derry

Bloody sight easier than flying a glider:lol:

For anybody interested here is a link to a BBC interview with David Henderson the pilot of N264DB in 2015. He gives a tour of that aircraft. It looks like he was operating it since then. https://www.bbc.co.uk>news>my-life-as-a-ferry-pilot That doesn't seem to work. Google David Henderson ferry pilot brings up my life as a ferry pilot BBC news you'll see the link

You'd be nuts any time of the year. Presumably you're a current pilot, EZY or FR? I'm guessing currently Single engine Commercial IFR flights away from land aren't allowed, but Eric says he thinks Turbo prop exempt in certain EU areas but not UK?

If that is a fact it's unbelievable because the aircraft had a 1500 mile range, the flight was 225 miles and there were only two people on board so it was probably light. It may have been engine instrument indications. It will be very interesting as the information drips out especially if the media get a sniff and put a savvy investigator on the case.

It's not uncommon. One year I was hearing complaints from crews about a Czech aircraft being used to position a crew from Margarita Island Venezuela to Barbados. Then came my turn. I briefed the First Officer an ex RAF helicopter pilot and turned him loose on the aircraft. The paperwork and lifejackets were out of date. Luggage was being put on the seats. The emergency exits had no handles and the hold had no tie down points or net. As the BALPA rep I had to approve the aircraft. I reported the aircraft and had it grounded. Then found that there was a DC9 schedule that fitted in nicely at a lot less cost. Later that year the aircraft crashed in Venezuela killing all on board.

That's where I'm getting to. Commercial single engine land planes flights have to be able to force land on land. I found it strange that the aircraft which was pressurised was flying at 5000ft and then descended over Alderney. As I remember you cant fly VFR at night but I'm happy to be corrected. I would have expected an IFR airways based flight at FL100-200 ish. Cardiff City have just announced that they didn't arrange the flight, the player organised it himself. Sounds like a cowboy operation.

That's going to be the million dollar question and how it was arranged and who supplied and operated it. I thought that there was a rule about single engine commercial flights restricting the flight to over land or a very short distance from the coast. Private flights are unrestricted.

Hi Ron, Mike told me on Saturday you and Eric were fine dining.

With further digging it gets even stranger. The company that the aircraft is connected to is called Southern Aircraft Consultancy, Bungay. They describe themselves as the leading UK company to register aircraft in the US. Nowhere is there any mention of an operator of this aircraft although from another site there appears to be a connection to a chiropractor and company in Minnesota US. This just doesn't feel straightforward as it would be if it was a aircraft registered to a French or EU operator alternatively a UK operator. I'll be interested to see what comes out in due course.

I've had a look at the plane. There is something very strange about the operation. Firstly the plane a 1984 Pa46 Malibu 310P was a piston engine aircraft nearly thirty four years old and owned in the US. Why strange? unless the aircraft is leased to either an EU or UK operator and had a current Air Operators Certificate and was being operated professionally in accordance with EU regulations it could be a private arrangement. With such a high value passenger it is unbelievable that he wasn't travelling in a high quality multi engine aircraft. Expensive but reliable. A 34 year old single engine aircraft for at least 150 miles over water just doesn't make sense. The two on board were on the wrong plane at the wrong time. 34 years old and on the US register doesn't make sense. Fatigue due to the age could be a factor bearing in mind the sudden disappearance. The above is just my take on it.

Regular reader but hardly ever posts. Often comments to myself and Weston Saint also a reader rather than a poster now. Very disillusioned with the quality.

They have found pieces of wreckage in the area but haven't yet identified them as being part of the aeroplane.

Much as I would like to, Eric wouldn't thank me.

Hi Bill, The head of the rescue/search has said that the sea is too cold and nobody could have survived this long. In my view unless they managed to get into a dinghy. In the absence of flares and an air search covering 1000 sq miles, unlikely. In 1974 I flew up and down a small piece of the channel at very low level for about five hours looking for a body but never saw a thing.

Yes Eric sits two seats down from me in the Itchen. On another tack the Isle of Wight GA7 accident was G-ECCO. 24th Feb 1985. There were four on board. The pilot, friend in the front, wife and two year old daughter in the rear seats. After the plane stopped it stayed afloat for 60 to 90 secs then sank. The pilot was lucky as the window on his side detached, he got out, the friend handed him the baby then got out himself. The both tried to pull the wife out but the plane sank before they were able. The pilot was unhurt but the other two had injuries. He and the friend were looking at a chart to get a radio beacon frequency when they hit the water. He only had 171 hours flying and 7 on the aircraft. I found the accident report. The other accident I mentioned was in also in Feb 1985. We were never sure whether it was staged as the pilot I think was in legal trouble. Many thought he ditched it and disappeared on purpose. I remember being told at the time in Jersey that the controller thought he was far too cool with his distress call.

It's a great job. You do so much training in simulators that eventually when something does go wrong it is almost routine. Sometimes as a passenger I've only noticed the touchdown after the event because I was engrossed in my book. I will say I would have noticed any strange sound or movement immediately.

The odds are against it but possible. Fixed undercarriages and a high wing are a problem. We used to do dingy drills plus the slides detached and were to be used as well. However I had no illusions about getting 180 tons of an aircraft down on the Atlantic at night let alone getting out and surviving. My pal who posts on here lost all four engines on a 747 over Indonesia in 1982, they got them going again and levelled about 17000ft. Now that was close. Dined out on it ever since.

You really have made a fool of yourself.

Yes, for 37 years. From C150 to B767.

I think that is the one, the pilot was Dave Regi.

Not really, it was made by Grumman but the name was changed to Gulfstream I believe, but we always called it a Grumman Cougar.

It was leased by the then Southampton school of flying at Eastleigh and rented out to twin rated pilots at an hourly rate after a check out. It was a long time ago but I think she was in the back because I think he had a child in the front. She was the only one left in the a/c when it sank.

Yes, a nice little aeroplane, a bit underpowered but at least two engines. The guy who ditched it obviously hadn't done much low flying. The weather was low cloud, Jersey had refused him entry but he took the aircraft anyway for a jolly around the island. The fishbowl effect with no horizon over the sea is disorientating. The safety drill is a tiny bit of backward trim so that if you take your eye off the instruments, visual clues, the aircraft will slowly climb.

In a word yes, nowhere to land firstly, secondly mostly fixed undercarriage, thirdly piston engine, if it fails as they sometimes do you've got to be very lucky. Failure drills are second nature but in the middle of the channel there is only one place to ditch and pray a ship is close by and sees you ditch. doing it right and getting out is another matter. Never at night.

I often flew single engine aircraft over the channel in my early days but never felt comfortable. The a/c was a Piper PA46 Malibu single engine turbo prop which are usually more reliable than piston engines. Getting the aircraft down on water is doable but horrendous at night. A pilot I worked with, an airline captain, ditched a C172 high wing single engine Cessna off Alderney at night and was never seen again. Another pilot hired my pal's Grumman Cougar and low flying off Sandown hit the sea and ditched just off the beach. He got out unhurt, his wife didn't and although a search was made the aircraft was never found. Even if they got down, it's odds on they may have gone straight down. Getting into a dingy at night is almost impossible even if it was inflated. I pray that they survived against all odds.