Son Heroically Deploys Chute When Pilot Incapacitated
Startling and dramatic stories are emerging from friends of
a pilot who ultimately lost his life when a midair medical
emergency rendered him incapable of flying his SR22-GTS (pictured
below).
According to a number of sources within the Cirrus Pilot
community, as well as friends of the Edesess family, Dr.
Robert Edesess -- who recently took delivery of his second Cirrus
(within the last week or so according to one of the Doctor's
friends), the Doctor's family was saved when Edesess son, Jeremy,
deployed the BRS emergency "CAPS" system when Doctor Edesess
suffered what has been described as a possible "stroke or
aneurysm."
As noted in ANN's
coverage of the accident (which started less than an hour after the
accident, thanks AGAIN to many welcome News-Spy reports to ANN HQ),
SR22-GTS (file photo, above) N91MB went down shortly after takeoff
from Eagle Creek Airport on the NW side of Indianapolis, IN,
shortly before 1100 local time. Reports indicate that the aircraft
attempted a return to the airport shortly after departure and that
the maximum altitude attained was 'not very high.' Witness reports
(which must ALWAYS be taken with a grain of salt) note that the
parachute deployment occurred at a fairly low altitude and may have
not even been fully complete at the point of impact in a shallow
retention pond.
The tragedy of this story is that Doctor Edesess (pictured,
right) succumbed to the medical issues that plagued him early
in the flight -- though the upside, of course, is that he selected
an aircraft that gave his son the chance to save the rest of his
family.
Bruce Kehoe, an Indianapolis attorney and apartner in the
aircraft, has confirmed to local media that Edesess had
been 'incapacitated by a stroke or similar medical problem
while flying the plane.' Keho noted that, "I guess the fortunate
thing is that Bob had instructed his family on the ballistic
parachute procedure." Kehoe also added that Edesess had
selected the Cirrus SR22, in part, because of the BRS
system and other safety features inherent in the design.
The SR22-GTS parachute deployment into an Indiana pond off the
end of Eagle Creek Airport still resulted in injuries to Edesess'
wife, Pouliri Edesess, who is listed in fair condition. Edesess'
son Jeremy is listed in serious but stable condition, while his
girlfriend, Janet Adams, is reported to also be in serious but
stable condition.
If all the reports turn out to be accurate, this will the second
time that a BRS parachute recovery system has been used to save an
aircraft as the result of an apparent pilot incapacitation...
and the first time that it has saved the life of someone other than
the pilot. With these three saves, various versions of the BRS
parachute recovery system have now been credited with saving nearly
200 lives worldwide. More info to follow...
ANN's Daily Aero-Term (04.28.24): Airport Marking Aids
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