Deland Police Change Story About Gus Wing

[Guest]

http://www.local6.com/news/5433006/detail.html

Pilot, Skydiver May Not Have Been Racing In Fatal DeLand Crash

POSTED: 6:51 am EST November 30, 2005

DELAND, Fla. -- DeLand police are recanting a previous report that said a skydiver died because he and a pilot raced each other to see who could land first.

A report released last month by the Federal Aviation Administration says pilot William Buchmann and skydiver Albert "Gus" Wing the Third would race each other to the ground for beer.

A spokesman for the police department says those comments are from people guessing as to what may have happened.

Wing of Longwood had jumped from the D-H-C-Six Twin Otter propeller plane during a jump organized by Skydive DeLand on April 23rd. Authorities say Wing deployed his parachute when he struck the left wing of the plane at about 600 feet.

Both of Wing's legs were severed at the knees, but he managed to maneuver his parachute and land near the airport. He died at a hospital.

Police say even though the two men were not racing each other, Buchmann should still be charged with manslaughter and reckless or careless operation of an aircraft.

Prosecutors will decide whether to pursue criminal charges when the National Transportation Safety Board finishes its crash investigation in the next three or four months.

Buchmann's pilot's certificate was suspended earlier this month for 270 days.



Copyright 2005 by The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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"The mouse does not know life until it is in the mouth of the cat."

[jumpergirl 0]

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Authorities say Wing deployed his parachute when he struck the left wing of the plane at about 600 feet.

That makes it sound like he opened WHEN he hit the plane. He wouldn't have opened at 600 feet. I hate reading skydiving articles written by non-jumpers.

[popsjumper 2]

and I hate cops who want this pilot charged with "manslaughter and reckless or careless operation of an aircraft."



Screwball FLA cops....their well-earned reputation preceeds them..



Dammit...I'm going back to bed....

My reality and yours are quite different.
I think we're all Bozos on this bus.
Falcon5232, SCS8170, SCSA353, POPS9398, DS239

[jumpergirl 0]

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and I hate cops who want this pilot charged with "manslaughter and reckless or careless operation of an aircraft."

Agreed.

[daniel_owen_uk 0]

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Authorities say Wing deployed his parachute when he struck the left wing of the plane at about 600 feet.

That makes it sound like he opened WHEN he hit the plane. He wouldn't have opened at 600 feet. I hate reading skydiving articles written by non-jumpers.

It doesn't just make it sound like, it does say that, it says he deployed when he struck the left wing. You would think they would check that sort of thing out before printing it.

__________________

BOOM Headshot

[RhondaLea 4]

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Screwball FLA cops....

That's a little too broad.

Screwball DeLand PD. There are so many things wrong with what they're doing, I've lost count.

rl

If you don't know where you're going, you should know where you came from. Gullah Proverb

[davelepka 4]

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Buchmann should still be charged with manslaughter and reckless or careless operation of an aircraft.

Wasn't he on final approach for landing? On an active runway, I'm guessing with radio contact?

Unless he was operating outside of standard landing config. (airspeed, approach, flaps, etc), I don't see how you could classify his actions as reckless or careless.

I can't believe that the Deland PD doesn;t have an FAA liason in on this. How do the cops know what normal flight ops. are? Addtionally, didn't the FAA just reinstate his ticket? When was the last time they did that without an investigation of the accident?

The cops need to let this one go. I'm sure there's a half blind, senile senoir citizen making havoc on the roadways out there somewhere that needs attending to.

[sk1dvr 0]

How on earth can the police believe that this was anything but a horrible horrible accident? They have to have better things to do than continue persecuting someone who is already suffering for his friend.
I don't know any of the people involved in this accident but it sounds like they were both very safety conscious so I can't believe that either would put themselves, eachother or anyone else in harms way.
My prayers go out to all involved.

[jtval 0]

damn the ignorant media.
damn the ignorant police.
damn the ignorant.

I want to punch something when I read shit like this.
hell I wasnt even on the same side of the country and I know he didnt deploy at 600ft.
I stopped reading this like it was a news report and more like a twisited imagination of someone who had a first day on the job. (on both the COP and the authors job)

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[sunshine 2]

It's bad enough the pilot has to deal with losing his friend, but to be accused of manslaughter is ridiculous. Hopefully the pilot has a good support system of family and friends helping him through this difficult time.

___________________________________________
meow

I get a Mike hug! I get a Mike hug!

[skymama 37]

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Hopefully the pilot has a good support system of family and friends helping him through this difficult time.

He does. He's very well loved and respected in DeLand. He also has the support of Gus Wing's family which I'm sure means a lot to him.

She is Da Man, and you better not mess with Da Man,
because she will lay some keepdown on you faster than, well, really fast. ~Billvon

[billvon 2,998]

>How on earth can the police believe that this was anything but
>a horrible horrible accident?

Probably because they're Tough On Crime, which is a favorite selling point with local politicians - even when it makes little sense.

[Ron 10]

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Screwball DeLand PD. There are so many things wrong with what they're doing, I've lost count.

Being a little hard on them. Maybe this is too close to home for you.

Before people jump my shit, I knew Gus and know Buchmann.

Bill was flying a plane that hit a person under canopy. Accident? YES. But a person under canopy has the right of way being that they are less able to get out of the way than a plane.

If the police think that the pilot was acting in a reckless manner they ask the DA to bring charges. If the police do not know better they would rather mess up and ask the DA to bring charges than do nothing and maybe let a criminal escape.

Not saying Bill is guilty of anything. In fact he is one of the few pilots I trust 100%.

Do you really expect a cop who has no interest in skydiving of flying to know all they need to know about flying? Many people on here making comments of how "stupid" the police are are not much more trained or knowledgable in aircraft ops than the police.

Most are just knee-jerk reacting and jumping to defend a friend or fellow airman. Yet they claim the cops who are trying to do their job are "stupid".

Do I think Bill is guilty of anything? NOPE.

Do I think the police are trying to do their job? YEP.

Do I think that some people need to relax and trust that if Bill is innocent, he will be found innocent? YEP.

The cops are just trying to do their job and knee-jerk reactions yelling the cops are stupid don't help.

"No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

[rwieder 0]

Regardless who did what and whose fault it was...if anyone's. The fact is i'm sure Gus signed a waiver just like everyone else who skydives. Ultimately this means if you jump and get killed as a result of your skydive....no matter whose fault, you indemnify them for any liabilities for any accident or injury you sustain during skydiving operations. Assuming the pilot didn't "run him down like a dog" the pilot - dz and everything else included cannot be held responsable for this most unfortunate incident.

-Richard-
"You're Holding The Rope And I'm Taking The Fall"

[marks 0]

i agree ron, 100%

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Do you really expect a cop who has no interest in skydiving of flying to know all they need to know about flying?

but dont you think they should look at what the faa and the ntsb has found?

that would be part of their job, and i hope they are doing their job correctly, if they are, then everything should be fine.

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[marks 0]

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no matter whose fault, you indemnify them for any liabilities for any accident or injury you sustain during skydiving operations.

i dont think this applies to criminal charges that the "state" may go after you for. after all, the "state" didnt sign a waiver.

[billbooth 10]

Guys;

I know you're not going to believe this, but there's a few old pilots on the DeLand airport who just don't like jumpers. Over the past 15 years, they have tried everything they could to make life difficult for Skydive DeLand. When this accident happened, they jumped (pardon the pun) all over it. Rumor has it that they talked a local detective into filing charges on Bill...just out of spite.

Last month, a reported called me and asked me about the police report that said that Bill (in his airplane) and Gus (under his canopy) often played "chicken" while "racing" each other to the ground. I told him this was preposterous, and gave him all the reasons why. He told me he agreed...and then printed the story anyway. I hope he now realizes what a fool he was, and how much damage he did by printing something he knew was untrue...just because it made a good headline. Don't you just love the press.

[bob.dino 1]

There are libel laws in the USA, aren't there?

[NickDG 23]

>>you indemnify them for any liabilities for any accident or injury you sustain during skydiving operations.<<

My understanding of that is in most states you can't legally sign away your rights in the case of gross negligence against you. (This has nothing to do with the case in point).

Let's say Student Stevie zigs after I told him via radio to zag and he breaks his leg. In that case he shouldn't prevail in a suit against me.

Now let's say I gear check Student Stevie prior to a jump and miss the fact there's a temp pin stuck in his reserve and he goes in after a cutaway. In that case a waiver written by Perry Mason wouldn't save my sorry butt. And that's the way it should be.

Look at it another way. Your traveling with your rig and stop in at Drop Zone X-ray, a DZ you've never been to before. You sign the waiver, pay your bucks, and get in the Cessna. Twenty seconds after take-off the engine throws a rod, sprays the windshield with oil and the pilot makes a wild out of control crash landing that kills you.

After your funeral (it was a very nice affair) it comes to light the aircraft's engine is way past TBO (time before overhaul) and the DZO who's not a FAA rated mechanic has been keeping it going himself using counterfeit aircraft parts he gets from Mexico. In this case your heirs should be able to sue his ass out of existence.

Again, this is the way it should be . . .

NickD BASE 194

[RhondaLea 4]

PM sent.

There's always more to the story than what is posted, published and otherwise made known. I don't know why, but that's just the way it is. I disagree with you completely, and I stand by what I said.

rl

If you don't know where you're going, you should know where you came from. Gullah Proverb

[popsjumper 2]

Ditto

My reality and yours are quite different.
I think we're all Bozos on this bus.
Falcon5232, SCS8170, SCSA353, POPS9398, DS239

[UntamedDOG 0]

I realize that I am in the minority on this one, but I believe the pilot should face manslaughter charges. I want the laws changed.

Skydivers who are in freefall and under canopy should have “right of way”. I know the laws are currently written to say that neither party can lay claim to a specified airspace. This is foolish because skydivers don’t have wings. We fall straight down at high speeds and can’t always “spot” an aircraft if it decides to fly over our dropzone unexpectedly. There have been a lot of close calls at smaller dropzones where pilots don’t seem to acknowledge the dz’s existence.

Now the inevitable has finally happened and it’s as if the skydiving community has no idea how to feel about it. Why are we so eager to let this pilot walk away from a fatality?

Why shouldn’t he be held accountable for his actions or at the very least, heavily scrutinized? I’m sick of that “one big happy family” excuse. We are not a big happy family. We all have our own lives and skydiving is just a fraction that I am not willing to die for due to someone else’s negligence.

Could someone please explain to me why Gus's family is supporting the pilots actions?

UntamedDOG

[artistcalledian 0]

i've been thinking the same actually

I'm not saying the pilot isn't a good man, he may be Jesus reborn for all i know BUT he was responsible for flying a plane into a person under a canopy.... if he saw the person its muder/manslaughter or if he didn't see the person its just manslaughter

Its all very well wanting to wrap people up in cotton wool who participate in something we all do, but facts are facts...he was directly involved in the death of somebody through at minimum, negligence... at best recklessness

I'd be pretty fucked off if a pilot chopped my legs off under canopy at 600 feet, nomatter how hard he tried to protest he didn't see me. How can he not see a person under canopy? was he flying backwards?

________________________________________
drive it like you stole it and f*ck the police

[davelepka 4]

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Do you really expect a cop who has no interest in skydiving of flying to know all they need to know about flying?

If the police do not know better they would rather mess up and ask the DA to bring charges than do nothing and maybe let a criminal escape.

This is a valid point for most cases. In this case, however, the FAA and NTSB have set a precedent, and deemed this an 'accident'.

Both of those federal agencies are known for being stalllwarts for the regs., and for not cutting anyone any slack. In light of this, the cops need to acknowledge the expertise of the feds, and back off.

[davelepka 4]

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Why shouldn’t he be held accountable for his actions or at the very least, heavily scrutinized?

Weeeeeel doggie.

For starters, he was heavily scrutinized for actions, by the FAA, and he was deemed innocent of any wrong doing, and his ticket was re-instated.

As for his 'actions', my understanding is that he was flying a standard pattern, and landing on an active runway. Where is the fault in that?

I can understand if he was doing a fly-by, or similar 'stunt', but this was normal flight ops, by the books, there was nothing negligent about it.

In looking at it from a realistic standpoint (as opposed to a legal standpoint), who was the one in the wrong place? Did Gus not know that the plane was going to land? Was he unaware of the winds, and in turn, the active runway for that day? Did he not know the timing between his descent and an Otters descent?

The answer to all these questions is obvious. He was in a potential trouble spot, and he knew it. Gus was not a 'babe in the woods'. He was aware of his surroundings, and chose to put himself where he did.

Don't get me wrong, this was a terrible tragedy, and Gus was a great guy. But to think that between two professional aviators, that the one who was where he was supposed to be should be held accounteble for the accident is retarded. Don't give me the 'right of way' bullshit. There's a reason I don't land on the runway, it's not my space. If technically, I have the 'right of way', it doesn't make it right for me, as a professional, to set down there and hide behind the 'right of way' argument.