Bob- I just fly in my dreams now, except for airliners.
I was wondering if the airliner crossing in front of Harrison Ford's flight path added to the confusion. If he is expecting side-by-side runways (20L and 20R) and he is thinking the 20L runway is the one on the right and the taxiway is 20L, then the crossing airliner would be blocking his view of the 20L runway numbers (that he thought were on the end of the taxiway). It is still a pretty big screw-up for an experienced pilot to make though. Plus, Runway 20R is twice as long as Runway 20L (5701 feet versus 2887 feet) and twice as wide (150 feet versus 75 feet), so he should have seen Runway 20R clearly from the air from quite a distance aas he approached the airport. . Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
agree that his confusion of which runway to use is of greater concern than the proximity of other aircraft... he was landing at a very busy airport with many aircraft moving around happened to see him make appearances on a few late night talk shows... he left, the impression that he was in a fog... (had his head where it doesn't shine )... his demeanor was less than crisp / slow... even if he was goofing around, made me wonder if he was all there
FAA may not have a chance to ground him. Calista hates his flying and after the crash she wanted to ground him then.
Did he even land on the taxiway or on some sort of no-mans-land? I can't tell what that piece of concrete between the taxiway and 20L is...anyone know? (refer to the pic in post #28 above)
I have flown the Husky that a friend airline pilot owns and they are a great little airplane. He flies in the mountains with his and operates out of strips that are something like 560 ft. and 5340 ft. in altitude and he doesn't have the ridiculous tundra wheels on it. I wondered why Ford has those ugly things on his Husky.
Again, I've been in KSNA lots of times. The taxiway is basically part of the ramp. It's a big mistake, not only because of the potential harm, but because I think it would be really difficult for a competent pilot to confuse the two.
Did he land on the taxi way or on that "middle ground" between the taxi way and the runway? (See the pic above) is that even paved? It looks darker than the taxiway and has what to me anyways some funny hard to understand markings). To be clear, please don't interpret my questions as any attempt to defend his screwup. I'm just curious what that is and if that's where he landed.
My guess that the forward visability in that plane is crap on approach. Pair it with 70+ year old eyesight there you have it. Cut him some slack I say...we've all made mistakes. He should consider having a CFI with him from now on as a second set of eyes and $200 hamburger company.
He has a ranch in Wyoming or Montana. Maybe he uses it up there. It makes more sense up there than flying around LA.
It's a couple of miles south of Jackson, WY. He keeps some of his planes and helicopter in Driggs, Idaho. The Husky factory is up there and I'm surprised he had that plane down in LA.
OK, found that one... Bonanza. He was landing, got a large gust and departed the runway. Very minor damage to the aircraft, I read. Not trying to check you, just trying to find out.
I was trying to find a list of Ford's owned aircraft... Only partial one I've found so far calls his Recruit as a Biplane and his Citation Sovereign as a 'turboprop'. It's sort of a 'Hollywood' look article. I know he has a DH Beaver, several Cessnas... helicopter...
I live near Kenmore Air and I often go down there and snoop around. It's a friendly place and I enjoy what they are doing on the Beaver hulks that they collect to refurbish. I was inspecting a very nice green and yellow Beaver that they were finishing and noticed that everything on it was spanking new, top of the line comm. and nav equip., and an engine with brand new jugs and what looked like a brand new prop. I asked where they got the unused jugs and they said ,"In boxes from all over the country." After looking at the rest of the plane all I could see was a ton of money and asked who the heck could afford all that and the answer, " Harrison Ford."
Harrison Ford's passion for flying has seen him amass huge collection of aircraft | Daily Mail Online Neat story here. For us old guys, says he was 52 when he took his first lesson. I wonder who's maintaining his aircraft if this is correct. Loose engine apart causes engine to stop, improperly installed shoulder harness adds to injury. Harrison Ford Plane Crash Was Caused by Loose Engine Part: Investigation He sounds like a well grounded celebrity, something that is uncommon as some of you may have witnessed last night. Not I.... Harrison Ford and flying: A brief history
I like the one where he requested to land long at Cabo and then landed short and slowly taxied his taildragger the full 10,000 ft. causing controllers to turn airliner traffic. As told to us(and a few more about him) by the Cabo Tower controller who sat with us on a flight to LAX.
This just in. No suspension, no fine: Harrison Ford Won't be Fined After Incident with Passenger Plane at Airport - NBC News