Mon, May 23, 2022
Pilotless Airplane Crash Lands Near House Under Construction
During flight training, to demonstrate the inherent stability characteristics that have been designed into most light training aircraft, your certified flight instructor (CFI) would have had you momentarily cease providing control inputs so you can observe for yourself, its tendency to return to a particular attitude of flight.
Earlier this month, the self-flying part was evident when a Bellanca Citabria, a single-engine tail-dragger airplane departed the Schlenker Airport (CFZ3) some 3 miles south of the city of Medicine Hat in Alberta, Canada around 8:30pm and crash landed into a house that was under construction, near the 14th hole of a golf-course in the city of Medicine Hat. The fire-dispatch audio can be accessed on youtube. There was some debate about who would be investigating and whether the scene should be preserved or cleaned up.
The airplane was apparently undergoing maintenance by its owner, and once the engine started, he said “it just took right off”. Other eyewitnesses reported seeing the aircraft circle one of the neighborhoods for almost 20 minutes, low enough for observers to see that no one was at the controls, before it crashed into a mound and came to rest against the house! The airplane owner reached out and apologized to the homeowner. Apparently, the damage was minor, the kids got some selfies and had a cool story to share, but most importantly, no one was injured in the process.
This is almost akin to an episode of Ripleys’ believe it or not! But we digress. The emergency responders rushed to the scene following calls reporting the incident, and the Canadian Transportation Safety Board (TSB) will be investigating.
More News
Hold Procedure A predetermined maneuver which keeps aircraft within a specified airspace while awaiting further clearance from air traffic control. Also used during ground operatio>[...]
Altitude Readout An aircraft’s altitude, transmitted via the Mode C transponder feature, that is visually displayed in 100-foot increments on a radar scope having readout cap>[...]
Aero Linx: European Hang Gliding and Paragliding Union (EHPU) The general aim of the EHPU is to promote and protect hang gliding and paragliding in Europe. In order to achieve this>[...]
Also: Skydio Chief, Uncle Sam Sues, Dash 7 magniX, OR UAS Accelerator US Secretary of the Air Force Frank Kendall was given a turn around the patch in the 'X-62A Variable In-flight>[...]
"The need for innovation at speed and scale is greater than ever. The X-62A VISTA is a crucial platform in our efforts to develop, test and integrate AI, as well as to establish AI>[...]