Aero-News: Quote of the Day

ANN's Quote of the Day usually derives from current news, though we reserve the right to pick quotes out of history that have a bearing on the day's events and issues.

Sometimes, you'll find them timely and in keeping with the content of the day's news... and sometimes, they'll just be thought-provoking.

Reader suggestions and comments are welcome... and if particularly intriguing, timely, or poignant, may themselves become future Quotes of the Day.

Let us hear from you, folks!

Aero-News Quote of the Day

"The NTSB report is pretty damning... but when you go over all the notes and evidentiary data in a few dozen online files, you find other things to worry about. Why did the pilot state that the accident took place on the first take-off, when it plainly didn't? There were a number of unsuccessful take-off attempts -- which should have clued the pilot onto the fact that there were issues in flying that day. 'The pilot-rated passenger said that it took four takeoff attempts to get airborne and that the airplane felt very sluggish and acted as if it did not want to come off the water.' The passenger stated the pilot said that there was adequate useful load when the findings show otherwise. The Icon A5 is a heavy bird and has little useful load to mess with, and the company pilot (with 120 hours in type) really should have been more attentive to that fact. Worse, still, is the witness report from a boater who reported that when he arrived on scene, right after the accident, that much of the Icon was underwater, and the passenger was still underwater. He said he had to pull the submerged PAX up and out of the water -- presumably to prevent drowning -- so this accident, absent some help from nearby boaters and others, could have been far more tragic. The company needs to take a strong look at its operational procedures, the minimal useful load offered by the aircraft, the anemic performance, and some of the crash survivability issues that appear to be highly problematic with the number and type of sinkings this bird has been involved in. This report, and others, also continue to give me great cause to be concerned about other issues with the company and the airplane... but since it (the company) plainly fears a critical, comprehensive flight review and will not allow one from yours truly, we strongly recommend caution in flying this aircraft or doing business with this company."

Source: These comments were made by ANN CEO and Editor-In-Chief, Jim Campbell, after sorting through dozens of pages of an NTSB final report about an injury-accident that took place last July in yet another of the Icon A5 aircraft that have been involved in so many accidents and incidents in the past few years.

FMI: jim@aero-news.net