Thread: For Life a Loft

Originally Posted by Eddie Haskell

One guy the needs to quit flying is Jack Roush. He has crashed two planes and lived to tell about both. One was a P51 Mustang. He hit some power lines and ended up in a lake and if it were not for an ex marine he would be dead. Cant remember the other but he crashed in on a runway at least.

For those of you who dont know him he is a team owner in the Nascar racing series and a big Ford aftermarket guru.

He crashed his Hawker Beech Premier (this is business class jet btw) at OSH last year during a simple landing, with no problem wind, visability, or weather issues, and that a student pilot in that type, could have easily made. Planes had landed right before him in a conga line and right after him, with no issues. He basically destroyed a fine aircraft and made a fool of himself infront of thousands of people and he lost the sight in his left eye because of the accident. In 2002, he crashed another plane into a lake (not his P-51, - media reporting error- but an experimental type aircraft mostly used for photography) and almost killed himself that time. Both accidents were found to be caused by pilot error by the NTSB. At OSH, Roush stalled the plane after an aborted landing, and a wingtip hit the ground and spun the plane around and fractured the entire fuselage. In 2002, he hit a power line with his Aircam homebuilt, pitching it talons-up into the water. I am glad he was not killed obviously, but perhaps it's time to at least fly with a competent co-pilot, become more familiar with his aircraft(s), fly smaller more forgiving planes, just give up flying, gain more experience/time, resign himself to the right seat (where he most likely belongs if that (now with no depth perception), or get some instructions/lessons with a check airman or a combo of the aforementioned.

The FAA has said that Roush's 2002 crash has been expunged from his record because it's more than five years old, but they also gave him a warning (not his first either) June 2009, regarding pilot's familiarity with takeoff and landing distance data. Sheesh. Just because you have the money and the time and desire to fly, does not mean that you have the skills, the ability or the talent for it. He's lucky he hasn't killed any innocent people on the ground thus far or any pax. At ALL times and in ALL circumstances, the PIC's number one responsibility is to fly within the limitations of his aircraft. It does not appear that he is capable of doing that. Your schedule, the weather nor ATC, the facility that you are landing into or out of or anything else, controls your aircraft.....you do. And if things go balls up, the number one rule is always to aviate......fly the damn plane no matter what.