First off, she’s ok! I know, I hate post with the subject line like that…you know you have to open them…but…you don’t want too…
Some of you may know my favorite wife. She had started taking flying lessons a few years back (1997) and she got her license later that same year. Yesterday afternoon, she narrowly escaped injury in the aircraft she was piloting when she was forced to make an emergency landing South of Hastings MN. because of bad weather. Some could call it a crash; an accident at the least. Our daughter was with me this weekend.
National Transportation Safety Board officials have issued a preliminary determination citing pilot error contributed to the accident, and Deb was flying a single engine aircraft (a basic model, at best) in IFR (instrument flight rating) conditions while only having obtained a VFR (visual flight rating) rating.
The absence of a post-crash fire was likely due to insufficient fuel on board. No one on the ground was injured.
Photographs below were taken at the scene show the extent of damage to her aircraft.
She was very lucky.