All
← Back to Squawk list
1 dead, 2 injured after small plane crashes near Palo Alto Airport
A pilot killed in a plane crash Tuesday afternoon near Palo Alto Airport was volunteering his time with a nonprofit that provides free, nonemergency air travel for children and adults with serious medical conditions. (www.msn.com) More...
Sort type: [Top] [Newest]
Thats sad. It was an angel flight.
The pilot was W. John Spencer, 66 year old retiree from the City of San Jose, retired Commander in the Navy Reserve, who spent dozens of months volunteering for missions in the Middle East.
Absolutely heart breaking
Irritating to post an accident with no knowledge of the details .
Really sad and hard to understand how this could have happened, guess he let his airspeed get too low and stalled/spun in on the go-around. It's not a difficult airport to land at, even if unfamiliar, so I am really mystified.
It's also always possible that one of the passengers did something unexpected, or perhaps he retracted his flaps too quickly or something. I'll be interested in reading the NTSB report on this.
It's also always possible that one of the passengers did something unexpected, or perhaps he retracted his flaps too quickly or something. I'll be interested in reading the NTSB report on this.
I think it will say loss of power, and that the airplane was under his control when it hit. Someone once said, "if you know you are going to crash, fly it as far into the crash as possible". The airframe is upright, essentially intact, And, no fire. There was no stall/spin! The wing is clean, no flaps, as could be expected in a go around. I say "could" because flaps approach could be appropriate as well that close in. A Mooney is a "pilots" airplane and many on this site don't really "get" what that means these days. This may or may not apply to you. Dead movie stars in real cars might be a good parable. (Paul Walker) The pilots bio. and limited details of the accident tell me he was a semi-pro and two people survived because of that fact. Sadly, he didn't. My condolences and best regards to the family.
So, did you read the NTSB report yet?
