Pilot Crashed in Maple Ridge

I've decided I need to get a little more "world aware". So, this morning, instead of wasting time on the usual social networking sites, I figured I'd check out the CBC news website instead. There was little of interest to me, or very little I wanted to be interested in. It seems the news propagates only fear (swine flu epidemic) and negativity (young baby stabbed by father) and I just didn't want to let it pull me down on an already miserable Monday morning. So, I clicked on the BC site, hoping there was a little more positivity in my local province.

Now, a plane crash in itself probably isn't very positive, but it was something that affected me directly, in the fact that the story detailed the crashing of a piston-engined 2-seater aircraft. Hmm, I thought to myself, it's probably something I should read about seeing as that could easily be a story about myself, or, I would read it so I would know exactly how not to make it a story about myself. Unfortunately, the article left much to be desired, as these types of articles usually do. It simply stated that the pilot crashed into a golf-course and sustained some head injuries but survived nonetheless.

Although I was interested in the crash, I didn't want to know simply that the plane crashed and the pilot walked away (well, from my understanding he was carried away as he was semi-conscious when paramedics arrived). I wanted to know what happened and why. Did he simply run out of gas from not checking beforehand? I've heard that is very common and since this is something I have complete control over, I would be able to take from this incident the reminder to always check my fuel before leaving on any flight. Or perhaps deteriorating weather was to blame? Basically, I wanted to know if this was something the pilot could have prevented himself or if it was some kind of a freak accident that came out of the middle of nowhere. Because if he could have stopped it from happening, I feel secure knowing I'll just ensure I take the necessary precautions to prevent something similar from happening to myself. And if it was some freak accident, well, obviously I can't worry about that.

Also, these articles never tell what the pilot was thinking or feeling. Did he panic? Or was he super calm and cool and this was the best he could have done. Does he practice forced landings all the time? What kind of a pilot was he? New? Beginner? Bad? Good? This is what's important to me in any kind of a plane crash article. Why? Because I need to know where I stand and how I might measure up in the same kind of situation. I need to know that perhaps this guy crashed, but he should have checked his fuel, so as long as I do that, I'm safe. Or, I need to know that he crashed because he freaked out in the cockpit and couldn't see properly as he forced his aircraft into a field. Also, I would love to know his detailed pilot report because then I would be able to tell myself that this pilot crashed because he only had a few hours on the plane, and as long as I keep my hours up, I'll be fine. And, I don't know the area he was in. Was there a better field nearby? Or was this the only one he had to go for and he was lucky just to have made it?

When I looked into things further, I learned that the pilot was a 60-year-old male who was flying a homebuilt aircraft that he built in 2000 and has flown all over the country since then. They labeled the cause as engine failure, I think the engine cowling came off. So, I'm not sure you could really label it as a freak accident or not. He was quoted as being very surprised this happened in the first place.

So, what do I take from this? I'm not sure. One, I will check and recheck the screws on my cowling as they tend to come loose and fall out far too often. Two, I will go out and practice some more forced landings, so that when the time comes to put it down, I know that I can do it and hopefully save myself from panicking in the cockpit. Three, I can't really worry about it, can I? Just continue to do what is in my power to prevent accidents and trust that I can handle the situation when it comes. Because if I worry about it, I'll eventually get to the point where I'll be too scare to commit when I am supposed to rotate and become airborne.