Kobe Bryant and daughter killed in helicopter crash

[DJ's left nut]

Originally Posted by O.city

We have a family member that is one of the private Pilots for the Walmart execs. He flies them all over the world

He talks about how underprepared people always are for what they get into flying wise

Exactly.

It takes maybe a dozen flight hours to be able to fly in ideal conditions. Even landings aren't that tough (and take-offs are a day 2 thing).

But so many private pilots just aren't prepared for adversity. And really, the difference between redundancies on commercial craft vs. private are so enormous.

Flight's simple - lift + velocity. Wings and a motor = flying. Flight surfaces are laughably rudimentary; just redirecting air to steer. So stuff like ultralights are as simple (in many ways more simple) than an economy car.

Commercial craft have the long-term viability chuck hundreds of thousands of dollars in redundancy into and they easily pay for themselves. But to make a commercially viable private aircraft that has those kinds of backup systems is prohibitively expensive for most.

And frankly on a helicopter it's just borderline impossible. Think of how many of those tend to go down in war due to mechanical difficulties. They're just so damn complicated that any kind of system failure is borderline catastrophic.

Like I said - I'm surprised this doesn't happen more often more than anything. It's an inherently dangerous activity.

[Rain Man]

Originally Posted by DaFace

Commercial air flight is incredibly safe. Private air flight is...not. Seems like we have at least a plane per year go down here in Colorado. The air currents in the mountains are unpredictable and take down people who aren't experienced enough to handle it.

If you have trouble, it's notably more risky to go from one engine to zero than it is to go from two engines to one.

Plus, I figure pilot experience is probably a big differentiator.

[Buehler445]

Originally Posted by Rain Man

If you have trouble, it's notably more risky to go from one engine to zero than it is to go from two engines to one.

Plus, I figure pilot experience is probably a big differentiator.

You're right on the hours. It takes far more hours to get licensed for a twin engine than a single.

However, engine failure isn't necessarily easier than single. Especially takeoff and landing. That engine is contributing a hell of a lot of thrust and when that goes away, especially suddenly, it can cause a spin, which is a bitch to get out of with one engine. What the pilot has to do is feather the prop, which is to disengage the prop from the motor so it can spin, then you have to rudder the **** out of the thing to get it straight.

If you're close to the ground it can get hairy in a hurry. If you lose it in a single engine and there is no place to land you're ****ed in epic proportions. But managing the aircraft is far easier.

[Prison Bitch]

Originally Posted by DJ's left nut

My firm had a plane for a couple of years. About a half-dozen of us were getting pilots licenses, etc...

I was a solo trip and a few solo landings from qualifying when a friend of a partner crashed his plane and barely survived. After some discussion we all came to the same conclusion - it isn't really 'if', it's 'when' and how badly. We sold it and all parties walked away.

In a lot of ways I'm surprised this doesn't happen more often. You wanna know why flying cars aren't a thing that's likely to happen in several lifetimes? There's your answer.

Flying is a constant fight against physics and it takes so very little for tragedy to strike. If you're lucky you walk away but more often than not you don't.

Flying isn’t, but taking off and landing is

[Frosty]

Originally Posted by MahiMike

Wow crazy. So many celebrities die in aircraft crashes. Stevie Ray Vaughan, Buddy Holly, Payne Stewart...

RIP

Patsy Cline, Randy Rhodes....

Originally Posted by DJ's left nut

My firm had a plane for a couple of years. About a half-dozen of us were getting pilots licenses, etc...

I was a solo trip and a few solo landings from qualifying when a friend of a partner crashed his plane and barely survived. After some discussion we all came to the same conclusion - it isn't really 'if', it's 'when' and how badly. We sold it and all parties walked away.

In a lot of ways I'm surprised this doesn't happen more often. You wanna know why flying cars aren't a thing that's likely to happen in several lifetimes? There's your answer.

Flying is a constant fight against physics and it takes so very little for tragedy to strike. If you're lucky you walk away but more often than not you don't.

The guy I've worked with for the last 25 years has his pilot license and owns a Cessna 182. He has used it for years to go out to some of our remote job sites. The plane was built in 1967 and it terrifies me to ride in it. I know that they keep up on the maintenance but you can bet some of the innards are really getting up there in age and stress.

He doesn't fly as much now but still goes out 5-6 times a year. He's also 67 now so I have a pretty serious "No Fly" policy.

[DJ's left nut]

Originally Posted by Frosty

The guy I've worked with for the last 25 years has his pilot license and owns a Cessna 182. He has used it for years to go out to some of our remote job sites. The plane was built in 1967 and it terrifies me to ride in it. I know that they keep up on the maintenance but you can bet some of the innards are really getting up there in age and stress.

He doesn't fly as much now but still goes out 5-6 times a year. He's also 67 now so I have a pretty serious "No Fly" policy.

Ours was a 172 w/ an engine conversion to give it the guts of a 182. And yeah, built in the late 60s, early 70s.

I never felt unsafe on it; we didn't **** around with safety or maintenance. Any flight that might encounter weather was just scrubbed and the hearing continued. But I had an instructor who put us through some adversity paces and do shit like surreptitiously kill the motor without telling us. And that rattled the hell out of me.

It wasn't hard to convince me to walk away because as comfortable as I am w/ vehicles, I knew I was lying to myself when I'd say I was ready for real adversity. The 'carb heater' trick and the like would just rattle me more than I'd expect.

We wasted all the flight training and took a bath on the sale, but nobody really cared at that point. Someone was going to be killed or seriously injured at some point so it was the right decision. I haven't been on a light aircraft since and really don't expect that I will be again.

Juice just isn't worth the squeeze.

[Rain Man]

Originally Posted by DJ's left nut

Ours was a 172 w/ an engine conversion to give it the guts of a 182. And yeah, built in the late 60s, early 70s.

I never felt unsafe on it; we didn't **** around with safety or maintenance. Any flight that might encounter weather was just scrubbed and the hearing continued. But I had an instructor who put us through some adversity paces and do shit like surreptitiously kill the motor without telling us. And that rattled the hell out of me.

It wasn't hard to convince me to walk away because as comfortable as I am w/ vehicles, I knew I was lying to myself when I'd say I was ready for real adversity. The 'carb heater' trick and the like would just rattle me more than I'd expect.

We wasted all the flight training and took a bath on the sale, but nobody really cared at that point. Someone was going to be killed or seriously injured at some point so it was the right decision. I haven't been on a light aircraft since and really don't expect that I will be again.

Juice just isn't worth the squeeze.

My first job out of college was documenting all the ways a plane could crash. I don't really feel comfortable on single engine things that fly.

Granted, my job assumed that something hostile was hitting the plane, but the cause is irrelevant.

[dj56dt58]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_o...tion_accidents

I dont understand why rich people continue to fly small aircraft..it might be convenient but it seems like its only a matter of time before you go down

[Easy 6]

Originally Posted by MahiMike

Wow crazy. So many celebrities die in aircraft crashes. Stevie Ray Vaughan, Buddy Holly, Payne Stewart...

RIP

That Stewart situation was weird AF, just a plane full of dead people on auto-pilot cruising until it ran outta fuel... thank God it didn’t crash into some neighborhood

[threebag]

Originally Posted by Easy 6

That Stewart situation was weird AF, just a plane full of dead people on auto-pilot cruising until it ran outta fuel... thank God it didn’t crash into some neighborhood

2000 was a rough year on sports figures

[TripleThreat]

Originally Posted by MahiMike

Wow crazy. So many celebrities die in aircraft crashes. Stevie Ray Vaughan, Buddy Holly, Payne Stewart...

RIP

I feel their jobs require them to fly so often, and its considered the safest transportation and its convenient to be in Texas in the morning and California at night

[BWillie]

Originally Posted by MahiMike

Wow crazy. So many celebrities die in aircraft crashes. Stevie Ray Vaughan, Buddy Holly, Payne Stewart...

RIP

So often it's the smaller aircrafts, too. I'd be interested in seeing the data on how much more dangerous smaller aircrafts tend to be than larger commercial.

A couple of times when I was 18 or 19, a friend I went to high school with had his pilots license. One engine airplane. He used to fly us up to a casino in Minnesota because if you flew in they would give you a free buffet and $100 to play. Would never do that today.

[DaFace]

Originally Posted by BWillie

So often it's the smaller aircrafts, too. I'd be interested in seeing the data on how much more dangerous smaller aircrafts tend to be than larger commercial.

A couple of times when I was 18 or 19, a friend I went to high school with had his pilots license. One engine airplane. He used to fly us up to a casino in Minnesota because if you flew in they would give you a free buffet and $100 to play. Would never do that today.

This article is a bit old, but it claims 7 accidents per 100,000 flight hours for general aviation vs. 0.16 for commercial.

https://www.nytimes.com/2014/07/17/o...te-Planes.html

[Baby Lee]

Originally Posted by MahiMike

Wow crazy. So many celebrities die in aircraft crashes. Stevie Ray Vaughan, Buddy Holly, Payne Stewart...

RIP

Reminds me of John Denver.

[comochiefsfan]

This is an incredible reminder of how fleeting life is.

Last night he was tweeting at LeBron, likely not a care in the world. A few hours later, he’s gone.

We could all go at any minute. Cherish the time we have. It could all end in an instant, when we least expect it.

This is really sobering.