Voor veel oud-IAC-ers is deze voormalig chef-instructeur van ACA te Lakeland,FL behoorlijk bekend. Helaas is hij op 14 junuari verongelukt op Lakeland Linder Regional Airport.
Published Friday, January 14, 2005
TWIN-ENGINE CESSNA
Two Die in Lakeland Airport Crash[/B] :
Ledger Staff
LAKELAND – A twin-engine Cessna crashed at Lakeland Linder Regional Airport Friday afternoon, killing both its pilot and passenger.
The plane crashed about 3:30 p.m., minutes after taking off from Runway 27, headed west, according to Lakeland police.
Danny Ferrer, the owner of the Cessna Skymaster, identified the pilot as Lakeland flight instructor Don Palas.
The Ledger could not positively identify the passenger Friday night.
Lakeland police and fire officials did not identify the two people killed in the crash, saying their bodies had been too badly burned and that the medical examiner would need to identify them with dental records. Police said they would not release the names until 8 a.m. Saturday.
Polk County Medical Examiner Stephen Nelson said identifying the bodies would take time, though he did not give a specific timetable.
The Lakeland Fire Department received a call about the crash at 3:37 p.m. Firefighters were dispatched moments and reached the airport 10 minutes later. Six vehicles and 14 firefighters, from the Beacon Road, Brunell Parkway and Lake Mirror stations, responded.
Eyewitnesses described watching the plane take off from the Runway 27 – at 8,500 feet, the airport’s longest – climb to between 100 feet and 150 feet and then plummet to the ground.
Colin Osborn, who stopped at the Lakeland airport en route from Louisville, Ky., to West Palm Beach, said he watched from inside the airport terminal as the Cessna crashed. The plane’s nose was too high as it climbed, Osborn said, fell straight down after reaching its apex and hit the ground hard. A minute or two later, the plane burst into flames.
After hearing the crash, John Troutner said he raced to the plane, already on fire, and tried to open the cockpit door. The fire, which had engulfed the cockpit and the left side of the plane, scorched his hand when he grabbed the door.
Despite suggestions that Palas’ trajectory might have been too steep, Ferrer discounted the possibility that pilot error was responsible for the crash.
“I would bet my life it was not pilot error, and I don’t give a damn what anybody saw or says,” he said. “He was a walking encyclopedia of aviation. This guy was the best.”
Ferrer said he bought the plane – a 1976 Cessna 337P – last month and that the plane was flown from California to Lakeland Wednesday. He said his mechanic inspected the plane and discovered a small oil leak, which Ferrer described as insignificant.
Palas was a former Marine with 15,000 hours of flying time under his belt, Ferrer said. Ferrer said he had recently hired Palas as chief pilot for a flight school he was starting here.
“He was the best flight instructor around,” Ferrer said. “That’s why I hired him.
“He was calm and collected.”
www.theledger.com
Published Friday, January 14, 2005
TWIN-ENGINE CESSNA
Two Die in Lakeland Airport Crash[/B] :
Ledger Staff
LAKELAND – A twin-engine Cessna crashed at Lakeland Linder Regional Airport Friday afternoon, killing both its pilot and passenger.
The plane crashed about 3:30 p.m., minutes after taking off from Runway 27, headed west, according to Lakeland police.
Danny Ferrer, the owner of the Cessna Skymaster, identified the pilot as Lakeland flight instructor Don Palas.
The Ledger could not positively identify the passenger Friday night.
Lakeland police and fire officials did not identify the two people killed in the crash, saying their bodies had been too badly burned and that the medical examiner would need to identify them with dental records. Police said they would not release the names until 8 a.m. Saturday.
Polk County Medical Examiner Stephen Nelson said identifying the bodies would take time, though he did not give a specific timetable.
The Lakeland Fire Department received a call about the crash at 3:37 p.m. Firefighters were dispatched moments and reached the airport 10 minutes later. Six vehicles and 14 firefighters, from the Beacon Road, Brunell Parkway and Lake Mirror stations, responded.
Eyewitnesses described watching the plane take off from the Runway 27 – at 8,500 feet, the airport’s longest – climb to between 100 feet and 150 feet and then plummet to the ground.
Colin Osborn, who stopped at the Lakeland airport en route from Louisville, Ky., to West Palm Beach, said he watched from inside the airport terminal as the Cessna crashed. The plane’s nose was too high as it climbed, Osborn said, fell straight down after reaching its apex and hit the ground hard. A minute or two later, the plane burst into flames.
After hearing the crash, John Troutner said he raced to the plane, already on fire, and tried to open the cockpit door. The fire, which had engulfed the cockpit and the left side of the plane, scorched his hand when he grabbed the door.
Despite suggestions that Palas’ trajectory might have been too steep, Ferrer discounted the possibility that pilot error was responsible for the crash.
“I would bet my life it was not pilot error, and I don’t give a damn what anybody saw or says,” he said. “He was a walking encyclopedia of aviation. This guy was the best.”
Ferrer said he bought the plane – a 1976 Cessna 337P – last month and that the plane was flown from California to Lakeland Wednesday. He said his mechanic inspected the plane and discovered a small oil leak, which Ferrer described as insignificant.
Palas was a former Marine with 15,000 hours of flying time under his belt, Ferrer said. Ferrer said he had recently hired Palas as chief pilot for a flight school he was starting here.
“He was the best flight instructor around,” Ferrer said. “That’s why I hired him.
“He was calm and collected.”
www.theledger.com
