Aircraft crash

[Star Light]

It's a sad thing that people died in this crash, but there are so many lucky things about it. They could have been taking off in the other direction and crashed into houses in the city, he could have gone the other way and crashed into the trailer court, there could have been a soccer game going on and hundreds of kids could have been involved, they could have crashed on the beach on a day like today with hundreds of people there. It's too bad that the city is waiting for a major accident that kills a lot of people on the ground before they consider moving the airport to an area that allows the pilots more room for error.

Well said Doug. One question though, where would they move the airport to?

[gordon_as]

It's a volunteer, or "paid on call" fire hall in the landing. It takes time for the firefighters to get from home or work to the hall and then to the fire.

I thought that the city of Vernon took over the Landing Hall , and that there were paid professional city fire fighters on duty there. Assuming you are correct , the delay is understandable.

[tjc]

a few years ago the city of vernon fire chief (at the time) tried implementing full time staff for the landing hall based on a service review
at that time the public showed no interest and refused to accept full time firefighters in that area
the ok landing paid on call do an excelent job and the tax payers get a great deal for there tax dollars
to critisize them and say they took too long to respond is not fair on them,
they dont just sit around the hall waiting for the pager to go off, they have jobs and families to look after.
paid on call /volunteer fire depts do an outstanding job for the small stipend they recieve for dropping everything and reponding to a call.
10 minutes is by no means a slow response ,try dropping evrything at home, get in your car ,drive to the landing hall in traffic
open the hall,get in turn out gear, get on the truck with 5 others and drive to marshall field in traffic .
think you can do it in 10 minutes ?

[gordon_as]

Once again , I based my comments on the presumption that the OK landing hall was now staffed by city of Vernon professional firefighters. Apparently that is not so , so , as stated before " the delay is understandable "

I usually try to actually read the previous posts before jumping on someone.

[skydawg]

It's a sad thing that people died in this crash, but there are so many lucky things about it. They could have been taking off in the other direction and crashed into houses in the city, he could have gone the other way and crashed into the trailer court, there could have been a soccer game going on and hundreds of kids could have been involved, they could have crashed on the beach on a day like today with hundreds of people there. It's too bad that the city is waiting for a major accident that kills a lot of people on the ground before they consider moving the airport to an area that allows the pilots more room for error.

Maybe people should think twice before moving or building a house next to the airport. I think the airport was their long before many of the nearby houses.

Ridiculous post

[Doug Ferguson]

So skydawg, are you saying that airports should only be built away from houses in case the pilots need to make a crash landing? It would therefore make sense to only build airports in less desireable areas away from populated areas. Good thing we already have an airport like that only 20 minutes away in Kelowna. You're right, it does seem rediculous to have a private airport for those that can afford to have a plane that is subsidised by the Vernon taxpayers. The only thing most of us get out of the airport is a lot of NOISE and a chance to have our family killed by an airplane crash. I here that there is a petition to get rid of the airport, does anyone know if that is true???

[skydawg]

So skydawg, are you saying that airports should only be built away from houses in case the pilots need to make a crash landing? It would therefore make sense to only build airports in less desireable areas away from populated areas. Good thing we already have an airport like that only 20 minutes away in Kelowna. You're right, it does seem rediculous to have a private airport for those that can afford to have a plane that is subsidised by the Vernon taxpayers. The only thing most of us get out of the airport is a lot of NOISE and a chance to have our family killed by an airplane crash. I here that there is a petition to get rid of the airport, does anyone know if that is true???

No that is not what I said.

[Nahaatik]

Yeah, while were at it. Lets get rid of all the roads and cars. After all we are about a million times more likely to die there. Hey! How about doing away with all the bath tubs too, North Americans are about 1000% more likely to die in a bathtub fall than an airplane, let alone being actually struck by one on the ground.

How can you call it a private airport in one sentance then complain about the taxes you pay on it in the next? Make up your mind.

[coffeeFreak]

Get a grip people!! This is about a tragic accident where two people lost their lives...if you want to talk about Vernon's airport and its location how about starting another discussion on that specific topic?

[Doug Ferguson]

I would like to commend the volunteer fire department for the quick response, 10 to 15 minutes is very reasonable for any fire department.The only way to have faster response at the airport is to have an airport fire department like Kelowna has. They also have other safety minded things like security and a control tower.

[Verminator]

Very sad, but this isn't the first fatal crash at the Vernon airport and it won't be the last. I believe there was one only a short time ago, IIRC involving an ultralight, and I was involved in the aftermath of a very serious crash with 4 fatalities back in the 80s. If memory serves, that one went down in very similar circumstances and in the same general area. Unfortunately, when something goes wrong at an airport, it can become disastrous in the blink of an eye. When I was growing up in Edmonton which had a very busy airport right in the middle of the city, there were so many accidents and close calls they eventually had to shut it down. The one incident that really stands out in my mind occured in the early 70s when a twin-engined Mitsubishi MU-2 crashed into the top floor of the Royal Alexandra Hospital where my mother worked at the time. I also recall two other incidents where small aircraft landed on city streets only a few blocks from our house. Like I said, very sad. My condolences to all those involved, including the responders.

[rookie314]

Very sad, but this isn't the first fatal crash at the Vernon airport and it won't be the last. I believe there was one only a short time ago, IIRC involving an ultralight, and I was involved in the aftermath of a very serious crash with 4 fatalities back in the 80s. If memory serves, that one went down in very similar circumstances and in the same general area. Unfortunately, when something goes wrong at an airport, it can become disastrous in the blink of an eye. When I was growing up in Edmonton which had a very busy airport right in the middle of the city, there were so many accidents and close calls they eventually had to shut it down. The one incident that really stands out in my mind occured in the early 70s when a twin-engined Mitsubishi MU-2 crashed into the top floor of the Royal Alexandra Hospital where my mother worked at the time. I also recall two other incidents where small aircraft landed on city streets only a few blocks from our house. Like I said, very sad. My condolences to all those involved, including the responders.

You were doing great until the comment about the Municipal Airport in Edmonton. They did not have so many accidents they had to shut it down. They had very few accidents, it was shut down because it was to convenient and it is sitting on millions of dollars worth of land. Transport Canada had built the Edmonton International Airport out near Leduc in 1960 and it was being underutilized. They closed the Municipal airport and moved all Flights to the International making Edmonton one of the most inconvenient airports to fly into in North America. The MU2 was the only major accident (it only killed the crew, no one on the ground was killed or injured). As for the Vernon Airprot this has all been hashed over before. It is all about the cost of the land and the impression that only rich people use it. In fact it produces over $3.6 million in revenue for the city and is a major location for medical evacuation flights for people in the North Okanagan.

http://www.vernon.ca/services/airport/d ... t_2006.pdf

[Verminator]

You were doing great until the comment about the Municipal Airport in Edmonton. They did not have so many accidents they had to shut it down. They had very few accidents, it was shut down because it was to convenient and it is sitting on millions of dollars worth of land. Transport Canada had built the Edmonton International Airport out near Leduc in 1960 and it was being underutilized. They closed the Municipal airport and moved all Flights to the International making Edmonton one of the most inconvenient airports to fly into in North America. The MU2 was the only major accident (it only killed the crew, no one on the ground was killed or injured). As for the Vernon Airprot this has all been hashed over before. It is all about the cost of the land and the impression that only rich people use it. In fact it produces over $3.6 million in revenue for the city and is a major location for medical evacuation flights for people in the North Okanagan.

http://www.vernon.ca/services/airport/d ... t_2006.pdf

I stand corrected as to the actual reasons behind the closing of the Edmonton Municipal Airport, but it definitely had it's share of accidents and close calls, including one that I was personally involved in. As a kid I was aboard a CP Air DC-6 bound for Calgary in the mid-60's that suffered an engine fire just before take-off. Had that happened during take-off I wouldn't be sitting here typing this and that airport would've been closed years ago. I guess what I'm trying to say is that airports in built-up areas can be more dangerous than most of us want to think. I can't imagine the consequences had that Apache crashed into the soccer arena while it was full of people.

[Queen K]

Get a grip people!! This is about a tragic accident where two people lost their lives...if you want to talk about Vernon's airport and its location how about starting another discussion on that specific topic?

I didn't know how this could get worse but it did, the surviving spouses are sisters! OMIGOD!

[Doug Ferguson]

Yeah, while were at it. Lets get rid of all the roads and cars. After all we are about a million times more likely to die there. Hey! How about doing away with all the bath tubs too, North Americans are about 1000% more likely to die in a bathtub fall than an airplane, let alone being actually struck by one on the ground.

How can you call it a private airport in one sentance then complain about the taxes you pay on it in the next? Make up your mind.

What I mean by private airport is that only people with airplanes can use it. There is no commercial scheduled flights that are available to the average taxpayer. If you check the minutes of the Vernon council meeting of July 31 2012 you will see this:
$400,000, to place runway overlay at Vernon Regional
Airport; with matching funds in the amount of $200,000 to be
realized from the Infrastructure Reserve Fund;
This is why I say the taxpayer helps support the airport.