PILOT SPIN

Pilot Zone => Accident Review/Never Again (I hope..) => Topic started by: Rush on November 30, 2023, 06:22:22 PM

Title: Wingsuiter decapitated by plane’s wing
Post by: Rush on November 30, 2023, 06:22:22 PM

Happened in 2018, in France.

https://www.businessinsider.com/french-pilot-decapitated-skydiver-with-plane-wing-found-guilty-2023-11

Title: Re: Wingsuiter decapitated by plane’s wing
Post by: nddons on November 30, 2023, 09:37:30 PM

Note to self. Don’t carry wing suit idiots.

Title: Re: Wingsuiter decapitated by plane’s wing
Post by: Rush on December 01, 2023, 03:00:09 AM

Here’s what I find bizarre:

Quote

The pilot was found guilty of manslaughter and operating an aircraft without a valid aeronautical license

…

He was given a suspended sentence of 12 months and banned from flying for a year.

He was found guilty in a criminal court of manslaughter and flying without a license, and he gets a suspended sentence and can’t fly for one year?  Is he supposed to get his pilot’s “license” in that year?

Maybe something’s been lost in translation.

Title: Re: Wingsuiter decapitated by plane’s wing
Post by: Username on December 01, 2023, 06:12:05 AM

Strange accident.  Pilot was used to free fall and did his usual dive back to the airport.  Not realizing that wingsuits don't go straight down.  And he was carrying a mixed load of winssuits and freefall.  OOPS.  It is a good thing that the wingsuit emergency parachute deployed as missing a head would really mess with weight and balance.  And it makes the remains easier to find.

I wonder if the pilot just didn't have his commercial certificate but was otherwise licensed, or if it was a couple of days out of renewal.  The story (like all MSM aviation stories) is unclear.  No idea how France does things.

Title: Re: Wingsuiter decapitated by plane’s wing
Post by: Rush on December 01, 2023, 06:23:57 AM

Quote from: Username on December 01, 2023, 06:12:05 AM

Strange accident.  Pilot was used to free fall and did his usual dive back to the airport.  Not realizing that wingsuits don't go straight down.  And he was carrying a mixed load of winssuits and freefall.  OOPS.  It is a good thing that the wingsuit emergency parachute deployed as missing a head would really mess with weight and balance.  And it makes the remains easier to find.

I wonder if the pilot just didn't have his commercial certificate but was otherwise licensed, or if it was a couple of days out of renewal.  The story (like all MSM aviation stories) is unclear.  No idea how France does things.

Yep, maybe it’s some separate certification to carry jumpers or something. They can’t mean he wasn’t basically certified as a pilot.