This morning a pilot was killed while on an instrument approach into
Concord, NC.  It's one more tragic example of what has been written about in
AOPA and other aviation oriented magazines, showing that each accident is
the result of a series of events.

Conditions at Concord this morning were 200 ft. with <1/2 visibility with
fog.  I dont' know the exact time, but it was somewhere around 7:30AM.  The
pilot was on final approach LOC 20.  The approach has an ILS, however, the
Glideslope has been out for the past few days.  The pilot was familiar with
the aiport and had been in their, delivering bank checks for the company he
was working for, yesterday as well.  What took place is, at this time, only
conjecture, but several indivuals at a flight school there knew him and
theorized what might have happened.

Being a LOC approach, the minimum decent altitude is 400 above the runway.
The ceiling being 200 feet meant he was still in the clouds.  It was
theorized that since he was familiar with the airport and the surrounding
terrain, he dropped down a couple of hundred feet more.  Just north of the
runway is a quarry which is located on the other side of a road that runs
about 1/2-3/4 mile north of the runway threshhold.  This road and the edge
of the quarry are probably 50 ft. higher than the runway.  He struck a power
line which is probably another 35-40 above that level.  So, if this scenario
is correct, and he was at 200 ft. above the runway, he could have been just
over 100 ft. above the power lines.  And of course, the allowable altimeter
error is 75 ft.  It looks as though it was a direct result of pilot error.
Now for the really sad part of this accident.

The pilot was working for a check delivery company that was going out of
business as of this afternoon.
The pilot wasn't scheduled to fly today, but the scheduled pilot called and
cancelled, and he was asked to take the flight.
As mentioned above, the conditions were such that he couldn't have legally
landed at Concord, and being the last day of the company's existence, was he
afraid of a scolding?
Monday, according to the individual who runs the flight school at Concord,
he was supposed to take on a new job, I believe with one of the commuter
lines.

Having an instrument rating is one of the most useful ratings that a pilot
can earn.  However, the rules were made for a reason and instrument
conditions are a time that you cannot bend those rules.

Dave Kuc

Sad, but to quote my father, a very high time military and private instrument
pilot  "They don't even kill themselves in new and interesting ways, they just
keep using the same old, tired ways of killing yourself in an airplane".    I
have really gotten sick of hearing about some idiot who violates several of
the important saftey rules of flying, predictably gets creamed and then we
stand around and say "what a shame".  BS, what a waste of a perfectly good
airplane.  I've just run out of patience with this kind of irresponsible
flying.  We
should not accept this any more than we accept drunk driving.  Guys that bust
minimums and survive are not heroes, they are lucky idiots.  We should tell
that to the next "friend" that brags about "so I just popped down a little
bit more
and there was the runway".  Do you respect someone who puts one round in
the cylinder of a revolver, spins and a clicks it at his/her head?  Why not, it
is about the same thing.

Bill

 
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