CAP Pilot Killed in crash

[scooter]

Apparently we lost a 74 year old CAP pilot either last night or the night before in Naples. He was in a 172 trying to update his night currency. Sad story and unnecessary loss of life.  Sorry, I lost the link.

[Stonewall]

Pilot killed in Goodland crash not qualified to use instruments
By RYAN MILLS

Originally published 02:50 p.m., December 29, 2008
Updated 03:34 p.m., December 29, 2008

The pilot of a single-engine Cessna airplane who was killed in a crash near Goodland on Dec. 17 was not qualified to fly using only his aircraft's instruments, though conditions the night of the crash would have required him to do so, according to a preliminary crash report released today by the National Transportation Safety Board.

Before the crash, Benjamin Arthur Simpson Sr., 74, a member of the Naples Civil Air Patrol, told a witness at the Naples Municipal Airport that he was going flying on night recurrence training, according to the report.

Pilots who want to carry passengers at night need to have completed three night take-offs and landings in the previous 90 days, said Al Russo, a flight instructor with the Naples-based RexAir Flight & Maintenance Center.

"He might have just wanted to go out there and practice to stay current," Russo said.

Around 7:40 p.m., while Simpson was flying south in the pitch black sky over Goodland, residents on the ground reported hearing the plane's engine increase in rpm, followed by a bang. Two witnesses told the safety board that they saw the plane "nose-dive" toward the ground.

The Cessna 172, which was rented from the Naples Air Center, Inc., crashed into about 5 feet of water on a tidal mud-flat just off of Coon Key. The day after the crash investigators said they weren't aware of any distress signal.

The plane had been operated for about 20 hours since its most recent 100-hour inspection, which was performed five days before the crash.

Simpson reported 812 hours of total flight experience on his most recent application for a Federal Aviation Administration third-class medical certificate, which was issued April 16, 2008, the safety board reported.

However, he did not possess an instrument rating.

"You do not need an instrument rating to fly at night. You need an instrument rating to fly in instrument meteorological conditions," said safety board spokesman Peter Knudson, referring to conditions when there are no outside visual cues.

Night visual meteorological conditions prevailed the night of the crash. But according to the report, a Collier County Sheriff's Office helicopter pilot who responded to the scene soon after the crash reported that it was "very dark" with "no visual reference to a horizon looking out towards the Gulf of Mexico."

The lack of visual cues with the naked eye would have required navigation via aircraft instrumentation, the Sheriff's Office pilot reported.

"The only thing that works, the only one of your senses that works in the air to tell you what's up and what's down, is your vision," Russo said. "Unless you have a visual reference on the horizon, you may as well be in instrument metrological conditions, even though you're in visual meteorological conditions."

Investigators were able to recover "all major portions of the airplane," which were transported to a hanger for examination. The cockpit and instrument panel were completely destroyed.

According to fueling records, before the crash the Cessna 172 was topped off with about 20 gallons of fuel earlier in day. The Naples Air Center reported that the plane had been flown on two flights for 2.9 hours after the refueling and prior to the accident, the NTSB reported.

Russo said a Cessna 172 holds over 50 gallons of fuel and burns about 10 gallons an hour.

"The chances are there was no problem with the airplane," Russo said.

A final report is expected to be released in six months to a year.

[Stonewall]

GOODLAND — The Collier County Sheriff's Office has identified the victim in Wednesday's plane crash as 74-year-old Benjamin Arthur Simpson of 126 Burnt Pine Drive in Naples.

Ted Soliday, the executive director of the Naples Airport Authority, said this afternoon that he believes the Cessna 172 that crashed Wednesday night near Goodland initially took off from the Naples Municipal Airport.

"We can't seem to have an absolute confirmation of anything yet," Soliday said. "It's our understanding it came from the Naples Air Center, which would have been here."

Soliday said his staff is checking the airport's fuel to make sure there is nothing wrong with it.

Simpson's son-in-law, William Curry, who lives in California, described Simpson as an avid church-goer and a great guy who was loved in the community. Simpson's wife died in the past year, Curry said, and his son and two daughters live in other states.

Simpson was a member of the Civil Air Patrol, and enjoyed volunteering at local nursing homes playing music.

"He was a business owner in Washington D.C. for many years," Curry said. "He retired and went south to Florida like so many do. He was an experienced pilot. He had been flying for 40 years."

Curry said that Simpson moved to Naples about five years ago after selling his gas station, which was near the U.S. Capital.

"He flew regularly, like multiple times a week," Curry said. "We would always call and he would be going flying, getting back or talking about it."

Simpson was planning on spending the holidays with his son in Northern Virginia, Curry said.

"He's going to be truly missed," Curry said.

[Eclipse]

http://www.mysuncoast.com/Global/story.asp?S=9548527

http://www.news-press.com/article/20081219/NEWS0119/812190358/1075

Thoughts to the family...

[Timbo]

very sad. 

[Stonewall]

Blue Skies and Fair Winds.

[N Harmon]

 

[maverik]

Always a sad and tragic thing when a pilot crashes though it is a learning experience. I give my condolences.

[wingnut55]

God Bless Him

[Smokey]

Godspeed

[Duke Dillio]

God Bless him and his family.