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Car hits RV-8 on takeoff

Award Winner!

Oh no!

That looks like Steve Formhals award-winning -8!!:(

However, as impressive and important as the plane might be, the article says that the pilot was airlifted to the hospital....and Steve has impressed me th couple times I have met him as a wonderful guy, and great contributor to our chosen field. Hopes are with him!

Louise was just remarking this weekend at how my own airport is seeing more and more conflicts between cars and airplanes on the many taxiways that are used as roads through the hangar areas. Please everyone, do your bit and if you see someone driving faster than a slow walk, capture the person and explain the serious nature of airplanes mixing with cars!

Paul
 
How sickening to have something like this happen. I just noticed that on the "Some People Thread" Steve stated that he was leaving his field because of an event that would possibly have folks he didn't want near his airplane. How tragic that he might have flown off and found some of those people anyway. :( What a shame...
 
That's an unfortunate story. Hope everyone recovers.

One question... I've been to Bourne Stage Field and don't remember any issues with auto traffic interfering with the runway or even houses adjoining the field.

What did I miss?
 
Kyle Boatright said:
That's an unfortunate story. Hope everyone recovers.

One question... I've been to Bourne Stage Field and don't remember any issues with auto traffic interfering with the runway or even houses adjoining the field.

What did I miss?
Click to expand...

There is a crossing from one side to the other over the runway for cars getting from houses to FBO side.
 
From the article said:
The...kit plane appears to have T-boned the car, officials said.
Click to expand...
OMG, YGBFSM. At least at the end of the article they state that cars don't have the right of way.

Looks like the plane is gone. Hopefully the pilot and the others are all ok. If anybody hears how we can help, please pass it along.
 
Ugh. I hate to see stuff like this happen. There will be plenty of time for investigation and assigning blame later, but please, please don't be in a hurry in your car at the airport. Think of the consequences in terms of pain, dollars and hours of effort and life lost....

When I come and go at ADS, I have to drive down the taxiway to the gate, and several rows of T hangars feed onto that taxiway (gate A-2). One of them is a blind corner as the taxiway makes a turn. I always open the windows or sunroof when driving and I normally stop and crawl forward when I approach that corner. One time earlier this year, I heard an airplane as I approached the corner and stopped. About 5 seconds later, bonanza came around the corner pretty fast and would have certainly nailed me even if I were on the far side of the taxiway - no time for it to stop.

So, please, be careful in both your car and airplane.

TODR
 
N628RV

Yes it was Steve. Miraculously there were no life or limb threatening
injuries. Steve is cut, bruised, stitched, has a damaged back, and in
need of better pain meds. We will visit him in the hospital tomorrow.

Steve and I planned a routine flight today. Wheels up at 10:30AM,
join up in the air North of San Antonio and then on to Llano for an early
lunch. No Steve on the radio? Met the rest of the gang at Llano. After landing a friend called and gave the news.

I will give the short story and leave the details for Steve.

Steve departed runway 17 at Boerne Stage (5C1). There is a
displaced threshold with a road crossing the end of threshold
at the beginning of the runway (Look at the picture on Airnav).
Standard departure is from the beginning of the threshold. The car
passed from right to left. The owners home, gliders and several
homes/hangers are on the west side of the runway requiring them
to cross the runway to enter/exit. The plane is severely damaged,
one or possibly both fuel tanks were ruptured, Steve was pinned
in the plane. Bystanders had to pry and cut him free.

As pilots one of our most important responsibilities is risk
management. Many times the problem crosses our minds barely
noticed or becomes painfully obvious only after an accident. When
we see a safety concern it is our responsibility to follow thru and
bring it to the attention of whomever neccessary. This accident
finds us noticing local problems. Do not let it slide and later regret
it.

George Meketa
RV8, N444TX
 
Car driver

444TX said:
....
As pilots one of our most important responsibilities is risk
management. Many times the problem crosses our minds barely
noticed or becomes painfully obvious only after an accident. When
we see a safety concern it is our responsibility to follow thru and
bring it to the attention of whomever neccessary. This accident
finds us noticing local problems. Do not let it slide and later regret
it.

George Meketa
RV8, N444TX
Click to expand...

George... thanks for the good description.... this has been a concern at our Airpark too.

Any word on whether the car driver was a local (resident?) or a non-aviation visitor/lookey-loo?

Send best wishes to Steve for a speedy recovery...

gil A
 
Google Earth also gives a very clear representation of what happened here. I had a hard time believing that the woman had just pulled out of her driveway as described in the article until I saw the single house just to the west of the displaced threshold on Google Earth.

Hoping Steve has a speedy and complete recovery from his physical injuries. The mental anguish from the loss of his beautiful airplane may take longer to heal than his physical injuries. Sounds like he was a very lucky guy that there was no post crash fire. I'll take that kind of luck whenever I'm given it.

444TX said:
...Steve departed runway 17 at Boerne Stage (5C1). There is a
displaced threshold with a road crossing the end of threshold
at the beginning of the runway (Look at the picture on Airnav).
Standard departure is from the beginning of the threshold. The car
passed from right to left. The owners home, gliders and several
homes/hangers are on the west side of the runway requiring them
to cross the runway to enter/exit. The plane is severely damaged,
one or possibly both fuel tanks were ruptured, Steve was pinned
in the plane. Bystanders had to pry and cut him free....

George Meketa
RV8, N444TX
Click to expand...
 
az_gila said:
Any word on whether the car driver was a local (resident?) or a non-aviation visitor/lookey-loo?



gil A
Click to expand...

A local newspaper report found on line (may or may not be accurate) Said the driver was the daughter of the airport owner. It didn't say whether she was a resident of the airpark or not.
 
Locals

rvbuilder2002 said:
A local newspaper report found on line (may or may not be accurate) Said the driver was the daughter of the airport owner. It didn't say whether she was a resident of the airpark or not.
Click to expand...

Thanks Scott... the airport web page pictures seemed to imply that the house in question was the owner and/or managers residence...

Unfortunately, my local observations seem to show that "locals" seem to violate active runways more than visitors...:confused:

Our airpark also has a road crossing near one end of the runway...

gil A
 
Hey Steve

I'm blown away by what happened but I'm really glad your OK...heres to a speedy recovery and a quick and fair settlement!

Frank
 
I drooled on his 8 at LOE, but have not met him yet. What a piece of art, what a shame.

Get well soon Steve.
 
N628RV

Everyone went to the hospital to visit Steve today. Blackberry cobbler
from Coopers BBQ in Llano helped his spirits. He's pretty beat up, but
should go home tomorrow.

After the visit we went to see the plane. Steve had no idea how bad it was,
the airframe is a total lose with unbelievable damage. I have a bunch of pictures, but do not know how to attach them. I will send them to Steve or he will put some others up later.

There was some good footage on the news last night.
www.ksat.com
Go to VIDEO and there is a box to open the clip.

George Meketa
RV8, N444TX

Saw this on CNN tonight, Rosie
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Car hits Rv

Steve,

Don't know if you remember me from St. Louis when I was in EAA Chapter 32, but I am real sorry to hear about your incident. Hope you get well soon and get to build another RV as good as the one that was wrecked.

Jim Cone
 
N628RV

I just posted a thread the other day asking him about his panel.....How SAD:(

Hope his physical injuries heal well and soon! (the emotional scarring will likely last much longer..)
 
Best wishes for a speedy recovery, Steve.

Please let us know if there's anything we can do for you. I know the collective RV community will be happy to help you with any rebuilding efforts, encouragement, and morale support you might need or want (not to mention flying opportunities when you're ready for them.)

You'll get back where you were -- keep your chin up.
 
CNN Video

Looks like CNN picked up on this and they have a video clip of the scene.

http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/us/2007/10/14/vo.tx.car.vs.plane.ksat

Steve if you read the forums, GET WELL SOON. [ed. He does, Gary. He is 'sf3543' in here (with over 500 posts). dr]

If you want to talk to someone that had a car drive into their running airplane, contact me off list. STATE FARM would NOT pay. They tried to BLAME the airplane that was taxing on an airport. I had to pay a lawyer $11K and go through two and one half years of being blamed by them.
 
444TX said:
Everyone went to the hospital to visit Steve today. ...snip
Click to expand...

George, could you tell me (us) what hospital Steve is in? I'd like to send him a get well card today (if you think appropriate).

Best,
Doug
 
Steve,

When you are building your next RV (?) and need a ride for a Coopers Bar-B-Que fix give me a call any time. Here's hoping for a speedy recovery.

Mark
RV-10/N410MR
 
I believe that not only should the vehicles be at walking speed, but the airplanes should taxi slow as well. There are times that I see an airplane taxi speed in the 30mph range, way to fast. Many times when I taxi my airplane there are vehicles along the path. I generally stop and let them go by, most the time I have to motion them to go. I'd rather take a little extra time getting to the runway than kissing a vehicle. I'm a tail dragger and everything on the right side is basically unseen and weaving back and forth is not an option either in some areas, so a slow taxi is the ticket.

I remember just a couple weeks ago there was an aircraft not being recieved on radio, it's possible that he was hearing. I was catching on to this because the tower heard the scratching on the radio, so did I, but this guy never got clearance to enter classD airspace. We have two parrallel runways and at the time the right runway was closed with a truck on the runway, possibly replacing some lights, the truck was about 1000 ft down the runway. I was cleared for the left runway and at the time in the downwind. I looked over like I always do and check for traffic on the final approach. To my supprise I saw an airplane on final, there was no traffic cleared to land but me. Then I realised that he was landing on the right runway. I got on the radio and told the controller that there is a plane about to land on the runway and I see a truck on that runway. The controlled completely freaked and tried contacting the aircraft, no response. I noticed just before he touched down that he did a go around, so me making a radio call did prevent an accident, apparently he could hear. He was told to do a left turn and land on the left runway, which he did. Everything worked out on this one, but it was close, even in a controlled field things like this can happen.
 
Steve, you probably do not remember me but I met you at KSEP about a month ago when you and Bob Dean joined some of the Hicks BC group for BBQ at the Hard 8. I remembered how beautiful your 8 looked and how I wanted to shamelessly copy some of your neat ideas on my next (?) RV-8 project.

I can't imagine what you must be going through about now but all of us are thankful you survived and wish you a speedy and complete recovery. I'm betting that next project will really be a work of art.
 
Thanks to everyone!

This will be short, since I can only sit up for a few minutes at a time right now, but I want to thank everyone for all the help and well wishes that I have received. Sometimes you don?t realize how many really good friends you have until something like this happens. I?m having a hard time keeping the tears off the keyboard as I write this. I?m pretty much a physical and emotional wreck right now, but I will recover over time. Just got home from the hospital last night, but can?t do much. In the next week or so, maybe I?ll be able to take a ride out to the airport to see my plane.
Thanks, everyone, for all of your support and try to be safe out there.
 
Get well soon Steve. I can't imagine the heartbreak of having your beautiful aircraft destroyed after all the loving care you took building it.
I'm still building and after 6 years I know what it takes to build these things and how much you love it.
Danny RV-7A
 
Steve, glad you're better and Godspeed on your recovery. Remember that although your -8 was special, planes can be rebuilt - people are irreplaceable.

TODR
 
Steve,

Glad to hear that you are doing OK - all things considered. Best wishes for a speedy recovery. Hope the driver (your neighbor?) and passenger are doing ok too.

Best,

Rob
 
Steve,

Even though I have a recently-finished RV, I can only imagine how you feel. I hope I never know. Our hearts are heavy for your bird, but not nearly as heavy as if you had been totaled, too. Hang in there, and build something even better.

Bob Kelly
 
Hoping for a speedy recovery

Steve,
I just want to add my best wishes for a speedy recovery. I know that all our hearts are with you.
 
Man what a shame, that was one of the prettiest RVs in the world. After the wise words of my father when I bent a plane up "it's just metal it can be fixed, but body parts are hard to come by". Get well soon Steve! As discouraging as this must be get back in the saddle.

Oh yea if anyone knows where there is more pictures of this plane let me know.

Ted
 
Steve,

Good to hear you are home. I'm sure you are in a good pain, both emotional and physical. I hope all heals soon!

Look at this as an opportunity to build an even better plane, if that is even possible.

Wishing you a quick recovery!
 
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