{"id":3850,"date":"2016-05-19T15:50:26","date_gmt":"2016-05-19T22:50:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/tailwheelersjournal.mechadigital.net\/?p=3850"},"modified":"2021-08-26T20:37:55","modified_gmt":"2021-08-26T20:37:55","slug":"155-explosion-gulf","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tailwheelersjournal.com\/155-explosion-gulf\/","title":{"rendered":"#155 Explosion in the Gulf"},"content":{"rendered":"

 <\/p>\n

(Written in March, 2016)<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

It was my first corporate job.\u00a0 I\u2019d been hired to be a pilot for a company which built gyro-stabilized sensors for mounting on helicopters and airplanes.\u00a0 I pretty much divided my time between a Cessna 182 and a Diamond HK36 motor glider.<\/h3>\n
\"Brian
\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 With the 182 in Fallon, NV<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I\u2019d been sent to Houston, Texas to provide news and traffic service to a Fox-affiliated television station there.\u00a0 I guess they\u2019d lost their helicopter in a tragic accident.\u00a0 Our sales department was working hard to convince them that a fixed wing platform would be much safer than a helicopter.\u00a0 They were working with Diamond Aircraft and I\u2019ll never forget the relatively simple diagram that Diamond president Peter Maurer had whipped up which dramatically illustrated the difference between a helicopter, a Cessna 182 and a Diamond motor glider in terms of each aircraft\u2019s ability to glide to the surface from its usual operating altitude.\u00a0 The Diamond motor glider dramatically out-performed all others.<\/h3>\n

That information was a comfort to me as I patrolled the highways<\/h3>\n
\"Brian
\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0The Diamond HK 36<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

surrounding Houston to report on traffic.\u00a0 And in that metropolis, there was plenty of news that we covered as well.\u00a0 I remember almost crying while flying over a bridge at night.\u00a0 A van with a family had just careened into the San Jacinto River from that bridge, killing three kids and two adults.<\/h3>\n

<\/h3>\n

On July 13, 2001, two days before that tragedy, my camera operator and I had gone to the coast in order to cover another story.\u00a0 We were refueling at an airport on the Texas coast when the call came into my cell phone.\u00a0 A gas well had exploded some twenty-six miles off the coast in the Gulf of Mexico.\u00a0 I had to hand it to my bosses.\u00a0 They never pressured any of us to perform a hazardous operation.\u00a0 We were the ones to make the final decision and it was never more firmly put to me than it was that day.\u00a0 None of the local helicopter guys wanted to fly that far out over water.\u00a0 My boss told me it was up to me.\u00a0 Did I feel comfortable flying the Diamond out into the gulf in order to cover the story?\u00a0 I talked to my camera operator.\u00a0 He said he\u2019d go anywhere I would go.\u00a0 I guess that this is as good a place as any to comment on the operators I flew with.\u00a0 They could disassemble that complicated piece of gear and reassemble it when needed.\u00a0 They could operate it smoothly with a consummate ability to compose a shot perfectly. \u00a0And the guy flying with me that day was one of the best. \u00a0All I had to do was fly the plane and keep its landing gear out of the shot with the help of a little monitor occupying my instrument panel.<\/h3>\n

I knew the wind would be in my face on the way out to the rig.\u00a0 In the event of an engine failure, that would be a great help to get back to the beach.\u00a0 The gliding performance of the HK36 would be another huge help.\u00a0 A little thinking and head-scratching assured me that if I climbed all the way out so as to arrive at ten thousand feet over the scene, I could lose an engine, turn downwind and land on the coast without getting my feet wet.\u00a0 I said \u201cyes\u201d.<\/h3>\n
\"Explosion
In this capture from KRIV’s story, victims can be seen scampering from their rescue capsule on to the safety of a 41′ Coast Guard Cutter.<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

A few minutes later, with full tanks of fuel, we were off to the scene of the explosion.\u00a0 Soon, all I could see was water.\u00a0 We climbed over a scattered layer and eventually could see a plume of smoke, marking the scene of the explosion.\u00a0 My operator was able to get a lovely shot before we were even on scene.\u00a0 With a couple of miles to go, he was transmitting video to the station.\u00a0 Lifeboats were bobbing in the\u00a0water and the Coast Guard was already on the scene, visible through large gaps in a beautiful scattered layer of clouds.\u00a0 We were level at ten thousand and over the scene when it hit me.\u00a0 \u201cCoast Guard?\u201d I thought to myself!\u00a0 \u201cWhat the hell am I doing up here in nosebleed city, when there are Coasties scooting round down there????\u201d\u00a0 If I lost an engine I could simply ditch the Diamond next to one of those cutters in that nice, relatively warm water.\u00a0 And besides, that Rotax was pretty dependable.\u00a0 Down I went.\u00a0 For the next couple of hours, television stations all over the country were treated to a live feed from our camera, relayed through the station in Houston.<\/h3>\n

Forty people from the rig went into the water that day.\u00a0 Thirty nine came out.\u00a0 The one fatality was never found.<\/h3>\n

With all survivors safe on Coast Guard cutters and the fire under control, we turned for home.\u00a0 We landed in Houston with fuel to spare, but exhausted and stressed from the mission.<\/h3>\n

Sometimes I miss the work I\u2019ve done in the past.\u00a0 Air show flying was a hoot and I occasionally treat myself to a flat turn to final just to see if I can still do it.\u00a0 The videos I produce with pilot\/videographer Bert Garrison bring all the skill I have to bear on the job of shooting and flying that\u2019s similar to the work I did in the HK36 and Cessna.\u00a0 And, as a teacher, I get to share my hard-won knowledge with people just starting to pursue a career in aviation. \u00a0\u00a0It\u2019s not as exciting (except when the students try to kill me), but it has its reward.<\/h3>\n

Yup, sometimes I think of my pal, Kirby, who was standing at a urinal in the men\u2019s room at an airport where he\u2019d been performing in an Airshow after a long absence.\u00a0 He looked over at me with a lopsided grin and declared, \u201cThis is the life for me!\u201d\u00a0 And indeed it is.<\/h3>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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