I lost a flight instructor

[MarcoAviator]

One of my flight instructor died in a plane crash on Saturday.

His name was Endrew.

I flew my plane to Linden Saturday morning to get it checked by the mechanic there.

While waiting for the mechanic I step into the school to talk to Endrew.

Endrew was an instructor at Linden. I knew him. He was one of my instructors back in the time of my student pilot days.

We chatted and shot some BS about airplane stuff ... we were going over an IFR approach plate he tried on Flight Simulator that he claimed was really risky and he asked me why.

As usual he got the answer (because of a localizer backcourse missed approach) and I didn't. He was always looking into things, details and nitpicking on the right way to do things.

We chatted a while then I left to take care of business.

This was Saturday morning.

he was a very nice guy. You couldn't piss him off if you spat on him. He was always polite and funny. He was sharp and he was the kind of CFI that would make you laugh at your own mistakes in the cockpit, feel good about it and always remember the right thing to do.

he left a year ago for the airlines, then came back to the schoole because he was bored there.

They paid him like crap and all he was doing is stare at the autopilot for the whole day.

So he decided to get back into GA ... and just be a CFII ... and just teach.

Saturday afternoon he took a plane up in NY on Coney Island. The engine gave out and the plane crashed killing all 4 on board. Including him.

I am sorry to bring this up here ... this is a scary story but I feel i need to talk about it ... I don't want to keep it bottled up.

I am a pilot. Endrew was a pilot. We are trained to face emergencies. An engine failure is an emergency but many engine failures end up with the plane being re-usable and the pilot walking away cussing up a storm about insurance premiums.

Not this time.

I just can't believe I was talking to him that same morning. It feels unreal.

I am sad for him, his family and friends.

[MarcoAviator]

Marco, I'm truly sorry to hear about your friend. I saw the story about that crash on the news this weekend. I never imagined that the pilot might someone that one of us knew.

Neither did I. I even saw his name in the news and thought "Do I know this guy?" until a common friend called me to tell me that Endrew was on that plane, and that it was really him.

[spleisher]

Marco.. sorry to hear about the loss...

We'll have to wait and see what the report brings up... COuld have been more than an engine failure that caused that...

That's a shame.. but it does happen. We just lost a long-time CFI at the lakeland airport a few months back. That was in a skymaster...

Bummer.... :(

Scott

[Passenger Mark]

Marco... So sorry to hear this. I saw the story as well on Fox News.

This stuff never makes sense... you just have to hold your head high... and move forward!

[Lynda]

Marco,



Sorry to hear your bad news:grouphug:

[MarcoAviator]

thanks guys ...

... I am a bit surprised how much this shook me up yesterday.

Doing better today though.

[spleisher]

Marco... this always shakes up us pilot-types... It'a possiblity you are taught to expect when you fly, but not on eyou expect to deal with first hand. Hang in there...

[WillFlyToDisney]

Hugs, Marco. Losing someone in an air disaster when you already have a FOF really shakes you up. I will bet that your friend would want you to keep on flying! :grouphug:


Kelley

[MarcoAviator]

thanks folks. Thanks for listening. I appreciate it.

Ironically this sad event has not affected my FOF.

I have been shaken up because I honestly liked the guy.

As for my FOF, as a passenger ... well ... airliners are not Cessnas 172S that fly at low level over Coney Island beach. You won't see a 737 do that. So I am not any more scared of flying in an airliner than I was before (and I am still terrified of airliners, regardless).

As for my FOF as a pilot that's still non existent. Somehow I keep thinking that if it had been me it might have ended differently.

If I found myself with a dead engine at 700 feet (or whatever altitude he was at) I wouldn't panic and say "Oh my God, this is the same situation Endrew died in" I would say "Ok, I have a problem. What do I do to fix it?" and work towards getting the plane to the ground to minimize impact forces and damage.

Again, the tragedy of all this is that an engine failure is not the most dangerous of emergencies. All you have to do is fly the plane to the ground. Tragically, a sandy beach is the ideal to guarantee survival if you manouver the plane on as flat a trajectory as possible.

The problem is that for some reason ... it didn't work for him.

But this is probably very situational to the plane he was flying, the fuel on board, the weight of the passengers, wind conditions, speed at the time of engine loss, etc. Any one of those variables missing, and he could have made it.

Regardless the techincal aspects of all this ... after a few days I see my fears unchanged and unaffected.

In my life I lost only another friend ... and he died after a long fight with a disease. It was sad but expected.

This on the other hand was a punch in the face. I was talking to him on Saturday morning and on that same day ... he was gone. I still keep shaking my head in disbelief ...

[jesgooch]

how short life is.

I never thought I would watch my husband take his last breath at the age of 38, get diagnosed with thyroid cancer one month later and 4 months later be selling my house, moving everything into storage and be planning a whole new way of life.

I am so sorry to hear about your pilot friend.

:hug: