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SC parachute deployment today


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That was me. Picked up plane from annual. Flew for 40 minutes was almost home when oil pressure went to zero. Declared emergency and tried to reach GMU. Engine ran for 3 or 4 minutes and then seized. Ran out of time and pulled the chute. Went into a pine tree. Left wing pulled back and fuel was pouring out of sight hose. Climbed out of the shattered left window and hugged tree till fire dept got me down. 

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 Very sorry for the accident, but happy as hell that you are okay.  The CT did its job, it made sure you got home to your family and friends.

Like others I have a few questions…I think you are the first person on this forum that has used the BRS in a true life emergency.  That leads to a lot of questions about deployment altitude, time for the chute to fully inflate, speed of impact with terrain, etc.

When & if you are at the point of wanting to discuss in more detail, Let us know.

Congrats on making sound decisions and having a good outcome.

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Extremely glad to know you are safe and sound.  Like all here, we are most concerned about your physical condition, hoping you're going to be back flying as soon as you get another aircraft.  Secondly, we all are sitting on the edge of our seats hoping for details that will be invaluable for us to stay safe.

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Will you be needing to buy a bigger aircraft to accommodate your balls having been brave enough to pull the ultimate of all emergency handles, Bill?!

You have a captive audience ready to listen to your next post, so take your time, grab a beer, and walk us un-initiated wonderers through exactly what its like to make the same decision pet owners make when taking their dog to the vet for the last time. Obviously we all loved the dog and knew they were going to a better place, so this is really a more commendable sacrifice, and I for one am all ears….Glad you’re ok !

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It’s good to be back with you guys. I just got my fuel soaked iPad back from repair. 
Where do I start. 
Here is the the scenario I faced. Picked up airplane after annual. Did a thorough preflight and headed home to my home airport at 0A7. Flew over Greenville airspace at 6500 feet. I was 40 minutes into the flight and the plane was running great. 18 miles south of home and approaching the mountains, my oil pressure went to zero. 
Suddenly. No warning. Oil temp stayed in the green. I thought maybe it was a faulty sensor. I had recently replaced it. But to be safe I turned back towards GMU and declared an emergency. You can google N121YT and hear how it went. Controller was no help and added to my stress. He didn’t know where I was and I didn’t have the presence of mind to squawk 7700. The engine continued to run. I was 10 miles north of the field at about 4500 msl. 

The engine started to get louder. You can hear it if you listen to my ATC comms. 
About 3 miles from the field with the runway in front of me, the engine seized. I tried to make the runway, but when I heard “500” on my headset and I was still a mile and half away, I knew I couldn’t make it. 
I saw a clearing to my right, turned towards it and pulled the chute. I was 450 agl. 
Its loud when the rocket goes off. The airplane jerked to a stop and pointed straight down. The nose started coming up and I went into a pine tree. 
My window shattered and the plane came to rest 25 degrees nose down, right wing pointing to the ground. I was about 50 feet above the ground.  Fuel was pouring across the panel and me. I climbed out of the window and hugged the tree awaiting rescue. Fire dept plucked me out with a bucket about 30 minutes later. I had just a few cuts and bruises. EMS checked me out I was fine.

Fast forward to yesterday when I got to see the plane after it was trucked to GMU. 
The local FSDO guy had called me earlier after inspecting the plane. I asked if he found cause. He hesitated and said yes. Said it was obvious after removing the cowling. 
I met with my insurance adjuster and we pulled the cowling off. I have to be careful here, but the cause was obvious. The oil was pumped out of the engine very quickly. 

No property damage, no one injured on the ground, I walked away. It doesn’t get much better than that. 


 

 

 

 

 



 

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I hand fired the primer on two parachute rockets that had to be replaced. Goes off like a .45 blank. Takes a lot less than expected to do it... so with adrenaline, I imagine you'll practically pull the handle out.

Glad you're safe, Bill

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Will you be needing to buy a bigger aircraft to accommodate your balls having been brave enough to pull the ultimate of all emergency handles, Bill?!

You have a captive audience ready to listen to your next post, so take your time, grab a beer, and walk us un-initiated wonderers through exactly what its like to make the same decision pet owners make when taking their dog to the vet for the last time. Obviously we all loved the dog and knew they were going to a better place, so this is really a more commendable sacrifice, and I for one am all ears….Glad you’re ok !

I do like how someone here put it: we love our airplanes, but when this happens, the airplane abandoned us first. It still feels like crap when it happens, but that's simply the truth.

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