Pilot JUMPS from airplane without a parachute !?

[Steve Davis]

This doesn't fit anywhere else on the forums and I know a LOT of you out there are also PILOTS as well as racers. I stumbled across this while looking at a tennis video on YouTube.

It answers a lot of questions I had when I saw the news report ~2 weeks ago (July 31) about a pilot jumping.. or FALLING from an airplane .. with only 2 people on board .. until there was only 1. I watched the video of the plane landing and just could NOT get a hold of what was going on. The news reporters were making stupid statements with ZERO information about what actually happened. The news was sorely lacking in all areas ..
1). It was not "just" an airplane - it was a PARACHUTE JUMP PLANE.
2). BOTH people on board were PILOTS - one was flying as co-pilot.
3). The plane LOST the right side landing gear during a 'heavy landing' causing a go-around.. at which time the pilots realized they had lost the right side landing gear. It wasn't clear if the 'landing' part CAUSED the gear to leave the plane .. but they did get later confirmation from someone that the landing gear WAS on the ground back at the airport... alas... too late for the co-pilot that was apparently attempting to verify that the right side gear was indeed missing .. or broken.
4). They DIVERTED to the Raleigh airport because they KNEW there was a problem and wanted the support of the larger airport and runway (rather than the small/short runway at the jumping airport - most likely not even a control tower at all) for the upcoming landing sans one wheel.
5). The pilot that landed the airplane was "injured" during the landing. I'm certain that he was not seriously injured (as evidenced by the video), but had a 'broken heart' as he knew (or guessed) what had happened to the co-pilot - best to NOT face news media at a time like that.

I also found a link to the actual AUDIO between the pilot and ground control in an article at
https://www.flyingmag.com/co-pilots-departure-of-aircraft-in-mid-flight-baffles-authorities/
.. starts about 11 minutes into the audio recording ... but the audio seems to have been CUT about the time the plane came into the Raleigh airspace. Could be MY browser; the early audio is there (LOTS of dead air since it's 'live'), but the last 15 minutes or so just ZIP by in milliseconds.

This 'youtube guy' has researched as much info as was available shortly after the incident. It still leaves some issues 'unverified', but indicates pretty clearly (at least in my mind) what actually happened and why and how the co-pilot left the plane. It also led me to some other links that showed how the co-pilot's body was located. If it hadn't been for the NEWS report (such as it was), he might have never been found.

Check it out at
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JBh2IQPwc8o

Steve, FV80

[Rick Kirchner]

speculation on some of the other aviation forums is that he jumped because he was afraid of burning to death in the crash. Evidently this happens more times than you'd think.

[BeerBudgetRacing]

speculation on some of the other aviation forums is that he jumped because he was afraid of burning to death in the crash. Evidently this happens more times than you'd think.

For a gear up landing? Darwin at work.

Frankly I would have raised the other gear.
I never did a gear up landing but my brother has.
Said it was smooth. Noisy and expensive, but smooth.

But then again, they did break off one ....

[TimH]

One of the best C5A instructor pilots reportedly got crossed up doing touch-and-gos and nobody realized the gear was up at the end until they noticed how much throttle was needed to taxi...

[Steve Davis]

...Frankly I would have raised the other gear.

This craft was FIXED GEAR... not retractable.

[Steve Davis]

...nobody realized the gear was up at the end until they noticed how much throttle was needed to taxi...

The joy of having nearly INFINITE POWER...
Steve, FV80

[BeerBudgetRacing]

This craft was FIXED GEAR... not retractable.

Which begs the question: How the hell did they break the other one off without a crash.!

[Rick Kirchner]

From the pics I saw, it was issing the wheel/tire/brake assy. The strut was still there, so it probably cracked the spindle.

[Steve Davis]

From the pics I saw, it was issing the wheel/tire/brake assy. The strut was still there, so it probably cracked the spindle.

As the plane landed .. it did look like there was a 'strut' for the gear. However, on closer inspection of the similar model in the video, I believe the wheel assembly is built directly into the chassis fuselage - therefore no 'strut' - but I concur that a broken spindle seems likely. I don't know the weight/capacity of the plane, but would have thought from just looking at it that the wheel assembly might have been supported from both inner/outer ends of the wheel shaft .. maybe not...Nope. I just looked at the big and clear picture from the 'flying mag' link and it clearly shows a short strut attached to the fuselage and only support on the inner side - so Rick's conjecture seems right to me.


Steve, FV80

[Hardingfv32]

The aircraft is a Casa C-212. It is considered the best skydiving serves aircraft available because of its rear door arrangement. The tricycle landing gear is not retractable.

As explained in the video if the crew wanted to examine the landing gear they would have to use the rear door/ramp and hang out the side of the opening to get a view of the landing gear. The side doors are always in place when using the openable rear door. Proper procedure is for anyone in the cargo area the either be tied in/on or have a parachute when the door is open. The copilot disregarded this requirement and paid the price. The rear of any plane amplifies the normal buffeting during flight. In all likely hood the co-pilot lost grip/position while on the door trying to look outside.

Disregard too many flight rules and it will catch up to you.

Brian

[jrh3]

speculation on some of the other aviation forums is that he jumped because he was afraid of burning to death in the crash. Evidently this happens more times than you'd think.

Copilot probably tore the gear off with first attempt at landing. He knew our friends at the FAA were going to burn him.

[DaveW]

The aircraft is a Casa C-212. It is considered the best skydiving serves aircraft available because of its rear door arrangement. The tricycle landing gear is not retractable.

As explained in the video if the crew wanted to examine the landing gear they would have to use the rear door/ramp and hang out the side of the opening to get a view of the landing gear. The side doors are always in place when using the openable rear door. Proper procedure is for anyone in the cargo area the either be tied in/on or have a parachute when the door is open. The copilot disregarded this requirement and paid the price. The rear of any plane amplifies the normal buffeting during flight. In all likely hood the co-pilot lost grip/position while on the door trying to look outside.

Disregard too many flight rules and it will catch up to you.

Brian

That was my 1st thought - that he was leaning out a door to inspect the damage, lost his grip and fell.

[Rick Kirchner]

I thought the pilot reported that the deuce just ran out the back. You'd think if he was told to go check the damage we'd have heard that by now.

[E1pix]

Copilot probably tore the gear off with first attempt at landing. He knew our friends at the FAA were going to burn him.

Only if maintenance records showed that the owner or responsible operator was behind on scheduled landing gear service, or visual proof or witnessing(s) showed a botched or rushed landing — meaning, serious pilot error.
(Edit: I did see a reference to “hard landing”)

What a sad deal. I wonder how much time elapsed between deciding to take a look and falling out, if that’s indeed what happened.

Also have to wonder if a sudden lift or drop occurred, my wife was a stew for 17 years and hit the ceiling several times.

If he thought strapping in took more time than was available, for whatever reason, it’s easy to imagine how this could happen.

It’s also easy to wonder if the arrogance of youth got in the way, something I’ve witnessed more than enough of on the rocks, and in the mountains.

Regardless, these things can happen to any of us. Fly in Peace.

[grapefarmeral]

Any time an aircraft is flying jumpers, both pilot and copilot (if one is required) must wear a parachute as well as any passengers observing. A lot of jump pilots I've met will try to put the airplane on the ground in relatively one piece rather than jump.

[Steve Davis]

Any time an aircraft is flying jumpers, both pilot and copilot (if one is required) must wear a parachute as well as any passengers observing. A lot of jump pilots I've met will try to put the airplane on the ground in relatively one piece rather than jump.

I would guess that if that same plane does NOT have (pre-planned) 'jumpers', then the parachute requirement is nullified.

Although not stated, my thought (no detail provided that I can find so far) is that the co-pilot was 'new' to the team.. and the PILOT was demonstrating the normal 'jump flight pattern' to the new guy. That's based on the fact that the airnav data provided showed a flight path that left the original airport and proceeded to the 'jump area' . . made another loop of ~the same .. and then went back to the original airport .. apparently to shoot a couple of 'T&G's .. one of which was bungled. I cannot conceive of any descriptive situation for ANYONE to have voluntarily 'left the plane' after that aborted T&G.

I also cannot imagine a situation where a PILOT would JUMP from a fully functional airplane excepting for some damage to ONE of the landing gear. A ROUGH landing would certainly be in the cards, but a deadly one would be a ways out there in most cases I would think... unless the plane was ALREADY ON FIRE.

This co-pilot had a LOT of air time and professional flying ratings.... just hard to believe he would PANIC in this relatively simple incident.

I guess we'll NEVER really know what happened.
Steve

[Dee]

guys a pro pilot for 53 yrs this kid didn't jump he did not follow protocol and fell to this death. plan and simple.

[grapefarmeral]

Just talked to a friend that’s a jump pilot. Parachutes are not required when flying without jumpers unless the door is open. If the ramp was down they both should have been wearing chutes..

[Rick Kirchner]

I went back and read the originals. EVERY one repeated the pilots assertion that the guy "ran out the back of the plane". Only one speculated he was trying to see the gear.

Yes- the preceding TAG was "hard".

Guess we'll have to wait for the FAA to say what they think happened.

https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zon...ear-fort-bragg