GOSLING
Moderators: Guru's, The Ministry
SEA BEE AIR WIDGEON INCIDENT: GREAT BARRIER ISLAND, AUCKLAND, NEW ZEALAND, 22/10/84.
"OCTOBER 22ND 1984" .... I nearly did my last flight in one of these suckers.
Here in New Zealand there was an amphibious airline based in downtown Auckland operating under the "SEA BEE AIR" title. They're now no longer in existence. The story I'm about to relate is a true life experience which occurred to me on October 22nd 1984 .... a date which also happened to coincide with the airlines anniversary.
By the mid 1980's Sea Bee Air was operating a regular fleet of 2 GRUMMAN/McKINNON G21-A GOOSE, and 1 GRUMMAN G44-A SUPER WIDGEON (Continental Lycombing powered). Anyway, it was the conclusion of a New Zealand holiday weekend and I was scheduled to fly from Great Barrier Island, where I'd spent some 3-4 days, back to downtown Auckland. A route of some 60km and a flight of normally around 30 minutes duration .... depending on prevailing conditions.
This particular day dawned with absoloutely attrocious weather which had been slowly deteriorating throughout the long weekend and continued worsening so as the day progressed with winds gusting 40-60 knots, intermittent squalls, and a sea chop rising to some 2-3 feet in sheltered waters .... not a nice day or comfortable flying conditions aboard a small aircraft of any sort.
My flight wasn't scheduled until around 4PM that afternoon. I can't explain why, but, throughout the entire day prior to my flight I was posessed of an awful feeling of "uneasiness". I couldn't pin this on anything in particular .... it was just "there" and hanging over me all day like a big dark cloud.
Later during the day we crossed by car from the islands Eastern to Western shore and the picturesque pebble stone beach of beautiful Whangaparapara Harbour (1 of 3 Great Barrier Island ports serviced by Sea Bee Air's Grumman amphibians). As soon as I saw the sea conditions inside this normally tranquil harbour inlet I felt even more "uneasy", but, refused to show any outward sign of my concern or even "give in" to such forboding.
Our aircraft made a particularly spectucular arrival in these conditions. Landing from the direction of the mountains and hills towards the sea (an unusual approach into Whangaparapara which is normally flown from its Western seaward entrance). As the aircraft approached it quite obviously encounted windshear downdrafting from surrounding mountains and hills. Our first indications of its impending arrival was the lound sound of a massive burst of Continental Lycombing power comming from behind the treeline along the harbours Eastern/landward shore, but, the aircraft was still out of direct line of sight .... then we saw the WIGGEON emerge from behind this treeline hitting the water apparently hard as it bounced about 6 feet back into the air .... hit the water again .... then bounced to lesser extent at least twice more before finally settling on the very rough harbour. It then taxied across the swells and onto the stoney beach where we were all waiting. It was a real spectacular arrival, but, did nothing to shake this awful feeling of "dread" I'd been harbouring throughout the day.
The WIDGEON duely stopped on the beach and shut down .... and we waited. The little port side rear fuselage door (nothing more than a hatch really) never opened despite the sound of obvious attempts by the lone pilot inside. Suddenly this door/hatch flew open with a resounding "CRUNCH". It then suddenly occurred to me precisely what the problem was. The wing flaps on a WIDGEON are canvas over metal framework .... a very fragile construction. Fully extended for landing the force of water impacting the flaps during the aircrafts contact with the sea was of such tremendous force it had buckled them to the extent they couldn't be retracted, and of course the flaps on this particular WIDGEON extended partially across this access hatch.
Upon exiting the aircraft here's our pilot then using shear brute force to try and bend the flaps back into allignment again with nothing other than the strength of his bare hands .... hardly a confidence booster. For a brief moment and still overpowered with this terrible feeling of forboding, I felt extremly reluctant to board, and almost flatly refused doing so .... but .... then I suddenly thought of B17's returning safely from missions over Europe with their flaps blasted away and other damaged control surfaces too (funny how one thinks of things like that at a time like this) and I relented. :think:
There were 5 of us passengers (all related) and 1 pilot whom boarded the Widgeon for this return flight that day .... a full load. I was last to board and as I did so casually enquired of the pilot (whom I knew) .... "HOW'S THE WEATHER OUT THERE" ?
I'll never forget the expression on his face as he replied "BLOODY TERRIBLE" .... "LET'S JUST GET TO HELL OUT'A HERE"
Upon that brief exchange we all got ourselves seated and buckled in, whilst the pilot shut the hatch and fired-up the aircraft for our departure back to Auckland City. This part of the flight went really well .... but .... little did I know, although I may have senced it psychically all the while, things were about to change drastically.
We taxied back into the water (down the ramp and into the damp) and headed out towards mid channel, riding the swells then turned to face the gusting Westerly for take-off .... running toward the harbours Western/seaward entrance. I remember wind conditions creating a long rolling chop of some 2-3 feet, and even larger seas were running towards the seaward end of the inlet. I consequently fastened my seatbelt "REAL TIGHT".
After the pilots customery pre take-off call .... "OK IS EVERYONE ALL SET" ? .... followed by everyone elses nervously stuttered responses .... "YEP" .... "OK" .... "YEAH" .... "AH HA" .... "YES" .... and from the rearmost seat my own .... "R-R-READY HERE - ALL S-S-SET".
With that our pilot hugged the yoke/pole with his left arm and squeezed the throttles forward with his right hand and the Widgeon's 2 Continental Lycombings roared into life delivering take-off power in response (a shower of spary and we're away). Despite our full load the aircraft accelerated reasonably fast as it rode out the first few swells quite comfortably. Then from around 30-40 knots the WIDGEON, getting up onto the step, began riding across the white tops of the waves .... more power was then applied .... the cabin noise factor increasing in proportion to the throttle adjustment as we hurtled across the water. As we accelerated through 40-50 knots the aircrafts hull began impacting the tops of waves with an alarmingly hard velocity (I've used these aircraft a lot, but, never before or since have I ever experienced vibration like this). As we continued accelerating through 60-70 knots the WIDGEON began porpoising from wave top to wave top .... bang ! .... Bang/Bang ! .... "BANG" ....Bang/Bang .... "BANG" !..... as she hurtled on with ever increasing violence, the hull impacting each sequence of waves in quicker succession as speed increased. By this time I was becomming alarmed. I remember thinking .... CHRIST ! .... HOW MUCH MORE OF THIS POUNDING CAN SHE TAKE. Still our take-off acceleration was continued despite the increasing violence we were enduring. Through 75-80 knots we then copped "A REAL WHOPPER" !!!! .... there was "ONE HELL OF A BLOODY IMPACT" as the WIDGEON hit another large wave then bounced several feet into the air before impacting the sea yet again with even "W-O-R-S-E" violence. "SHEEEEEEE-YIT" !!!! .... I thought (another lurid word actually to mind at the time which I can't write here) as we bounced back into the air once more at around 90 knots. We hung there for several seconds seemingly suspended over the white water rushing past and below us as the WIDGEON struggled to get airbourne .... but she certainly wasn't climbing. I thought we were only around 12 feet off the sea (it's sometimes very hard to tell flying over water). The pilot later assured me we were at 50 feet because he'd pulled off the flaps by this stage. Then I felt that awful sinking sensation in the pit of my stomach (similar to riding a quickly descending elevator). I remember grabbing the armrest and bracing myself as "HIT THE SEA AGAIN WE DID DO" in an awkward attitude with the port wing down a few degrees and with an impact velocity like you just wouldn't believe. YEP ! .... we'd gotten caught in a downdraught comming off the hillsides along the harbour shore .... a microburst. One can't possibly even begin imagine how hard water really becomes without considering the accumulative effect of speed/acceleration captive with the natural forces of gravity. This last impact felt like I imagine it would feel to hit a brick wall or even another vehicle at around 70-90 mph. The force of the impact was "UNBELIEVABLE" !!!!.... and I really did had a sore lower back for a number of days afterward.
The story doesn't end here though. Looking well out to port as we climbed away from the sea I immediately noticed both vertical struts supporting the port side wing tip float were snapped completly .... with the float now pointing vertically toward the sea and trailing slightly aft in the slipstream. I don't recall whether or not it impacted the wing underside at any stage, but, it obviously upset the aircrafts natural flying characteristics to the extent its tail constantly yawed around to port .... which had to be contunually corrected all the way back. I remember feeling pissed-off I coudn't reach my camera in a bag down the back for shear strength of the turbulence. The broken float would have made an impressive photo to say the very least.
Continuing to climb away from the sea towards 2500-3000 feet. We sheared twice more in the vicinity of the hills but never made the sea .... "THANK CHRIST". There was no way we could end up back in the drink again with float damage like that. So .... on we managed to fly through some mighty severe turbulence. In fact having suffered what we'd just experienced .... then this .... I really thought it was going to be my last ever flight .... in one way or another. One learns a lot about themselves in situations like this. I'd often previously wondered how I might react if confronted with a serious inflight emergency. I think I found the answer this particular day. After an initial "ping" of absolute fear/terror (only for some 30 seconds or so) I then experienced a sensation of absolute "calmness". I remember thinking .... HMMM .... I wonder what the family's going to say when they recieve news that we're "GONE" ! .... OH Well ! .... bugger all I can do about that now !
This flight should normally have taken some 30 minutes or less. It took some 45 minutes to make the mainland of Auckland's Eastern shore. Obviously we couldn't land at Sea Bee Air's Mechanics Bay Base at downtown Auckland, so, we diverted to make a ground landing at Ardmore Aerodrome some 40km South of Auckland City. Here we were able to drop down the wheels and make a perfectly normal ground landing .... AH the versatility of amphibious aircraft. That landing was quite smooth despite the surrounding turbulence. I felt a sensation of shear bloody relief similar to being released of some tremendous weight on my shoulders as we decelerated up the short runway with nothing more than a slight shimmying effect. Someone clapped. Someone else then cheered .... whilst someone else yet again called out loudly to the pilot .... "GOOD BOY" !!!!
He just turned and grinned with appreaciative acknowledgement.
As we taxied up to one of offices/aviation workshops/hangars everyone on duty there lined up outside to witness arrival of the damaged WIDGEON with its lucky passengers and pilot. Pulling up on the apron the aircraft was shutdown and we couldn't get out of the bloody thing quickly enough.
As we exited I couldn't resist inspecting the damage up close and personal from the outside. The thing that astounded me most (and still does today after some 22 years) was the "V-shaped" bottom of thatdamaged float (it's strongest part) had been buckled inwards for some 6-8 inches along a good 2-3 feet along its length as it absorbed the impact forces .... INCREDIBLE. It's really indicative of how strong an aircraft the little GRUMMAN WIDGEON/GOSLING really is.
X-ray inspections over following days were even more telling too .... so I learned later from Sea Bee Air's Chief Pilot (another good friend of mine). He called me into his office a week later and simply said to me .... "HOW's YOUR VERTIBRATE" ?
He then went on to say .... "I'M REALLY SORRY ABOUT WHAT HAPPENED OUT THERE MATE" .... "BUT" .... "I TRUELY CONSIDERED IT (conditions) WORKABLE BY MY OWN STANDARDS AND I ORDERED (pilot) TO DO THE FLIGHT".
I responded saying .... "I KNOW IT WAS CLOSE BUT HOW CLOSE WERE WE REALLY" ?.
He then lapsed into a serious and very pensive composure as he leaned forward on the desk and spoke in lowered tones .... "BETWEEN YOU ME AND THE FENCE POST MATE YOU'RE LUCKY TO BE HERE".
He then elaborated further .... "X-RAYS ON THE AIRFRAME INDICATE IMPACT STRESSES HAVE BENT THE AIRCRAFTS WING SPAR, CRUMPLED IT'S CENTER SECTION WHICH HAS THEN DELAMINATED FROM THE HULL FRAMEWORK INSIDE AND BUCKLING THE SKIN OUTWARDS, BOTH ENGINE MOUNTS ARE CRACKED AND THE ENGINES NATURAL UPWARDS CANTER HAS BEEN LEVELLED TO AN ALMOST PERFECTLY HORIZONTAL AXIS", AS WELL AS THE FLAP AND FLOAT DAMAGE YOU KNEW ABOUT".
There was some $40,000 dollars damage done to the aircraft as a result of this incident. It was then out of service for almost 9 months being repaired.
The Chief Pilot was flying one of Sea Bee Air's GOOSE out to Great Barrier Island that same afternoon of our meeting and invited me to join him .... "FREE".
Despite having a nasty fright the week before of course I went along for the ride. I think the best way to return to normality is to confront one's fears directly .... which I did .... and for doing so was as right as rain again within a short while afterward.
I was even later told by the companies boss that whenever there existed a spare seat just put your name on the manifest, jump aboard, and go for the ride .... which I did in fact do .... many times over. They were only too relieved the incident never made media or regulatory attention.
As I mentioned above, the pilot of this particular flight and myself have since become reasonable friends. Over the years we've caught up with each other a number of times and often recall events of that particular flight. I often initiate conversation saying .... "IT WAS A GOOD BANG AYE" !!!! .... to which he generally always grins as he replies .... "YEAH SHE WAS A BEAUTIE ALRIGHT" !!!!
He then once went on to say .... "I NEVER WANTED TO DO THAT FLIGHT BUT AGAINST MY OWN BETTER JUDGEMENT I ALLOWED MYSELF TO BE TALKED INTO IT" .... "THEY TOLD ME DO THE FLIGHT OR GO HOME" ..... "AND IF YOU DO GO HOME THEN DON'T CALL US" .... "WE'LL CALL YOU" !
Despite very bad operational decisions made that day someone higher than "Flight Level THREE- FIVE-ZERO" was definitely watching over us. Anything less and you wouldn't be reading these words .... maybe I should have bought a lotto/lottery ticket that same week too .... what a pitty I didn't
I couldn't resist sharing my WIDGEON/GOSLING experience and what I really thought (at the time) was going to be my last ever flight in the light of its FS release.
I hope you enjoyed this virtual ride with me .... another nightmere trip down memory lane.
Mark C
"OCTOBER 22ND 1984" .... I nearly did my last flight in one of these suckers.
Here in New Zealand there was an amphibious airline based in downtown Auckland operating under the "SEA BEE AIR" title. They're now no longer in existence. The story I'm about to relate is a true life experience which occurred to me on October 22nd 1984 .... a date which also happened to coincide with the airlines anniversary.
By the mid 1980's Sea Bee Air was operating a regular fleet of 2 GRUMMAN/McKINNON G21-A GOOSE, and 1 GRUMMAN G44-A SUPER WIDGEON (Continental Lycombing powered). Anyway, it was the conclusion of a New Zealand holiday weekend and I was scheduled to fly from Great Barrier Island, where I'd spent some 3-4 days, back to downtown Auckland. A route of some 60km and a flight of normally around 30 minutes duration .... depending on prevailing conditions.
This particular day dawned with absoloutely attrocious weather which had been slowly deteriorating throughout the long weekend and continued worsening so as the day progressed with winds gusting 40-60 knots, intermittent squalls, and a sea chop rising to some 2-3 feet in sheltered waters .... not a nice day or comfortable flying conditions aboard a small aircraft of any sort.
My flight wasn't scheduled until around 4PM that afternoon. I can't explain why, but, throughout the entire day prior to my flight I was posessed of an awful feeling of "uneasiness". I couldn't pin this on anything in particular .... it was just "there" and hanging over me all day like a big dark cloud.
Later during the day we crossed by car from the islands Eastern to Western shore and the picturesque pebble stone beach of beautiful Whangaparapara Harbour (1 of 3 Great Barrier Island ports serviced by Sea Bee Air's Grumman amphibians). As soon as I saw the sea conditions inside this normally tranquil harbour inlet I felt even more "uneasy", but, refused to show any outward sign of my concern or even "give in" to such forboding.
Our aircraft made a particularly spectucular arrival in these conditions. Landing from the direction of the mountains and hills towards the sea (an unusual approach into Whangaparapara which is normally flown from its Western seaward entrance). As the aircraft approached it quite obviously encounted windshear downdrafting from surrounding mountains and hills. Our first indications of its impending arrival was the lound sound of a massive burst of Continental Lycombing power comming from behind the treeline along the harbours Eastern/landward shore, but, the aircraft was still out of direct line of sight .... then we saw the WIGGEON emerge from behind this treeline hitting the water apparently hard as it bounced about 6 feet back into the air .... hit the water again .... then bounced to lesser extent at least twice more before finally settling on the very rough harbour. It then taxied across the swells and onto the stoney beach where we were all waiting. It was a real spectacular arrival, but, did nothing to shake this awful feeling of "dread" I'd been harbouring throughout the day.
The WIDGEON duely stopped on the beach and shut down .... and we waited. The little port side rear fuselage door (nothing more than a hatch really) never opened despite the sound of obvious attempts by the lone pilot inside. Suddenly this door/hatch flew open with a resounding "CRUNCH". It then suddenly occurred to me precisely what the problem was. The wing flaps on a WIDGEON are canvas over metal framework .... a very fragile construction. Fully extended for landing the force of water impacting the flaps during the aircrafts contact with the sea was of such tremendous force it had buckled them to the extent they couldn't be retracted, and of course the flaps on this particular WIDGEON extended partially across this access hatch.
Upon exiting the aircraft here's our pilot then using shear brute force to try and bend the flaps back into allignment again with nothing other than the strength of his bare hands .... hardly a confidence booster. For a brief moment and still overpowered with this terrible feeling of forboding, I felt extremly reluctant to board, and almost flatly refused doing so .... but .... then I suddenly thought of B17's returning safely from missions over Europe with their flaps blasted away and other damaged control surfaces too (funny how one thinks of things like that at a time like this) and I relented. :think:
There were 5 of us passengers (all related) and 1 pilot whom boarded the Widgeon for this return flight that day .... a full load. I was last to board and as I did so casually enquired of the pilot (whom I knew) .... "HOW'S THE WEATHER OUT THERE" ?
I'll never forget the expression on his face as he replied "BLOODY TERRIBLE" .... "LET'S JUST GET TO HELL OUT'A HERE"
Upon that brief exchange we all got ourselves seated and buckled in, whilst the pilot shut the hatch and fired-up the aircraft for our departure back to Auckland City. This part of the flight went really well .... but .... little did I know, although I may have senced it psychically all the while, things were about to change drastically.
We taxied back into the water (down the ramp and into the damp) and headed out towards mid channel, riding the swells then turned to face the gusting Westerly for take-off .... running toward the harbours Western/seaward entrance. I remember wind conditions creating a long rolling chop of some 2-3 feet, and even larger seas were running towards the seaward end of the inlet. I consequently fastened my seatbelt "REAL TIGHT".
After the pilots customery pre take-off call .... "OK IS EVERYONE ALL SET" ? .... followed by everyone elses nervously stuttered responses .... "YEP" .... "OK" .... "YEAH" .... "AH HA" .... "YES" .... and from the rearmost seat my own .... "R-R-READY HERE - ALL S-S-SET".
With that our pilot hugged the yoke/pole with his left arm and squeezed the throttles forward with his right hand and the Widgeon's 2 Continental Lycombings roared into life delivering take-off power in response (a shower of spary and we're away). Despite our full load the aircraft accelerated reasonably fast as it rode out the first few swells quite comfortably. Then from around 30-40 knots the WIDGEON, getting up onto the step, began riding across the white tops of the waves .... more power was then applied .... the cabin noise factor increasing in proportion to the throttle adjustment as we hurtled across the water. As we accelerated through 40-50 knots the aircrafts hull began impacting the tops of waves with an alarmingly hard velocity (I've used these aircraft a lot, but, never before or since have I ever experienced vibration like this). As we continued accelerating through 60-70 knots the WIDGEON began porpoising from wave top to wave top .... bang ! .... Bang/Bang ! .... "BANG" ....Bang/Bang .... "BANG" !..... as she hurtled on with ever increasing violence, the hull impacting each sequence of waves in quicker succession as speed increased. By this time I was becomming alarmed. I remember thinking .... CHRIST ! .... HOW MUCH MORE OF THIS POUNDING CAN SHE TAKE. Still our take-off acceleration was continued despite the increasing violence we were enduring. Through 75-80 knots we then copped "A REAL WHOPPER" !!!! .... there was "ONE HELL OF A BLOODY IMPACT" as the WIDGEON hit another large wave then bounced several feet into the air before impacting the sea yet again with even "W-O-R-S-E" violence. "SHEEEEEEE-YIT" !!!! .... I thought (another lurid word actually to mind at the time which I can't write here) as we bounced back into the air once more at around 90 knots. We hung there for several seconds seemingly suspended over the white water rushing past and below us as the WIDGEON struggled to get airbourne .... but she certainly wasn't climbing. I thought we were only around 12 feet off the sea (it's sometimes very hard to tell flying over water). The pilot later assured me we were at 50 feet because he'd pulled off the flaps by this stage. Then I felt that awful sinking sensation in the pit of my stomach (similar to riding a quickly descending elevator). I remember grabbing the armrest and bracing myself as "HIT THE SEA AGAIN WE DID DO" in an awkward attitude with the port wing down a few degrees and with an impact velocity like you just wouldn't believe. YEP ! .... we'd gotten caught in a downdraught comming off the hillsides along the harbour shore .... a microburst. One can't possibly even begin imagine how hard water really becomes without considering the accumulative effect of speed/acceleration captive with the natural forces of gravity. This last impact felt like I imagine it would feel to hit a brick wall or even another vehicle at around 70-90 mph. The force of the impact was "UNBELIEVABLE" !!!!.... and I really did had a sore lower back for a number of days afterward.
The story doesn't end here though. Looking well out to port as we climbed away from the sea I immediately noticed both vertical struts supporting the port side wing tip float were snapped completly .... with the float now pointing vertically toward the sea and trailing slightly aft in the slipstream. I don't recall whether or not it impacted the wing underside at any stage, but, it obviously upset the aircrafts natural flying characteristics to the extent its tail constantly yawed around to port .... which had to be contunually corrected all the way back. I remember feeling pissed-off I coudn't reach my camera in a bag down the back for shear strength of the turbulence. The broken float would have made an impressive photo to say the very least.
Continuing to climb away from the sea towards 2500-3000 feet. We sheared twice more in the vicinity of the hills but never made the sea .... "THANK CHRIST". There was no way we could end up back in the drink again with float damage like that. So .... on we managed to fly through some mighty severe turbulence. In fact having suffered what we'd just experienced .... then this .... I really thought it was going to be my last ever flight .... in one way or another. One learns a lot about themselves in situations like this. I'd often previously wondered how I might react if confronted with a serious inflight emergency. I think I found the answer this particular day. After an initial "ping" of absolute fear/terror (only for some 30 seconds or so) I then experienced a sensation of absolute "calmness". I remember thinking .... HMMM .... I wonder what the family's going to say when they recieve news that we're "GONE" ! .... OH Well ! .... bugger all I can do about that now !
This flight should normally have taken some 30 minutes or less. It took some 45 minutes to make the mainland of Auckland's Eastern shore. Obviously we couldn't land at Sea Bee Air's Mechanics Bay Base at downtown Auckland, so, we diverted to make a ground landing at Ardmore Aerodrome some 40km South of Auckland City. Here we were able to drop down the wheels and make a perfectly normal ground landing .... AH the versatility of amphibious aircraft. That landing was quite smooth despite the surrounding turbulence. I felt a sensation of shear bloody relief similar to being released of some tremendous weight on my shoulders as we decelerated up the short runway with nothing more than a slight shimmying effect. Someone clapped. Someone else then cheered .... whilst someone else yet again called out loudly to the pilot .... "GOOD BOY" !!!!
He just turned and grinned with appreaciative acknowledgement.
As we taxied up to one of offices/aviation workshops/hangars everyone on duty there lined up outside to witness arrival of the damaged WIDGEON with its lucky passengers and pilot. Pulling up on the apron the aircraft was shutdown and we couldn't get out of the bloody thing quickly enough.
As we exited I couldn't resist inspecting the damage up close and personal from the outside. The thing that astounded me most (and still does today after some 22 years) was the "V-shaped" bottom of thatdamaged float (it's strongest part) had been buckled inwards for some 6-8 inches along a good 2-3 feet along its length as it absorbed the impact forces .... INCREDIBLE. It's really indicative of how strong an aircraft the little GRUMMAN WIDGEON/GOSLING really is.
X-ray inspections over following days were even more telling too .... so I learned later from Sea Bee Air's Chief Pilot (another good friend of mine). He called me into his office a week later and simply said to me .... "HOW's YOUR VERTIBRATE" ?
He then went on to say .... "I'M REALLY SORRY ABOUT WHAT HAPPENED OUT THERE MATE" .... "BUT" .... "I TRUELY CONSIDERED IT (conditions) WORKABLE BY MY OWN STANDARDS AND I ORDERED (pilot) TO DO THE FLIGHT".
I responded saying .... "I KNOW IT WAS CLOSE BUT HOW CLOSE WERE WE REALLY" ?.
He then lapsed into a serious and very pensive composure as he leaned forward on the desk and spoke in lowered tones .... "BETWEEN YOU ME AND THE FENCE POST MATE YOU'RE LUCKY TO BE HERE".
He then elaborated further .... "X-RAYS ON THE AIRFRAME INDICATE IMPACT STRESSES HAVE BENT THE AIRCRAFTS WING SPAR, CRUMPLED IT'S CENTER SECTION WHICH HAS THEN DELAMINATED FROM THE HULL FRAMEWORK INSIDE AND BUCKLING THE SKIN OUTWARDS, BOTH ENGINE MOUNTS ARE CRACKED AND THE ENGINES NATURAL UPWARDS CANTER HAS BEEN LEVELLED TO AN ALMOST PERFECTLY HORIZONTAL AXIS", AS WELL AS THE FLAP AND FLOAT DAMAGE YOU KNEW ABOUT".
There was some $40,000 dollars damage done to the aircraft as a result of this incident. It was then out of service for almost 9 months being repaired.
The Chief Pilot was flying one of Sea Bee Air's GOOSE out to Great Barrier Island that same afternoon of our meeting and invited me to join him .... "FREE".
Despite having a nasty fright the week before of course I went along for the ride. I think the best way to return to normality is to confront one's fears directly .... which I did .... and for doing so was as right as rain again within a short while afterward.
I was even later told by the companies boss that whenever there existed a spare seat just put your name on the manifest, jump aboard, and go for the ride .... which I did in fact do .... many times over. They were only too relieved the incident never made media or regulatory attention.
As I mentioned above, the pilot of this particular flight and myself have since become reasonable friends. Over the years we've caught up with each other a number of times and often recall events of that particular flight. I often initiate conversation saying .... "IT WAS A GOOD BANG AYE" !!!! .... to which he generally always grins as he replies .... "YEAH SHE WAS A BEAUTIE ALRIGHT" !!!!
He then once went on to say .... "I NEVER WANTED TO DO THAT FLIGHT BUT AGAINST MY OWN BETTER JUDGEMENT I ALLOWED MYSELF TO BE TALKED INTO IT" .... "THEY TOLD ME DO THE FLIGHT OR GO HOME" ..... "AND IF YOU DO GO HOME THEN DON'T CALL US" .... "WE'LL CALL YOU" !
Despite very bad operational decisions made that day someone higher than "Flight Level THREE- FIVE-ZERO" was definitely watching over us. Anything less and you wouldn't be reading these words .... maybe I should have bought a lotto/lottery ticket that same week too .... what a pitty I didn't
I couldn't resist sharing my WIDGEON/GOSLING experience and what I really thought (at the time) was going to be my last ever flight in the light of its FS release.
I hope you enjoyed this virtual ride with me .... another nightmere trip down memory lane.
Mark C
Last edited by Mark C on 05 Jun 2006, 00:48, edited 5 times in total.
I know you think you understand what you thought I said but what you thought you heard is not what I meant !
-
Garry Russell
- The Ministry
- Posts: 27180
- Joined: 29 Jan 2005, 00:53
- Location: On the other side of the wall
Wow Mark
Thanks for all that work
Always nice to read real world stories and as often the case...not as they would appear in the official texts.....like the time I sat in an Air UK Friendship while they repaired the non closing rear door with a large hammer. :shock:
Anyway great little read that.
Garry
Thanks for all that work
Always nice to read real world stories and as often the case...not as they would appear in the official texts.....like the time I sat in an Air UK Friendship while they repaired the non closing rear door with a large hammer. :shock:
Anyway great little read that.
Garry
Garry
"In the world of virtual reality things are not always what they seem."
"In the world of virtual reality things are not always what they seem."
GOD !like the time I sat in an Air UK Friendship while they repaired the non closing rear door with a large hammer.
The things some people/companies do .... just to shut a bloody door
Mark C
I know you think you understand what you thought I said but what you thought you heard is not what I meant !
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speedbird591
- Battle of Britain
- Posts: 4038
- Joined: 24 Jun 2004, 05:56
- Location: Wiltshire, UK
- Contact:
Fantastic story, Mark. It was all the more vivid for me as I have flown in a Sea Bee Goose from Auckland for a day out on one of the islands. I particulary remember that when we boarded the pilot was up on the wing topping up the engine oil. As he came inside, wiping his hands on an oily rag, he saw me struggling with my seat belt. He said "I wouldn't worry about that, mate. We hardly ever crash."
I thought it was funny at the time......
I thought it was funny at the time......
Judging by the phraseology .... which seems all too familiar"I wouldn't worry about that, mate. We hardly ever crash."
I'm pretty darned sure the pilot who flew you on the GOOSE is most probably the very same Chief Pilot I referred to later in my story.A good friend of mine
Mark C
I know you think you understand what you thought I said but what you thought you heard is not what I meant !
YEAH .... I've had a few nasty frights in aeroplanes both before and since the story related above.
Either someone's really got it in for me .... or .... I can't take a hint
OH WELL ! .... If one's keen enough they keep comming back for more.
I think a nasty fright from time to time really does one good .... because it makes one appreciate all the more what a great experience "life" really is
Mark C
Either someone's really got it in for me .... or .... I can't take a hint
OH WELL ! .... If one's keen enough they keep comming back for more.
I think a nasty fright from time to time really does one good .... because it makes one appreciate all the more what a great experience "life" really is
Mark C
I know you think you understand what you thought I said but what you thought you heard is not what I meant !
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Kevin Farnell
- Vintage Pair
- Posts: 2083
- Joined: 26 Jun 2004, 13:29
- Location: Willingham, Cambridge UK.
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Scary storey, Mark!!!
I had a trip on a Grumman Widgeon of Aquatic and Vintage Airways about 12 years ago.
We had a nice little trip around the Bay of Islands (NZ). The pilot, seeing that I had my camera with me, invited me to sit up front.
Fortunately, everything went as planned.
Taking off and landing on water is superb.
Regards
Kevin
I had a trip on a Grumman Widgeon of Aquatic and Vintage Airways about 12 years ago.
We had a nice little trip around the Bay of Islands (NZ). The pilot, seeing that I had my camera with me, invited me to sit up front.
Fortunately, everything went as planned.
Taking off and landing on water is superb.
Regards
Kevin
Sadly the AQUATIC & VINTAGE AIRWAYS Widgeon (ZK-CFA .... the aircraft involved in my incident) is no more. Withdrawn from service during the late 1990's I believe it's now sitting in dismantled state inside some private hangar around South Auckland.had a trip on a Grumman Widgeon of Aquatic and Vintage Airways about 12 years ago
I know the owner of this aircraft. When we met he was very surprised to learn about my connection with it .... in terms of the accident/incident .... right down to the correct log book entries and out of service dates. Apparently (so he said) that whole center section of ZK-CFA had been tweaked as a result of the "heavy take-off" impact I/we suffered and despite repair work. It wasn't sufficient to ground the aircraft, but (again according to him), there were on-going rammifications to the structure which they (susequent pilots) all knew about. He went on to say .... "it's difficult to imagine how anyone could have escaped such impact withoout spinal damage". 22 years later I'm still feeling OK .... or at least I was earlier this morning.
The only other then operational Widgeon in New Zealand (ZK-AVM) later flew for a while with Pahia (Bay of Islands) based SALT AIR .... same family BTW as AQUATIC & VINTAGE AIRWAYS .... who also withdrew this aircraft some time around the very late 1990's. It's never flown since .... and I doubt it ever will again either.
Apart from historical value there's no significant market anywhere for a now delapidated salt water Widgeon.
Mark C
I know you think you understand what you thought I said but what you thought you heard is not what I meant !