Re: Pilot Rescued After Plane Crash In Sequoia National Park

On Tuesday, September 16th, rangers participated in the successful rescue of a 67-year-old man from San Jose whose plane crashed in a remote area of Sequoia National Park. The plane was reported missing when it failed to arrive as scheduled in Lone Pine, California, on Monday afternoon. The park was notified around 3 a.m. on Tuesday morning that a transponder signal had been traced to the Forgotten Canyon area of Sequoia National Park. At approximately 9 a.m., the wreckage was spotted near Funston Lake by the Civil Air Patrol and visual contact was made with the pilot. The park helicopter was used to insert a parkmedic and investigators at the crash site. The pilot was treated and transported to the Ash Mountain helibase, where he was transferred to a waiting SkyLife air ambulance and flown to an area hospital.

The National Park Service is coordinating the investigation into the cause of the crash with the National Transportation Safety Board and Federal Aviation Administration. The California Office of Emergency Services and Tulare County also assisted with this search and rescue operation.

WOW was he lucky! I have no idea where one could land a plane there without disintegrating it.

Yea--I'm interested to know what happened. My friend owns/flys a small four-seat plane that is equipped with a large parachute. I'm wondering if this plane was similarly equipped.

The TV news last night showed him and the plane on the bed of a dried-up lake/reservoir....

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wherever
The TV news last night showed him and the plane on the bed of a dried-up lake/reservoir....

Well, at least that's ONE silver lining (for the pilot, at any rate) to the drought.

The Sequoia & King's Canyon is saying that the plane landed NEAR Funston Lake. My guess is that it didn't land in a lake bed. Looking at the NBC video and pics on web and satellite pics it looks like he could have landed just NE of Funston.

http://www.nps.gov/seki/parknews/20140916_news_release.htm

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Max
The Sequoia & King's Canyon is saying that the plane landed NEAR Funston Lake. My guess is that it didn't land in a lake bed. Looking at the NBC video and pics on web and satellite pics it looks like he could have landed just NE of Funston.

http://www.nps.gov/seki/parknews/20140916_news_release.htm

Yes, that comment about the lake bed came from a TV news teaser, and didn't appear in the actual report. It's more of a rocky meadow, I guess...



from link

Interesting that he landed about 12 miles due south from the most direct flight paths to Lone Pine from San Jose. Wonder which pass he was aiming to fly over. Cottonwood Pass, perhaps?

.

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wherever

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Max
The Sequoia & King's Canyon is saying that the plane landed NEAR Funston Lake. My guess is that it didn't land in a lake bed. Looking at the NBC video and pics on web and satellite pics it looks like he could have landed just NE of Funston.

http://www.nps.gov/seki/parknews/20140916_news_release.htm

Yes, that comment about the lake bed came from a TV news teaser, and didn't appear in the actual report. It's more of a rocky meadow, I guess...



from link

Actually, it was not on a dried lake bed, but was just above the high water mark of a steam that comes out of a high pass. It is upstream of Funston Lake. I located the spot on Google Earth and put a plane icon there. You can confirm that it is the same location as the plane photo by observing the two groups of smaller rocks up the hill from the one that the plane is next to. Of course, the shadows and the viewing angle are a bit different.



In this Google Earth photo, you can see Mount Whitney (W) off to the north, and Funston Lake a short distance from the plane.



If that was a dead-stick landing, the guy could have done a lot worse. On the unlucky side, he came very close to clearing the sierra crest and failed.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/18/2014 09:55PM by wherever.

Wonder if he's an Alaskan? With the amount of rocks there to dodge, his STOL skills must be insane, or he used up the rest of his luck in life.

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tanngrisnir3
Wonder if he's an Alaskan? With the amount of rocks there to dodge, his STOL skills must be insane, or he used up the rest of his luck in life.

The plane looks like a Piper Cherokee. In any event, during an emergency landing a pilot using full flaps can put a small plane like that down in a relatively short distance at around 40 knots or slightly less. Once on the ground the brakes can be used to their fullest; burning them out is not a priority concern given the situation. I agree that the rocks were his greatest hazard to deal with. I'm sure he bent a few things. As a former pilot I think he did a remarkable job putting it down safely with the terrain available to him. He probably had plenty of altitude under him at the time he realized an emergency landing was necessary. In ideal conditions a plane like that can achieve up to a mile of glide for each 1,000' of altitude above ground level. This gives a pilot adequate time to pick and choose what is likely the best location and direction to set it down. At that high altitude I'm sure he had a bit less glide ability but he made the most of what he had.
In this case it looks like the insurance company will incur the greatest pain!

Now the question is, what happens to the plane?

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tanngrisnir3
Now the question is, what happens to the plane?

It's in a national park, so every bit will be hauled. Maybe helicoptered out in one piece or in many....

TV interview of pilot and video of crash site.


http://www.ktvu.com/news/news/local/saratoga-pilot-crashes-plane-lives-tell-survival-s/nhRk9/?__federated=1