Disputes Reports Fuel Tanks Ran Dry
As the FAA and
NTSB continue to investigate Sunday's emergency landing of a Piper
Warrior on a busy Chicago expressway, the flight instructor aboard
that aircraft says he's sure he had enough fuel on board. That
contradicts reports that the aircraft departed Schaumburg Regional
Airport with empty tanks.
CFI John Vashko, a 35-year veteran pilot, says he thinks a
mechanical fault forced him to land on the Elgin-O'Hare Expressway
Sunday. The aircraft ended up on its roof, its wing impacting a
light pole as it slid down the eastbound lanes of the
expressway.
Neither Vashko nor his student, Casey Mattuck, was seriously
hurt in the mishap.
Vashko says he looked hard for a place to put down -- eventually
deciding on the expressway rather than an empty field.
"There was really no place else to go. A hard surface is much
better. I really didn’t want to land out in a field, even if
I could. You flip over, who’s going to be there?" Vashko told
the Chicago Sun-Times.
"Usually, when an airplane crashes it kills everybody," Vashko
added. "I kept the airplane flying... I didn't stall it. I didn't
spin it. I didn't lose control of the airplane until I hit the
pole."
As Aero-News noted Monday,
Vashko initially declined to comment on the accident -- leaving
that up to his very relieved, and awe-struck student. The
63-year-old instructor broke his silence, however, after reports
cropped up the Warrior (file photo of type, below) ran out of
fuel.
Vashko says that wasn't the case. He told the Tribune he had the
plane gassed up first thing in the morning, giving it five hours'
worth of fuel. He then flew for an hour with another student. For
Mattuck's lesson, he still had four hours of fuel left, he told the
paper.
"I don't want to have anybody think I crashed an airplane
because it ran out of fuel," he said. "I don't want to have a
reputation of being that stupid."
Northwest Aviation owner Mark Clements backed his instructor up,
also saying the plane had plenty of fuel.
Vashko told the paper it was clear almost immediately after
takeoff the aircraft wasn't climbing like it should have, and that
both men decided to head back to the airport. It was at that time
the engine quit, restarted once on its own and then gave out
permanently.
Of his 18-year old student, Vashko says you couldn't have asked
for a better one. He says Mattuck kept his cool, even after the
plane came to rest upside down, and he kicked out the plane's door
so Vashko could escape.
"I was scared to death. I was afraid I was going to burn up,"
Vashko said. "I said, 'Get me out of here!' and he dragged me out.
Gotta love the kid."
Vashko says he has no idea what caused the engine to stall...
but he expects the FAA will pin the blame on him.
"The FAA doesn't know [what caused the engine to quit]. They'll
make up something, because they got to," he said.
** Report
created 2/22/2006 Record 4
IDENTIFICATION
Regis#: 4328D
Make/Model: PA28 Description: PA-28
CHEROKEE, ARROW, WARRIOR, ACHER, D
Date: 02/19/2006 Time: 2221
Event Type: Accident Highest Injury:
None Mid Air: N Missing:
N
Damage: Substantial
LOCATION
City: SCHAUMBURG State: IL Country:
US
DESCRIPTION
AIRCRAFT DEVELOPED ENGINE TROUBLE, RETURNED TO AIRPORT. ON
LANDING THE TAIL
SECTION STRUCK A TREE CAUSING A WING TO IMPACT A LIGHT POLE,
SCHAUMBURG, IL
INJURY DATA Total
Fatal: 0
# Crew: 1 Fat:
0 Ser:
0 Min:
0 Unk: 1
# Pass: 2 Fat:
0 Ser:
0 Min:
0 Unk: 2
# Grnd:
Fat: 0 Ser:
0 Min:
0 Unk: 3
WEATHER: VFR
OTHER DATA
Activity: Unknown Phase:
Landing Operation: General
Aviation
Departed:
UNK
Dep Date: 02/18/2006 Dep. Time: 2221
Destination:
UNK
Flt Plan: NONE Wx
Briefing: Y
Last Radio Cont: UNK
Last Clearance: UNK
FAA FSDO: WEST CHICAGO, IL
(GL03)
Entry date: 02/21/2006
ANN's Daily Aero-Linx (04.15.24)
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