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Prayer request for Dargo's father, injured in light plane crash

Av8r3400

Gone Flyin'
First all my best to your dad for a full recovery.

I have been involved several times in crash recoveries and responses. What you did- removing combustibles and ignition sources are step one and two always. Don't let the Feds snow you. You did perfect.
 

Doc

Bottoms Up
Staff member
GOLD Site Supporter
Dang Brent. So sorry to hear all that about your dad. Damn. That is horrible.
Good thoughts and prayers on the way my friend. I'm still in a bit of shock from reading all this. I have been without power and still catching up on what all I missed.
Best wishes.
 

jimbo

Bronze Member
GOLD Site Supporter
I think today is the day I get to meet with the FAA. It's my understanding that I broke some rules by removing my father from a downed aircraft, removing the fuel tank, removing the battery and physically ripping parts of the aircraft apart to get to him. Since I've been working on one of my rent houses, I had a 36 volt DeWalt saws all in my truck and, once I removed any fire danger, I was liberal in the use of cutting away whatever I had to.

I'll take any fee, fine or other punishment if that is what it takes. And, to be honest, I'd do the same thing again. I'm sure I'm probably wrong, but it is my impression that you can see what has been cut away vs what has been bent and twisted. The plane was (it's no longer a flying machine) a 'pusher' type, with the prop in the rear and mounted high up. Apparently, as per training, when there is a violent vibration, my father shut off the engine. Nothing in the cockpit has been touched and the engine power switch was in the off position, the throttle was pulled back to idle and the "emergency button" (I don't know what it's really called, but you push it if you are unable to radio for help and a crash is imminent, was pressed.

I tried to crop the photo on my cell phone since I don't know how to do so on a Mac, and I think the cause of the crash is reasonably clear. I'm told that the piece missing from the prop made a thin slice through the right wing and cleanly sliced the control cables inside that wing. Sorry I'm not a pilot and am not using proper aviation verbiage, but I think you get the idea. The only consolation is that it makes my dad feel better when he knows it wasn't pilot error and he was told Chuck Yeager could not have landed that plane with only 250' of altitude with no power or controls.

What are you supposed to do? Wait for the FAA to get there? Removing the fire hazard(s), and then getting the people out sounds like good advice.

The cause of the crash seems to me like an issue for another day.
 

muleman

Gone But Not Forgotten
GOLD Site Supporter
Good to hear. Hope he can get used to the restricted mobility. It sounds like he is a fighter if he made it this far.:flowers:
 

EastTexFrank

Well-known member
GOLD Site Supporter
Brent, I thought I had replied to this earlier but can't find it.

It's good news that your dad is out of ICU. I hope the news keeps on getting better and better. :clap::clap:
 

Dargo

Like a bad penny...
GOLD Site Supporter
Great news this morning. Tests show all internal organs are beginning to function!! :thumb: A mobile (and removable) clam shell is being made right now and the goal is to get him to walk 500 feet and be able to do a #1 and #2 in the restroom. He's progressed so much that, if he can do that, they said he could go home as early as tonight and just have visiting nurses come to his home! With that news, he has become a real :boxing: and said "Get me some tennis balls for that walker and we're going to walk 500 feet this morning!!

Again, thanks to all. I apologize I've been mostly absent, but I've been kept rather busy.
 

Dargo

Like a bad penny...
GOLD Site Supporter
I have around a hundred pictures of his airplane I took with the FAA people, but this one pretty well gives you the idea. His plane wings were about 6'6 off the ground as was the top of the fuselage. Here is his plane on my trailer as I was given my truck and trailer back. This was taken when I was coming out the of the cornfield with his airplane. You can clearly see the fuel tank sitting next to what is left of the airplane because I had (illegally?) removed it upon arriving at the crash site.
 

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Rusty Shackleford

Automotive M.D.
SUPER Site Supporter
Great news this morning. Tests show all internal organs are beginning to function!! :thumb: A mobile (and removable) clam shell is being made right now and the goal is to get him to walk 500 feet and be able to do a #1 and #2 in the restroom. He's progressed so much that, if he can do that, they said he could go home as early as tonight and just have visiting nurses come to his home! With that news, he has become a real :boxing: and said "Get me some tennis balls for that walker and we're going to walk 500 feet this morning!!

Again, thanks to all. I apologize I've been mostly absent, but I've been kept rather busy.

:clap: Very glad to hear this, bud :smile:
 

muleman

Gone But Not Forgotten
GOLD Site Supporter
That is great news. He will just have to be careful but it beats being cooped up in a hospital.:clap:
 

Doc

Bottoms Up
Staff member
GOLD Site Supporter
Congrats Brent!!!!!!!! :clap: :clap: :clap:
I'm sure that news totally invigorated him and the entire family. Awesome.
 

Dargo

Like a bad penny...
GOLD Site Supporter
I just wanted to update this a bit. Obviously I'm a "daddy's boy" as noted by my absence since his accident. The official cause of the crash was a catastrophic airframe failure that caused the entire rear half of the aircraft break free and only be attached by the cables running through it. It swung straight up since it broke all of it's rivits and went into the spinning propeller. There was no defect in the propeller except it couldn't cut the airframe in half. Needless to say, nobody can fly an aircraft with no propeller and no tail. It was physics (and the man above) who made the plane fall in a completely flat spin into that cornfield. The flat spin was the best possible scenario for scrubbing off speed towards earth. The tail simply dangled above and stuck into the earth behind the aircraft, broken section first.

That explains why there is zero damage to the actual tail and zero damage to the nose of the aircraft. It was completely flat with no prop spinning as it fell from the sky. I'm told over 90% of those sort of failures result in fatalities. For my father to already be home from the hospital and totally expected to make a full recovery defies all odds; but I'll take that exception! There is some FAA stuff yet to be done since a new factory build aircraft is not supposed to break in half on a calm day climbing at only 50% of it's rated climb rate.

I cannot express how much I appreciate all the kind words and prayers. As of now he's not even complaining about the "turtle shell" he has to wear for roughly 4 months until the bone grafts take. The screws and brackets in his back are as strong as they are going to get. It's just the bone grafts from his hip that need no movement so they take and hopefully keep him with a mostly normal range of movement in his back. The surgeon is a pilot and has been for almost 30 years. He said that my father looks to come out the best, by far, out of all the crash victims he has handled over the decades. I can't ask for a better prognosis than that. :thumb:
 

bczoom

Super Moderator
Staff member
GOLD Site Supporter
OUTSTANDING NEWS BRENT!!! So glad to hear.

When you get the time or if the results are found, let us know what caused the airframe failure. What does the mfgr have to say?
 

pirate_girl

legendary ⚓
GOLD Site Supporter
The surgeon is a pilot and has been for almost 30 years. He said that my father looks to come out the best, by far, out of all the crash victims he has handled over the decades. I can't ask for a better prognosis than that. :thumb:
Holy Toledo!!
Nope, I'd say any worries you may have had can now be put to rest!
GREAT NEWS!!:biggrin:
 

muleman

Gone But Not Forgotten
GOLD Site Supporter
That is great news. Just don't pull a Dargo and help him get his body armor off. It takes time to heal old bones.:flowers:
 

Av8r3400

Gone Flyin'
Glad to hear the good news Brent. All my best to your dad's continuing success.


(can you tell us what kind of plane it was?)
 

Dargo

Like a bad penny...
GOLD Site Supporter
I thought I'd post an update to my father's plane crash.

Physically he has recovered far better than any physician or surgeon treating him expected. As of about an hour ago, he is officially 'released' from the hospital. He's been home for around a week, but pretty well had a nurse there all the time. After a thorough examination and series of physical tests administered today, they determined that medically he is well enough to finish his recovery on his own, just going in once a week or so for testing of how his physical therapy is progressing. :clap: However, he does have at least 2 more months of wearing his half body cast. I have a feeling it will get on his nerves before then.

I want to express a heartfelt and sincere 'thank you' for all who have expressed kind comments. I really appreciate it. To answer one question, the plane was a "Hawk" brand (I'm told they are very good) and defective pop rivets connecting the tail section of the frame (just a 6" aluminum tube) failed and the tail broke off. I'm told aircraft are very difficult to control with no tail section. I have no idea if the FAA will pursue that issue with the manufacturer or not. I suppose that's their call. Right now my father is just happy to be alive.
 

nixon

Boned
GOLD Site Supporter
That's great news !!! I hope he continues to recover ,and is back to 100% in short order.
 
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