Two Experienced Pilots Perish In Pontiac Pattern
It was a routine
training flight, with two experienced pilots on board. And training
is, statistically speaking, the safest of all GA operations. But
something went tragically awry on approach to Runway 9 Left at
Michigan's Oakland County International Airport (KPTK) Friday
morning, leaving an airplane destroyed and pilots Gene Hammond and
Thomas C. Bailey dead.
The Bellanca Citabria hit hard and skidded across a road before
coming to rest in a field at 9:26 AM. There was no fire. According
to witnesses, it was making a base to final turn for runway 09L
when it dropped. Any comment on he accident at this early date is
raw speculation, but these reports and the location and condition
of the wreckage are consistent with a stall and a partial recovery
that could not be completed before impact with terrain. (A stall
without recovery normally shows little horizontal speed at impact
and does not leave a long impact trail).
The crew of the aircraft had been in regular communication with
the control tower as they flew the pattern; their last transmission
was to acknowledge clearance to land.
"We believe he was practicing touch-and-go landings," said
airport official David VanderVeen to the Detroit News. "It
appears the pilot attempted to land on an alternate runway, called
9-left at the airport, because a Lear jet was departing on the
airport's main runway. It appears he turned it too tight, perhaps
stalled, and then went down."
FAA spokesman Tony
Molinaro said he agreed with VanderVeen's assessment.
The accident, of course, will be investigated by NTSB with
assistance from FAA and such parties as may be needed. An initial
report should be available from the FAA on Monday; a final report
will be months in the making, and will come from the National
Transportation Safety Board (see links).
The crash also comes at a time when airport officials, like the
rest of Metro Detroit, are gearing up for Super Bowl XL. As many as
150 aircraft related to the Super Bowl are expected at Oakland
International Airport in the next week.
Eugene A. Hammond Jr., 51, was instructing the 34-year-old
Bailey in the fine art of flying taildraggers -- a specialty
of Hammond's and, according to Detroit's WXYZ, a strong desire of
Bailey's. According to FAA records, both men were accomplished
pilots. Hammond held Commercial ratings in single and multiengine
landplanes, single engine seaplane, and gliders, and was certified
flight instructor in single and multi-engine airplanes and gliders,
as well as an instrument instructor. Bailey was commercial-rated in
single and multiengine airplanes and had an instrument rating.
Oakland County, in the suburbs of Pontiac, is the second busiest
airport in Michigan, with cargo traffic and lots of GA activity,
including plenty of corporate and charter flying.
Citabrias are popular with flight schools because they can be
used as tailwheel and aerobatic trainers. While tailwheel planes
were once called "conventional" landing gear and trained
generations of primary flight students, since the 1960s more
students have trained in tricycle-gear airplanes which have more
forgiving handling. Since 1991, FAA regulations have required
pilots to get flight and ground instruction and an instructor's
signoff for proficiency in order to act as pilot in command of
tailwheel aircraft. (FAA has also separated tailwheel currency for
carrying passengers from general currency; you're only current in
tailwheel aircraft if you meet the requirements in a tailwheel
aircraft).
The airplane was owned by Sutton Aviation, which is based at
Dupont-Lapeer Airport (KD95). The Pontiac-based Citabria may have
been a recent addition to Sutton's very comprehensive fleet, as it
is listed in their rate schedule online and no photograph is on the
company website (www.sutton-aviation.com).
The Citabria photo below is Sutton's other one, based at KD95.
An email to Sutton Aviation did not receive a reply by deadline;
however, the email was sent very late, and the company can be
expected to have had a deluge of other media enquires.
Gene Hammond was the only one of Sutton's instructors who was
based at PTK. A statement of the company's philosophy on CFIs on
the web page says: "Flight instructing is arguably the most
important job in aviation. The future of the industry, and the
safety of the skies, depends upon the people who train the
pilots."
Amen.
Aero-News extends our condolences to Sutton Aviation and to the
friends and families of Hammond and Bailey.