The NTSB says the pilot of a Stinson 108 “lifted a wheel” to avoid hitting a turtle moments before the plane crashed off the end of a runway at Sugar Valley Airport in Farmington, North Carolina, on June 3. The crash and fire killed him and a passenger and severely injured another passenger. The preliminary report did not say the runway maneuver contributed to the crash. The aircraft crashed about 250 feet off the end of the runway and caught fire.
The report said the aircraft was in the pattern when a UNICOM operator on the ground saw the turtle and warned the Stinson pilot. The pilot continued his approach and landed about 1400 feet down the 2424-foot runway. A worker mowing grass said he saw the right main gear lift to clear the turtle and he saw “the wings rock back and forth” before he heard power being applied. He and the radio operator both lost sight of the plane as it took off and went behind a hangar before they both heard the crash and saw the smoke plume.
God bless and grant restful peace to this Stinson pilot for “lifting a wheel”. Automobile drivers should be so sensitive but that’s probably too much to hope for.
What he did was, of course, wrong. This is like what my cousin did when driving a car one time. He swerved to avoid a very small object on the highway and rolled his car multiple times. My cousin walked away unhurt, but the idea is the same— better to plow over the small object than swerve in a fast moving vehicle and crash. I had more than one pilot get excited about birds near the runway. Sparrow-sized birds. One guy yanked tge Cessna 172 upward, stall horn on, to avoid the little birs, the other guy, on short final, exclaimed loudly “BIRDS!” when we were on short final. In a jet. As we taxiird in, I told him to not ever do that—shout, basically, about sparrows. “Why did you do that?” I asked him. He said one time he was flying and they hit a bird and then later they saw a mark on the airplane. Augh!!
You should be willing to bury a hatchet in your head before you hit a turtle driving anything. It’s the right logic for our society today. Save the turtles, kill the humans…
Lets see what the plane does after hitting a large turtle on a grass or paved runway. These things are heavy and hard. The obviously botched go-around is what puzzles me. Why continue the approach? Why not avoid the turtle to either side? Why a go-around?
Years ago in Quebec young woman was convicted of a serious crime after a driver did not stop for her stationary car on a highway so was injured - she had stopped to shoo ducks or such out of her path.
Yesterday north of Victoria BC a driver stopped when s/he saw a dead otter on side of highway. Bang! Bang! Bang! …
If you touch down a Stinson about 1400 feet down a 2424-foot runway, you already have a problem.
One lucky turtle… One unskilled pilot.
I think I would have asked the Unicom operator, if he was not too busy, to walk out on the runway and remove the turtle.
I agree, landing long and an attempted go around caused the accident not the turtle.
Can’t stop in 1,000. feet?
(Side note, AvWeb’s photo does not look like a Stinson 108..
Stinson 108 - Wikipedia
What a horrible outcome. Most pilots I think would try to avoid hitting the turtle, deer, coyotes, pets, birds and such. Possible loss of control must be uppermost when attempting something like this we can all agree. The key here is to be hard wired for a go-around when things don’t look right or you’re warned of an issue. Hindsight is 20-20 but this can present itself to any of us with little or no notice. A sad and sobering situation.
Agree A.J. If I read the preliminary report correctly this pilot took off downwind with a 5 knot penalty then came around to land with the same 5 knot tailwind on a 2400 ft. runway. Why?
Yep, it would. I don’t want to get killed because another driver came in my lane to avoid a turtle.
“Can’t stop in 1,000. feet?”
If you can’t set a Stinson down in the first 2/3rds of a 2400’ runway… you just may end up 250’ past the end in a ball or fire.
ArthurJFoyt:
You skated past what I said.
I did not say it was wise, a possibility is laziness - less time taxying.
“less time taxying.”
If you still have enough speed to lift the aircraft off a of main wheel with the ailerons that far down a runway, the so-called pilot was just along for the ride. But you are correct, he did exceed published stopping distances when he did stop.