IT WAS like a scene out of a movie. A small cargo plane, flying over a busy highway, began losing steam and doing cartwheels in the sky over Florida.
Then it struck a warehouse, clipping its right wing, and crashed into a grassy swale on the side of the road — just metres from oncoming traffic.
The pilot of the fixed-wing twin-engine Beech 18, Robert Robertson, survived, with only minor injuries. The only person on board, Mr Robertson broke his left leg, left arm and nose and has a gash on his forehead.
"It was his lucky day," said witness Stewart McLeod. "The entire front of the plane was gone, and he was left sitting in his seat with his seatbelt on."
Mr Robertson, 34, had taken off from Fort Lauderdale Executive Airport to deliver a plane full of cargo — shoes, clothing, nonperishable items and tyres — to Nassau, Bahamas.
Within minutes he issued a mayday to air traffic control.
"The aircraft wasn't gaining altitude," said a spokeswoman for the Federal Aviation Administration. "Then, it went down."
The 43-year-old plane's cockpit was destroyed in the crash. Fire rescue crews were amazed to find Mr Robertson alive, said sheriff's office spokesman Mike Jachles. "There was no cockpit when they arrived on scene," he said. "He was breathing and conscious. He told the medics the engine cut out on take-off."
Charles Jules, a witness, said: "I was scared half to death. It was the scariest thing I ever saw. I mean it's a plane coming at you … Everyone thought he was dead. He was slumped over not moving. Then he slowly woke up, touched his head. He was disoriented."
MIAMI HERALD


I dont find funny the title of the story
http://www.theage.com.au/news/world/...881835046.html

I saw this on the news last night.. Absolutely amazing......

its true. saw it on the news. Plane crashed and the pilot was just sitting there in his seat. Broken nose, leg, broke a few other things, but they said he would live.

the picture is amazing.

I think the journalist for this story needs to go find new work. The first paragraph was beligerant sensationalism at its finest.

I dont find funny the title of the story
http://www.theage.com.au/news/world/...881835046.html[/quote]


Gee, sounds like good advice to me!! Check your sense of humor.

Gee, sounds like good advice to me!! Check your sense of humor. [/quote]

I dont know, The way I took was that it was being made a mockery of by that statement. But it's all good ( Humor is in Check) English is not my native tongue more like my third language.

Yes, it's true. It happened right off the departure end of Rwy 8 @ FXE. Aircraft landed just shy of shoulder of I-95 SB. This is about 35 miles south of West Palm Beach.


atp

Wow thank god he's ok. I wonder if he'll fly again. The writer didn't do a very good job. I think I could write better and that's saying something.

Interested in knowing if any of you more experienced pilots have "run out of steam" causing you to do "cartwheels in the sky". This would seem to be a VERY serious problem, perhaps one requiring a new thread in the Technical section. Being a dolt, I never even knew a Beech 18 was steam powered and therefore capable of running out of steam - I have only seen R-985 powered models.

Does it ever make you wonder - if the press screws up this badly on something I know a little about, how bad are they screwing up things I know nothing about?

Ha ha, yeah and I guess the hamster wheel backup power didn't kick on either...WTF? Gotta love the ignorance of the press along with their willingness to publish anything. But to most people who read this and don't know anything about airplanes, they probably will picture it as the writer says- just like a scene out of a movie- and figure that's how real life is. Because if some knucklehead writes it on the internet then it must be true.