"It Hasn't Been A Good Couple Of Days"
Federal investigators,
and those who fly out of Hayward Executive Airport (HWD) near San
Francisco, are asking the same questions in the aftermath of a
sadly curious string of accidents this weekend.
At the top of that list of questions is this: how did an
airplane that was involved in a prop-strike Sunday -- which killed
a 74-year-old man -- manage to make in out to the flight line later
that day, only to then crash into a nearby golf course Sunday
afternoon?
The online newspaper InsideBayArea.com reports David Herrington
exited a Cessna 210 Centurion (file photo of type, below) Sunday
afternoon at the airport, when he was somehow "clipped" by the
still-spinning propeller.
FAA spokesman Mike Fergus says it is standard -- and mandatory
-- procedure for any aircraft that has been involved in a prop
strike to be inspected by a mechanic before returning to service,
as the engine's crankshaft or other internal components may be
damaged from the encounter.
Somehow, however -- and investigators are trying to ascertain
how this happened -- the Centurion returned to the air less than
four hours after the accident, with the same pilot at the
controls.
Robert Hughes Franklin wasn't in the air very long, however --
as the plane went down shortly after takeoff, and crashed onto a
fairway at the nearby Skywest Golf Course. Witnesses say the plane
only made it to about 200 feet AGL, before unspecified engine
trouble brought the plane down.
Franklin -- who owns Aerial Services, a banner-towing company --
escaped serious injury in the accident -- but the C210 was not so
fortunate. A pilot who flew over the accident scene said the
plane's wings were sheared off by trees on the golf course.
"It hasn't been a good couple of days," Franklin told reporters
Monday. He did not comment further on the accidents.
Now, investigators and airport workers alike are trying to
figure out how -- and why -- the accidents happened.
"We are all in shock," said KHWD airport manager Brent Shiner.
"When you get a call about an incident and it was the same plane
that we had just been out for, it was very disheartening."
"We haven't had very many incidents at all [at the airport],"
Shiner continued. "We haven't had a fatality in I don't know how
long."
The NTSB is expected to release its preliminary reports on the
accidents by the end of the week.