the facts are simple. The approach was low (about 4 feet off the ground) for a landing that should not take place any fewer than 400 feet down the runway. It's a cessna with giant flaps and a high wing that does not float like a Mooney.

For me, this a lesson. They have displaced thresholds for a reason.

[flyboy0681]

Amazing to me how we all can look at the same video and draw entirely different conclusions.

To my eyes the real fault goes to the driver and the pilot was fine, the plane had cleared the fence and then it really looks like we see the nose and left main gear of the aircraft come down on black asphalt.

Sorry Paul, placed on the same trajectory he would have landed just beyond the road where he hit the car. Given the 400 foot displaced threshold, he was very short.

[Riq]

Sure he looks like hes going to make it fine to the blacktop...if you forget about the threshhold.....But your correct, Im not sure myself, just a guess.

The faa publishes a road 30ft from the end of the runway and "Apch Ratio 18:1 Fm Dsplcd Thld to Power Pole 468 Ft Fm Dsplcd Thld 182 Ft Right"

We know where it leads from there.

[Riq]

For me, this a lesson. They have displaced thresholds for a reason.

I agree completely with this statement.

[jfdez]

Ah, there is also a 4.5 degree VASI, he should have seen RED over RED!

[carusoam]

Enough said...

-a-

[kortopates]

Take a look on google maps. http://maps.google.c...237500&t=h&z=16 It's runway 17.

.

Sorry Paul, placed on the same trajectory he would have landed just beyond the road where he hit the car. Given the 400 foot displaced threshold, he was very short.

Thanks - Now I see what you mean - google map's runway picture really changes my perspective. In fact, re-looking at the video its really appears at ~7 sec, the plane is on the asphalt before the painted numbers and I was mistaking being anywhere on the asphalt for being on the ruway - despite your clear comments about the 400' displaced threshold. I understand the student trained out of that airport, if so, he had to very familiar.

Still it will be very interesting to see read the NTSB's report.

[flyboy0681]

Ah, there is also a 4.5 degree VASI, he should have seen RED over RED!

Do they still use the saying "Red over white - just right, red over red you're dead"?

[rbridges]

For me, this a lesson. They have displaced thresholds for a reason.

they have stop signs for a reason, too. I'm interested to see how this ends up.

[gregwatts]

From my perspective.....the automobile probably should not have been there, but the pilot.....in my opinion.....was not in control of that landing. The approach is extremely flat and the pilot most likely was not looking around at the surroundings. A go-around was in order.

My opinion only!

[N601RX]

He lower than he should have been, but it would be difficult for him to see the car. Watch the slow motion video and put yourself in pilots seat. He would have to been looking at a 60 and 70 degree angle to his right and downward to see the car. The car only came into the picture the last couple of seconds. At that point that close to the runway he was probably looking straight ahead down the runway as he should have been.

[Lionudakis]

After looking back and forth at the google map and the video, to hit the vehicle as low as he did, and the vehicle being on the road, he barely cleared the fence just feet beyond the vehicle ! Pretty dumb on his part to be there in the first place with 3500ft pavement in front of him.

[IndyTim]

I think there is ample blame to go around in this incident. And it serves to reinforce the premise that, with any incident there are usually multiple factors and/or a chain of bad decisions that lead to an unfortunate outcome.

I think the NTSB and FAA have done a pretty good job of analyzing incident data, identifying primary and contributing factors, and mandating changes where necessary. (This sometimes feels like they're squeezing the life out of GA, but I also see a lot of benefit.)

In this case, I don't believe that we should lay all the blame at the pilot's feet. Yes, he was going to land in the displaced threshold so there is some blame there.

But also, the road did have a STOP marking on it. The driver exhibited extremely poor situation awareness, and did not yield the right-of-way. Much easier (and therefore required I'd say) for a car to stop and let the airplane fly over, than for the airplane to hop over the car. I hope the judge/jury see it that way, when they make their decisions in about 3.7 years.

But the biggest helping of blame goes to the arrangements of the road and runway to one another, and/or the road signage. Why a faded "STOP" painted on the road where it's easy to miss? Why not a large sign next to the road that says "STOP" and "Yield to Aircraft" or something like that?

I don't understand the process for establishing signage around airports for messy property arrangements like this one. I assume the FAA regulates the airport, and mandated the 400' displaced threshold, because they could not control the road signage?

By the way, I love the interchange on the video:

Airport manager to driver: "Why'd you pull out in front of an airplane?"

Driver: "We didn't pull out in front of an airplane!!"

[N201MKTurbo]

Give the pilot a break! He was a student pilot, he's not suposed to be perfect.

How many of you were taught, in ground school, to look out for cars on short final?

I'm just glad nobody got hurt.

BTW there is no shortage of stupid SUV drivers, I'm sure I'll find a few today...

Also... I bet that pilot will never hit another car on final again, he learned that lesson!

[FloridaMan]

I fault the driver on this one. Driver did not stop at the stop mark. Driver was familiar with the airport. From the left seat of that 172, even if the pilot were looking out the right window, I doubt that SUV would have been visible. Skyhawks love to float once they get in ground effect and are a piece of cake to hold off with a shaved cunt hair's worth of power.