STORY. This is what I was told by the people that were there when the plane rolled in. They are employees of the FBO and know the owner and everyone involved.
It came from Mexico back to FXE, the captain that flew it back was a licensed Mexican pilot, no FAA licenses or ratings. Captain was hired as a contract pilot just for this trip. The co-pilot was from here and he was also just used as a contract pilot to get the plane back here. When they got back to FXE where the owner was waiting, of course they flipped out as the plane rolled into parking. The captain or the co- pilot had no idea YET of the damage that was caused. When asked, "what the hell happened?" He apparently at some point said he made a hard landing. YET, the tires and gear were perfect. The FAA and insurance company had questioned them on what happened and they stuck to that story for 9 days. Finally, the co-pilot talked (good for him BTW). He said the Captain wanted to snap roll it...not aileron roll it....SNAP ROLL it like a Pitts. Fuel wing fuel too, moron. Supposedly it was done 3-4 times. By this time, when the co-pilot talked, the captain had gone back to Mexico. Not sure yet what the FAA is going to do with the co-pilot though. He'll probably get a pass, he was just flying with a scum bag captain. He should have smacked him in the mouth and took the controls. But, thats just me.
Its being fixed I guess and returning to service. I heard it was very low-time and only a few years old. Not sure on that. I certainly wouldn't fly it after seeingwhat I saw, no way. Maybe someone with more accurate or detailed info can chime in.
MORE TO THE STORY..............
New pictures and a story update.
Spoke with the mechanics working on it today. Still actually not sure if it will fly again, they are still tearing into it. Found out yesterday that the right wing is history, bent beyond repair. You can actually see it up close, where the aluminum is actually stretched and separating at some points.
STORY UPDATE:
They did roll it 4 times. What caused all the damage was when on the last two rolls, the pilot got scared and cranked the yoke back the other way to stop the roll and go back to upright. He got about halfway around and got scared and jerked it back real hard, that’s what twisted everything, instead of continuing the roll in the original direction. What’s funny is, he got scared on roll #3, then tried again and got scared again, so it was hardcore twisted two times.
This wing is trashed and the wing root is twisted. |