Pilot In Lake Powell Crash Says He Wasn't 'Skimming' | Aero-News Network
Aero-News Network
RSS icon RSS feed
podcast icon MP3 podcast
Subscribe Aero-News e-mail Newsletter Subscribe

Airborne Unlimited -- Most Recent Daily Episodes

Episode Date

Airborne-Monday

Airborne-Tuesday

Airborne-Wednesday Airborne-Thursday

Airborne-Friday

Airborne On YouTube

Airborne-Unlimited-05.06.24

Airborne-NextGen-04.30.24

Airborne-Unlimited-05.01.24 Airborne-AffordableFlyers--05.02.24

Airborne-Unlimited-05.03.24

Fri, Apr 06, 2007

Pilot In Lake Powell Crash Says He Wasn't 'Skimming'

But Others Continue To Do So, Despite Risks

Skimming... water skiing... or aqua-planing -- with a real, live airplane -- has become famous on the internet since pictures of the Harvard Aerobatics team, lead by Capt. Scully Levine, participated in a "water ski" event where they aqua-planed four Harvards on Klipdrift Dam near Potchefstroom, South Africa.

This stunt may be okay for highly trained aerobatic pilots, under supervised conditions... but not for others. So, when Randy Brooks crashed his Cirrus SR22 into Lake Powell approximately six weeks ago, accusations flew that he had attempted to mimic the Harvards' stunt. Brooks maintains he has never skimmed, and is merely the victim of Internet rumors. In fact, he says he'd never heard of skimming until a federal investigator asked him about it. 

"We were sight-seeing," Brooks said. "I thought I was higher than I was. The water was glassy smooth, I lost depth perception. And we just lit on the water."

As Aero-News reported, the pilot, his brother and famed Olympic wrestler Rulon Gardner survived the February 25 accident.

There is no evidence to back up claims that he was doing anything illegal; skimming would be considered "reckless flying."

But it's clear some pilots do skate their planes on water. In fact, according to local photographer Andre Delgalvis, somebody skimmed Lake Powell just last week. Delgalvis recorded it in his journal at 11:28 last Wednesday morning. Four or five planes roared overhead. Two dropped to the water. One put his wheels in it. No pictures were taken.

"And he went around a curve. And we watched him until he was completely out of sight and his wheels were skating on top of the water. And it was the craziest thing I could imagine," Delgalvis said. "That was the most horrific thing I've seen on this lake as far as people doing just totally stupid things."

Brooks continued to say deliberately skimming his model of aircraft, a Cirrus SR22, would amount to suicide. The Internet suspicions bothered him at first, he says, but now he's getting a thick skin. "I just kind of let it roll off my back. The people that know me -- know me. And that's good enough."

FMI: www.ntsb.gov

Advertisement

More News

ANN's Daily Aero-Term (05.07.24): Hazardous Weather Information

Hazardous Weather Information Summary of significant meteorological information (SIGMET/WS), convective significant meteorological information (convective SIGMET/WST), urgent pilot>[...]

ANN's Daily Aero-Linx (05.07.24)

Aero Linx: The T-6 Racing Association The T-6 Racing Association is all about T-6‘s and racing. Our mission is to bring great racing to our fans in Reno and other venues wher>[...]

Airborne 05.01.24: WACO Kitchen, FAA Reauthorization, World Skydiving Day

Also: Electra Aero, AMO-CBP v Smugglers, Naval King Airs, Boeing Deal To the surprise of everyone involved, Waco Kitchen shut down both airport operations with little warning and h>[...]

Airborne Affordable Flyers 05.02.24: Bobby Bailey, SPRG Report Cards, Skydive!

Also: WACO Kitchen Bails, French SportPlane Mfr to FL, Dynon-Advance Flight Systems, Innovation Preview Bobby Bailey, a bit of a fixture in sport aviation circles for his work with>[...]

Airborne 05.03.24: Advanced Powerplant Solutions, PRA Runway Woes, Drone Racing

Also: Virgin Galactic, B-29 Doc to Allentown, Erickson Fire-Fighters Bought, FAA Reauthorization After dealing with a big letdown after the unexpected decision by Skyreach to disco>[...]

blog comments powered by Disqus



Advertisement

Advertisement

Podcasts

Advertisement

© 2007 - 2024 Web Development & Design by Pauli Systems, LC