Aircraft accident

[acstoon]

As many of you may know, Mary, myself, and about 25 members of my family enjoy skydiving.
My parents' home is located about 1/2 mile away from the end of the small community airport runway, where we jump.
While hiding Easter eggs, for the grandkids' egg hunt, we noticed the jump plane taking off.
Nothing new there... but we commented that the landing gear was still down, at a point it should have been retracted.
Turns out, there was a problem:

GREENE TOWNSHIP, Monday, April 13 -- The pilot was the only person aboard a 14-passenger airplane that crash-landed Sunday at the Chambersburg Airport.
The pilot was not injured, according to the Franklin Fire Company Web site.
The plane, used for skydiving, took off from the local airport and experienced an electrical problem, according to Fire Chief Mark Trace. The pilot was forced to make an emergency landing around 3:30 p.m. The landing gear was lowered manually, but folded when the plane touched down. The airplane slid on its belly and stopped off the runway.
The fire company checked for fuel leaks and found none, Trace said. He notified the Federal Aviation Administration and the county and township emergency management agencies.

This is the same aircraft we have jumped from, many times;we know the pilot fairly well.

[BEEDEE]

Gulp. When I used to fly a lot, I was often asked "aren't you worried the plane might crash?" My standard answer was "If my time is up, my time is up. I just don't want to be on the plane the day the pilot's time is up."

Looks like that was not the day for the pilot's time to be up.

Brian

[gilmore]

OK, I'll bite.

Have you ever jumped kilted?

[acstoon]

LOL
No... that's a view I don't want to force upon the world.

[george7]

Lucky pilot. Unlucky aircraft. Good to hear he made it.

[Jack Daw]

I know an amateur pilot who loves to fly, but when he's a passenger on board a commercial airliner, he's very nervous.

[The Barry]

Sounds like the pilot did a fine job. Congrats to him!

[TexasMcGregor]

A lot of pilots are nervous when riding with another pilot, because they are not in control.

A friend of my Dad's was a fighter pilot in the Indian Navy. He hates flying in light aircraft, says they go to slow.

[Rex_Tremende]

Gulp. When I used to fly a lot, I was often asked "aren't you worried the plane might crash?" My standard answer was "If my time is up, my time is up. I just don't want to be on the plane the day the pilot's time is up."

And at the same time this week, in Florida, a pilot's time was up on take off, and the right person was in the cabin (with outstanding guidance from the ground) to put the plane back down again, sparing four lives.

Regards,
Rex.

[vmac3205]

So, to answer the question "why would you jump out of a perfectly good ariplane"? There are no perfectly good airplanes.