RBD
Well Known Member
It's been one **** of a night. Long story short, my uncle lost power in his Mooney last night at 9:30pm and went down in the Bay of Florida (between the FL Keys and the mainland) with my cousin and her husband on board. He had picked them up in Tampa and was taking them down to Marathon (where my aunt and uncle live) for my aunt's big 50 birthday celebration that was planned for this evening. He called in a "mayday" to Miami center, who alerted the fine men and women of the US Coast Guard, who then promptly began a search mission. We all feared the worst, but hoped/prayed for the best. My family has been through this before when I lost another cousin on Swissair Flight 111. Amazingly, the USCG found all of three of them alive and relatively well (a few lacerations, one broken vertebrae, and lots of jellyfish stings) this morning. After successfully ditching in the water, the plane sank, of course, and they began floating. Eventually, they tied themselves to a lobster trap buoy and that's where they were found.
About two weeks ago, my uncle purchased a few inflatable life vests to keep in the plane. He hadn't flown anywhere since getting the vests, and threw them in his car before going to the airport yesterday afternoon. Apparently, he was in the plane and taxiing towards the runway for departure when he realized that he left the vests in the car. Having made the short over-water hop from Marathon to the mainland many many times without incident, he figured that he'd just get them the next time. Something told him otherwise and he taxied back to the ramp, shutdown, and got the vests. Pretty amazing that he was nudged into going back (I think we all know how easy it would be to continue on,) but the moral is to ALWAYS be prepared for a worst case scenario. Glad that this one has a happy ending.
Here's a link to the Coast Guard press release: http://www.news-press.com/article/20091010/NEWS01/91010023/1075
About two weeks ago, my uncle purchased a few inflatable life vests to keep in the plane. He hadn't flown anywhere since getting the vests, and threw them in his car before going to the airport yesterday afternoon. Apparently, he was in the plane and taxiing towards the runway for departure when he realized that he left the vests in the car. Having made the short over-water hop from Marathon to the mainland many many times without incident, he figured that he'd just get them the next time. Something told him otherwise and he taxied back to the ramp, shutdown, and got the vests. Pretty amazing that he was nudged into going back (I think we all know how easy it would be to continue on,) but the moral is to ALWAYS be prepared for a worst case scenario. Glad that this one has a happy ending.
Here's a link to the Coast Guard press release: http://www.news-press.com/article/20091010/NEWS01/91010023/1075
