Michigan basketball recruit injured, parents killed in plane crash

Don't sell the NCAA short on its dunderheadedness.

 

Have to agree with smalltownguy here. Planes crash for a lot of reasons, not just because of pilot error.

I feel for the kid. I hope he gets better and gets the treatment I'm assuming he'll need after surviving two horrific plane crashes.

 

Update from the Petoskey News, which is close to the accident site.

Witnesses say there was definitely engine trouble as you could hear it cutting in and out before it crashed.

Witness reports are toward the end of the story.

http://www.petoskeynews.com/news/pnr-plane-crashes-into-charlevoix-residence-20110624,0,6485814.story

 

where to begin... utterly insane correlation.

but i'll just say this: if the pilot's love of flying is such that he opts to continue to fly a plane after one crash, god bless him. but when the first incident costs the lives of family members, it is BEYOND ANYTHING I WILL EVER COMPREHEND how he continues to put his family members on board with him ever again.

just nuts.

 

Agree with you 100%, Shockey. Unfathomable.

 

I think the difference is that flying your own plane is seen as a luxury as opposed to a convenience. One of my buddies is learning how to become a pilot, and it seems like an incredibly expensive thing to learn. If you're into it, you're probably doing it as a hobby, and seems bizarre or flagrant hubris to do it after killing a couple loved ones in a crash.

Also, there is a certain mundane nature to any car trip. Pretty much everyone has been involved in a car crash, either as a driver or a passenger, but this is balanced by thousands of trips where nothing has happened. How many times is the average person going to fly? Five to 10 times? I think this is part of the reason why people freak out so much about plane crashes and air travel.

 

More details from the 2003 plane crash. The one the father/pilot blamed on "equipment failure."

Even beyond all the moral issues here, I am wondering, if the NTSB report is accurate, why did he still have a license?

http://www.detnews.com/article/20110627/METRO/106270391/1361/In-first-crash-involving-U-M-recruit--plane-ran-out-of-fuel

 

Crashes/forced landings are not uncommon in small planes.

But in the first instance the dad was was flying his family in poor weather at nigh.

Making sure that you have more than enough fuel to get where you're going is the 1 or 2 most important things you check before taking off in a small plane.

I can't imagine how he could ever fly a family member again.