Plane collision with tractor

[Popgadget]

Plane photos.

Quebec woman using riding lawnmower struck, killed by landing aircraft

A bizarre accident has claimed the life of a woman in her 20s who was struck and killed by a landing aircraft while she was cutting grass with a riding lawnmower at an airfield north of Montreal.

montreal.ctvnews.ca

Bruce

Thats a Nanchang CJ-6. It’s a Chinese basic trainer.

 

[PILOON]

Thats a Nanchang CJ-6. It’s a Chinese basic trainer.

No wonder I could not identify it. ( Nanchang CJ-6.)

 

[rv7charlie]

The CJ6 & the Yak52, its 'parent' (comparison image here at the 2:36 point), were used in WW2 & later as advanced trainers; popular now in some circles as relatively inexpensive 'warbirds' and for aerobatic flying.

If that news video accurately portrays the position of the mower when it was struck, it looks like the threshold (approach end) of the runway may not be visible until the last moment due to the trees off the end of the runway. I live on a grass runway with multiple other residents. The members rotate runway mowing duties. We're always watching for a/c while we mow (and pull off if a a/c is approaching), and when flying, we overfly and look for 'traffic' on the runway prior to landing. Looks like a tragic combination of issues.

 

[cjoffutt]

When I was a kid, we used to drive by Grissom Air Force Base in Peru, IN. It was called Bunker Hill AFB when I was a kid. There were low flying airplane signs on the US 31 highway on the west end of the field. We saw the aftermath of an incident where a plane crushed in the roof of a Volkswagen Beetle. Yikes!

They still fly awfully low IMO. Low enough the A10 pilots will wave at my kids as we're playing outside most evenings.

 

[MossRoad]

They still fly awfully low IMO. Low enough the A10 pilots will wave at my kids as we're playing outside most evenings.

That would be fun. You ever get them to waggle their wings?

I live near an airport. We had a small 2 seater, maybe a cessna 150 or 152 fly through our yard. He had to pull up to miss the trees in the neighbor's woods. I just cringed until he pulled up, then shook my head and said "Man. Yikes!" . Then called the FAA to report.

 

[MossRoad]

They still fly awfully low IMO. Low enough the A10 pilots will wave at my kids as we're playing outside most evenings.

Are you old enough or been in the area enough to remember the B58s in their hangars along the highway?

 

[cjoffutt]

That would be fun. You ever get them to waggle their wings?

I live near an airport. We had a small 2 seater, maybe a cessna 150 or 152 fly through our yard. He had to pull up to miss the trees in the neighbor's woods. I just cringed until he pulled up, then shook my head and said "Man. Yikes!" . Then called the FAA to report.

Are you old enough or been in the area enough to remember the B58s in their hangars along the highway?

Only in my mid 30's here. But grandfather worked of there for a while for the COE. So I may have seen them at some point but certainly do not recall it. Usually just see UPS/Amazon plans parked out there now. Every once in a while you'll catch Air Force 1 or 2 out there.

But now-a-days, it's just the A10s and the mid-air refueling plans that fly even lower and constantly remind you of just have HUGE they are as they buzz the treeline.

We've had maybe 1 or 2 waggle their wings when we're waking through the field behind the house. House area is decently/heavily wooded so they have to be reallllllly paying attention to catch us looking at them. Always surprises when they do notice us and wave while flying along.

 

[Jchonline]

Was on the road riding my motorsickle one time when a crop duster went over me and dropped some kind of liquid, what I assumed was, insecticide on me. There was a a field on the side of the road. Thought it was tomatoes but not sure.

Anyway, he got me good enough that I had to go back to the house and wash up.

My hero --

View attachment 704964

In TX that would have been a good thing. No Mosquitos for the day!

 

[drizler]

I shared a hangar with one of those yaks . What a big heavy beast. The aluminum in that things front leading edge felt 3x what my Cessna had. it was like the difference between tapping my 2018 Camrays beer can door compared to a 1962 Caddy.
Judging by how mangled that wings front spar is I’m surprised she lasted to the hospital. What I can’t see is how that pilot couldn’t see someone riding a mower right in front of him. It’s right where you need to focus on approach. I wonder if she turned right in front of him. Too bad.

 

[3930dave]

I shared a hangar with one of those yaks . What a big heavy beast. The aluminum in that things front leading edge felt 3x what my Cessna had. it was like the difference between tapping my 2018 Camrays beer can door compared to a 1962 Caddy.
Judging by how mangled that wings front spar is I’m surprised she lasted to the hospital. What I can’t see is how that pilot couldn’t see someone riding a mower right in front of him. It’s right where you need to focus on approach. I wonder if she turned right in front of him. Too bad.

I've pretty much given up on commercial flying, even before Covid.

The act of flying itself doesn't bother me, so the freedom and utility of having a personal plane would interest me..... not in my budget, unfortunately.

Accidents can happen anywhere, but un-controlled airports (I'm meaning no manned tower) are a mixed blessing. My uncle, (now passed on) used to fly into a small airport down East. In the dark, you could sequence the Mic a certain pattern, and it would kick on the airstrip landing lights. Appeals to my Anytime/Anywhere view of transport....

But, this unfortunate accident illustrates the perils of having service vehicles working on the ground, with no tower co-ordination of incoming traffic.

I did see a clip of Harrison Ford's plane not that long ago, when he made an error taxiing IIRC at LAX. Tower's response (close landing by a commercial plane) was effectively no harm/foul, but to his credit, his response was something like "Well, I'm not OK with what I just did, so I'll stop by the tower shortly".

It can happen way too fast.... anywhere.

Rgds, D.

 

[Jstpssng]

un-controlled airports (I'm meaning no manned tower) are a mixed blessing.

They're still looking for a pilot who disappeared in 1972, while delivering a plane from Connecticut to Houlton Maine. He was flying at night by instruments, not realizing that the next transmitter he was looking for wasn't operating. I believe that he went down in the ocean, but his family is still seeking closure so for their sake I hope that somebody finds the wreckage.

 

[Sonny580]

got sprayed in the face here a couple days ago by one of them idiots! Still trying to clean my eyes out----have no clue what he was dumping but he also got my neighbor.
Got part of a video of him but cant find it right now.
also still trying to find out where to report him.

 

[cqaigy2]

Some years ago, I got a load of spray, riding motorcycle next to an orchard.

 

[Diggin It]

I live near an airport. We had a small 2 seater, maybe a cessna 150 or 152 fly through our yard. He had to pull up to miss the trees in the neighbor's woods. I just cringed until he pulled up, then shook my head and said "Man. Yikes!" . Then called the FAA to report.

Somewhere I have a picture of an F-4 doing that .... 50' above ground, then pulled up, parted the pine trees (literally) and kicked it into Burner. Talk about rolling coal.

 

[MossRoad]

I've told this story before, but hey, here it is again...

One cool, damp, foggy evening I was working at the airport. Not much going on. A small Piper Cherokee type plane comes taxiing in out of the fog and pulls up on the ramp. I go out and park him. I walk around the right side of the plane and a woman opens the door and comes out crying. She's got vomit all over her. She reaches in and pulls out two little kids and gets off the wing. The husband (I assume) comes out last. He's white as a sheet and obviously stressed out. I pointed the woman towards the office and told her there's a couch in there, restroom, water, towels, etc. She thanks me and takes the kids off across the ramp. The pilot asks me to tie it down for the night. I tell him OK and I'll be right in to get his information. He heads towards the office and I tie down the right wing. I head around the front of the plane and as I walk towards the center of the left wing, I see a large dent in the leading edge with pine needles sticking out!

I had to call the FAA. They told me to put a chain on the prop and they'd be out in the morning.

Turns out the guy tried to fly under the fog at a smaller airport south of us without an instrument landing system and, well, he chose poorly. Hit some trees near the airport and somehow managed to pull out of them before they grabbed his plane and pulled it out of the sky. He pushed his luck with his family all to save the hassle of having to get a ride home 30 miles and having to come back to pick up his plane on a later date. Yikes!

The plane had to sit in our shop for several weeks and worse, he almost killed his family.

 

[Torvy]

Just in from Ottawa...warning labels now to be placed on tractors advising operators to be aware of low flying aircraft. The families can sue the tractor manufacturer retroactively for failing to foresee this eventuality. I wish this was just a joke, but give it a month and it will be a prediction.

 

[JPRambo]

My dad and uncle were pilots. They were taught in the seabee I beleive in the '40"s.
Uncle John's plane was an old, old, old, tail dragger with no radio. Flying from Long Island to Vermont one weekend (long ago) supposedly circle airfield twice landing the third time around a duster came up under him and they crashed to the ground. Uncle lost right leg from knee down and paralized from waist down.

 

[3930dave]

They're still looking for a pilot who disappeared in 1972, while delivering a plane from Connecticut to Houlton Maine. He was flying at night by instruments, not realizing that the next transmitter he was looking for wasn't operating. I believe that he went down in the ocean, but his family is still seeking closure so for their sake I hope that somebody finds the wreckage.

Even with today's tech, the ocean is a big place...... back in the 90's, I was working for a company doing site work across Canada. The team that was out West was in BC when some unrelated survey work was going on in a local lake.

The survey crew found a totally intact plane, that had been missing for years. Best guess was the pilot got lost in a Winter storm, and tried landing on the lake when low on fuel..... ice didn't hold.

Rgds, D.

 

[3930dave]

got sprayed in the face here a couple days ago by one of them idiots! Still trying to clean my eyes out----have no clue what he was dumping but he also got my neighbor.
Got part of a video of him but cant find it right now.
also still trying to find out where to report him.

Way too much of that reported, just in this tiny thread.

I had a chat a few years back with a former chopper pilot (US Mil), now living in Canada. Did fixed wing work, after he got out, including crop dusting. Described high level university courses he took in Florida (related to spraying), and expressed disgust with what he saw being done later - logs ignored, spraying in high wind conditions etc. Sounds like it only has gone downhill since.

Hope you both recover completely, and are able to report that "pilot". FAA and local ag extension govt office is where I'd start. Even if you don't have tail numbers, I can't imagine it was a random act of spraying....... unless your other neighbour suddenly develops amnesia, he should know who he hired that day.

Rgds, D.

 

[3930dave]

My dad and uncle were pilots. They were taught in the seabee I beleive in the '40"s.
Uncle John's plane was an old, old, old, tail dragger with no radio. Flying from Long Island to Vermont one weekend (long ago) supposedly circle airfield twice landing the third time around a duster came up under him and they crashed to the ground. Uncle lost right leg from knee down and paralized from waist down.

I'm now wondering who has the worst track record, dusters or civilian chopper pilots ? Seems to be a really long list of celebrities who have been killed in chopper crashes.

Should be safer on the ground, but if that was the case, I wouldn't have reason to start this thread .

Rgds, D.