Post by PeterPost by jan olieslagersAnyone knows the whereabouts of this PA28? It gave me the fright of my
life this afternoon at EBHN Hoevenen, by not landing on the runway
but on the grass next to it - where I was waiting for take-off...
I hurried for safety only just in time, he missed my ultralight
by no more than 50 meters. Pffffiew!
(pilot had an English accent on the radio, that's why I ask here)
Are you serious? 50m is above five times the wingspan. This is
nothing.
Well if I said 50 meters that was a large estimation. Checking on
satelite photo, the whole aerodrome is not wider that a 100 meters or
so, he must have been much closer than 50 meters. My instructor did push
me to hurry and he's not a chap easily frightened - like most
instructors, I think.
Post by PeterIf he landed on the grass, he must have done that for a reason. Was he
given instructions on where to land? One could ask many other
questions.
No, he wasn't given any kind of instructions. EBHN has no permanent
radio operator on the ground, its frequency is clearly marked as "air to
air". NB "landing on the grass" is a somewhat dubious expression, EBHN
has no hard runway. If he landed next to the runway it must really have
been by missing it, I can't imagine any reason for doing this
deliberately. The place is clearly visible on satelite images, runway 15
was in use at the time.
Post by PeterDid you speak to him afterwards and if not why not?
No, never got a chance. The plane left within an hour after landing, I
was doing training circuits all the while. He violated local regulations
again when departing, by wanting to take off during paradrop.
Post by PeterI had an incident a few years ago when I was doing a night landing,
and on short final saw a bright light which turned out to be a
helicopter hovering right on the approach path. This was an ATC
airport and ATC didn't know anything about the helicopter. I then went
to speak to the pilot as he was getting out of the helicopter (after
he landed) but he ran off, saying he was in a hurry. He was an
instructor, too. I didn't file an MOR or anything else because, as the
english saying goes, one should not sh*t on one's own doorstep.
Airfield politics can be big problem in the UK. But I think he learnt
a lesson too. And I almost never fly at night anyway.
Agreed about keeping one's doorstep clean... As I was flying with an
instructor, I left further action at his discretion, my post was mostly
from curiosity - and, as someone rightly guessed, for post-incident
decompression.
PS I've had my part of trouble with helo's too. Some of these people
seem to think rules are only for the poor...
KA