Beaver, 152 Collide: Two Lost
A student pilot and his instructor were killed Thursday when
their Cessna 150 collided with a DeHavilland Beaver float plane on
approach to the airport in Renton, WA. The four people on board the
Beaver survived as the pilot made what witnesses called a
remarkable landing, considering the damage to his floats.
"We were flying flat and level, and he passed under us and hit
us. I saw it on impact," Lee McEachron, a passenger on board the
DeHavilland, told the Seattle Post-Intelligencer. "It's an awful
sound. You're at 1,000 feet, and your first thought is, 'We're
going to crash,' and the second thought was, 'We're still
flying.'"
Witnesses said the Cessna appeared to have just taken off from
Renton.
"It appeared the little Cessna was making a little circle. It
wasn't that far up. It must have been taking off. They always take
off and circle Kennydale," Jim Blundred told the Seattle paper.
"What I saw was the little plane clip the seaplane, not very much,
only a little. And then it just went straight down. Boom. I mean,
straight down."
The Cessna crashed into an empty school house, killing both
people on board. The Beaver, its floats askew, made it back to
Renton Municipal Airport where pilot Fred Barh put it down in the
grass alongside the runway.
"They were off the plane, all five of them, lickety-split," one
witness told the Post-Intelligencer. "It's a smooth landing given
the circumstances. (Pilot Fred Bahr) did a great job. That thing
could have cartwheeled pretty easily."
The NTSB is investigating.
FAA Preliminary Accident Report
IDENTIFICATION
Regis#: 66234
Make/Model: C150 Description: 150,
A150, Commuter, Aerobat
Date: 08/05/2005 Time: 0045
Event Type: Accident Highest Injury:
Fatal Mid Air: Y
Missing:
Damage: Destroyed
LOCATION
City: RENTON State: WA Country:
US
DESCRIPTION
N741DB, A DEHAVILLAND BEAVER DHC-2 ACFT AND N66234, A CESSNA
150M ACFT
COLLIDED OVER THE RENTON MUNICIPAL AIRPORT, THE CESSNA
CRASHED INTO A
NEARBY SCHOOL BUILDING AND THE BEAVER WAS ABLE TO RETURN TO
THE AIRPORT AND
LAND IN A GRASSY AREA, THE TWO PERSONS ON BOARD THE CESSNA
WERE FATALLY
INJURED, DAMAGE TO THE CESSNA WAS DESTROYED, DAMAGE TO THE
BEAVER WAS
SUBSTANTIAL, RENTON, WA
INJURY DATA Total
Fatal: 2
# Crew: 2 Fat:
2 Ser:
0 Min:
0 Unk:
# Pass: 0 Fat:
0 Ser:
0 Min:
0 Unk:
# Grnd:
Fat: 0 Ser:
0 Min:
0 Unk:
WEATHER: NOT REPORTED
OTHER DATA
FAA FSDO: SEATTLE, WA
(NM01)
Entry date: 08/05/2005