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Father Killed, Daughter Injured As Plane Crash Lands On Beach « CBS Miami

SARASOTA (CBSMiami/AP) — A man was killed and his daughter was seriously injured when a small plane crash landed near Venice Beach on Florida’s Gulf Coast Sunday.

The two were walking on the sand, authorities said.

Wendy Rose, a spokeswoman for the Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office, said the pilot and his only passenger weren’t hurt when the Piper aircraft lost power and touched down Sunday afternoon near Venice Beach.

“A man and one of his children who were walking on the beach were apparently injured by the plane,” said Rose. She said the Venice airport received a distress call at 2:45 p.m. Sunday that the plane couldn’t make it back to the airport.

“They were contacted by a pilot whose small plane was in distress. He knew he couldn’t make it back to the airport and was going to try to land on the beach. And he did land at the edge of the water on the beach,” Rose added.

She said the girl was airlifted to a children’s hospital where she was apparently in critical condition. The identities of those involved were not immediately released.

Photos and video footage taken at the scene showed the Piper Cherokee, its nose pointed down and nearly touching white sans only feet from a gentle lapping surf. The left wing appeared to extend over the water’s edge. A police boat was anchored nearby and a law enforcement officer stood close by. Bystanders gawked from a distance.

Kathleen Bergen, a spokeswoman for the Federal Aviation Administration, told The Associated Press in an email that the FAA was investigating. She said the plane reportedly lost power and landed on the sand near Caspersen Beach in Venice but she had no further details as of Sunday evening.

National Transportation and Safety Board investigators have headed to the site.

“We don’t know exactly what caused the crash but the NTSB is en route and will investigate,” added Rose, a community affairs manager for the sheriff’s office.

Watch the report, click here.

Yazzoo

2014 is not turning out to be a great year for aviation...new day, new accident

rickair7777

I hope the pilot gets the book thrown at him...if you're landing on the beach and there are people in the way, YOU need to sidestep and land in the water. YOU chose to go flying, not the person walking on the beach. YOU need to incur additional risk to safeguard folks on the ground.

evamodel00

100% agree. It disrespects pilots who have lost their lives due to needing to clear the area of civilians(a number of airshow incidents come to mind).

cardiomd

My first thought exactly. It is not even a taildragger (poor visibility after touchdown in some).

People on the beach -> go into the water. Silent airplanes don't have horns and people would (understandably) probably just freeze in place and not run in the correct fashion even if they had a bit of warning.

For some reason pilots I've talked to have a fear of water landing, even with fixed gear most do not flip over or have that bad an outcome.

SeamusTheHound

Agreed 99%. It is possible that he never saw anybody on the beach, so he thought that the beach was clear and was the safest option for landing. Still, you have to presume that there will be people on a Florida beach during the daytime.

Yazzoo

While I agree somewhat, look at it from another angle. The pilots believed their lives were in danger, and felt they could land on the beach and not harm anyone if they took reasonable precautions. Why should they place the value of someone else's live above that of their own? You are essentially asking them to put themselves at a much higher risk of mortality.

It isn't like he was landing into a huge crowd of people on Venice Beach, it was a man and his son he thought he could avoid. If you look at the airplane, the dent is on the very outside of the wing, indicating the pilot almost missed the man. We weren't there in the cockpit and we don't know why the engine failed. Unless something pops up to show the pilot was grossly negligent, he did what he had to do to get on the ground safely. It is a tragedy that someone died, but you can't honestly ask a pilot in an emergency situation to put himself at much greater risk of dying to save a person walking on the ground...that person walking on the beach assumed just as much risk by leaving his house in the morning as you did taking off in an airplane.

If Sully had hit a father and his son kayaking in the Hudson but saved the lives of everyone onboard, would you have lambasted him as you have this pilot?

IcyAviator

Such a shame, and the news isn't helping. I have always wondered about the number of accidents to the ones that are reported. As we have all seen, the news seems to sensationalize what is "hot" at the time. Are will truly having more accidents collectively or are just the high profile ones bringing out the need to report the smaller ones?

Either way, so far as someone else mentioned, 2014 hasn't been too great

Adlerdriver

Wow. I'm almost speechless. That's a pretty warped, selfish view of one's personal responsibility operating a vehicle (or just operating through life). So, it's every man for himself?

This pilot took on the responsibility for his own life when he took off. He doesn't get the luxury of taking out whoever he pleases to save himself. So, yeah, he has to place other's lives above his own. That's exactly what is asked of any pilot in an emergency situation.

Leaving your house for a walk isn't the same risk as taking off in an airplane. Walking on the beach isn't the same as walking on the edge of a busy highway. People wear reflectors, walk against traffic and keep their eyes out because they know there's a risk. Walking on a beach, with waves drowning out sound and having a silent, gliding Piper surprise you isn't even close.

Even if Sully took out a kayaker, it wouldn't be a one for one swap. At least he was saving everyone on the airplane. If he decided to put his gear down and cut a swath through rush hour traffic on the Garden State Parkway, he probably would have taken some hits.

So, if you're driving and end up having to choose between smacking a tree or plowing into a pedestrian, you win because your life is just as important?

IcyAviator

I don't believe there is a true right or wrong for either side in this. Although, personally I believe that someone going on a walk has far more risks than someone flying an aircraft; just many more ways to get killed (e.g. car running into them, lightning, animal attack, bike hitting them, etc.). It is almost like comparing aircraft accidents to car accidents, apples and oranges.

I'm with you though on believing that there shouldn't be greater importance on either persons life. Life is important for each and every person in my mind. Again, no real easy way to cut this.