Plane crash?

[ken_sylvania]

We do know owned that plane, right?

Are you implying something sketchy about the plane owner, or suggesting maybe the plane that went down wasn't the one we think it was?

I think if you have something to say, you ought to say it outright rather than hinting, suggesting and implying.

[steve-in-kville]

We do know owned that plane, right?

Are you implying something sketchy about the plane owner, or suggesting maybe the plane that went down wasn't the one we think it was?

I think if you have something to say, you ought to say it outright rather than hinting, suggesting and implying.

Not really suggesting anything. He must have known the pilot to let them use the plane. Why drive all the way up here to fly out of Myerstown? Lancaster co. has airports, too

[ken_sylvania]

We do know owned that plane, right?

Are you implying something sketchy about the plane owner, or suggesting maybe the plane that went down wasn't the one we think it was?

I think if you have something to say, you ought to say it outright rather than hinting, suggesting and implying.

Not really suggesting anything. He must have known the pilot to let them use the plane. Why drive all the way up here to fly out of Myerstown? Lancaster co. has airports, too

OK, sorry, I guess I took you wrong. Rod Martin was one of the owners of the plane.

[Josh]

Not really suggesting anything. He must have known the pilot to let them use the plane. Why drive all the way up here to fly out of Myerstown? Lancaster co. has airports, too

Wasn't the plane based out of Myerstown? It's pretty expensive to fly from there down to Lancaster just to save an hour of driving.

[Sliceitup]

I dare you to!
Not sure if I can put it into words, but contributing factors include the tone of Katz's analysis (for instance, maybe Rod didn't have instrument skills, maybe he did - just because he didn't have the rating doesn't automatically mean no skill, I think he relies too heavily on the ADS-B data from Flightaware without knowing exactly what instruments were on the plane and how the data was being collected for ADS-B. There's a reason it takes NTSB longer than just a couple weeks to determine probable cause, and it's not because they're lazy.) combined with that little phrase toward the end of the article saying they tried calling Rod's widow and she didn't return their message. I know that's part of the news business and all, but I still think it's rude to call bereaved family like that just to pry for information.

Rod did not have an instrument rating, and he most certainly was not instrument flying proficient. Quite a high percentage of instrument rated pilots are not instrument proficient. Most instrument pilots in that airplane would not choose to fly the flight path he did. I'm not quite clear why whether he had an instrument rating or not seems to be so important. I don't think we will ever be able to proof whether he was IMC or not. But the chain of events that lead to this accident certainly started before he was in IMC.

Could you elaborate more on why most pilots wouldn’t choose the flight path that Rod did?

[Grace]

We do know owned that plane, right? Not trying to be disrespectful to the families but stuff seems a bit off....

Owned by Skyhawk Associates of Myerstown, Pennsylvania.

https://www.wvpublic.org/government/202 ... t-virginia

https://opencorporates.com/companies/us_pa/2881506

Galen Martin owns Skyhawk Associates
https://www.martinaccounting.org/

My understanding is that Galen Martin does not own Skyhawk Associates. His office is the address of record for the LLC but he's not one of the members.

I am sorry if I gave wrong information. I went back and looked and, yes the company, has the same registered address as Galen Martin.

[electro-wiz]

Could you elaborate more on why most pilots wouldn’t choose the flight path that Rod did?

The radar map at the time of the accident shows the gap between the 2 cells that he attempted to go between to be about 3 miles wide. FAA says, stay 5 -20 miles away from thunderstorms. There is no way that even the lower end of this would have been possible. If you look at the wider area radar map he would have been able to stay south of the storm, and turn north to his destination after getting past the end. It would possibly have added 15 minutes to his flight, but would have been the safer option.

[electro-wiz]

Take this map of his route. The magenta line is a straight line from his departure to his destination. The green line is his flight path.
https://ibb.co/541jpGB

[Sliceitup]

Could you elaborate more on why most pilots wouldn’t choose the flight path that Rod did?

The radar map at the time of the accident shows the gap between the 2 cells that he attempted to go between to be about 3 miles wide. FAA says, stay 5 -20 miles away from thunderstorms. There is no way that even the lower end of this would have been possible. If you look at the wider area radar map he would have been able to stay south of the storm, and turn north to his destination after getting past the end. It would possibly have added 15 minutes to his flight, but would have been the safer option.

Thanks for the explanation and map. Is there a reason why he would have taken a risk like that? Did they have a specific time they needed to be back?

[electro-wiz]

I have no idea. I don't have any inside information on this. I only have interest in it because a friend knew one of the passengers, and I'm a Mennonite, and a pilot, and have about the same flight time the pilot had etc.

But I don't think anyone ever becomes a pilot because they want to get somewhere slow...