Plane down after takeoff from Key West

[stomaszewski]

Cessna N422G plane departed from Key West Friday night before midnight on its way to Leesburg when it hit a tethering cable for a blimp in restricted airspace.  Camera trained on the blimp captured the crash.
 

The blimp is used by the federal government to monitor suspected drug flights and other potentially harmful activity. The air space surrounding it is restricted.

[KSYR-pjr]

Oh, man.  If that is truly the cause then that is terrible and avoidable.  As you implied, the balloon is charted and in GPS databases.  Very unfortunate.

I have always wanted to fly down to Key West (a long flight from Central NY state, though), but the very first thing that pops into my mind when thinking of Key West is that balloon.

[KSYR-pjr]

For those unfamiliar, here's the chart with my annotations:

[KSYR-pjr]

Here's an article about the crash.  Full article can be found on the Sun-Sentinel website.

The article, Copyright © 2007, South Florida Sun-Sentinel, in part reads:

3 believed dead in small plane crash off Cudjoe Key

Associated Press
Posted April 21 2007, 12:44 PM EDT
 
CUDJOE KEY -- Three people are believed dead after a small plane hit a wire tethering a blimp and crashed off the Florida Keys, officials said Saturday. The plane crashed late Friday night, but officials were still sifting through wreckage Saturday. There were no survivors, and officials were still trying to determine the victims' identities, said Monroe County sheriff's spokeswoman Becky Herrin.

Witnesses reported seeing the plane crash about two miles off the northern shore of Cudjoe Key about 11:15 p.m. Friday, Herrin said.

The plane hit the tether wire at about 4,000 feet -- halfway between the ground and the blimp -- then crashed in about two feet of water. The cable was not sliced and the blimp does not appear to be damaged, Herrin said. A camera trained on the blimp captured the crash.

Edit:  Corrected typo in article link

[dave]

Ouch...that balloon is visibly from the ground when driving out toward Key West.  From a distance it's hard to make it out, but as you get closer you can tell what it is.

Terrible to hear about accidents like this - every time one occurs, it's a lesson to all of us who fly.  Brief all available information prior to a flight.  Complacency and rushing can be deadly.

-dave

[NWA ARJ]

Just goes to show that you can never be too vigilant when you fly.

[KSYR-pjr]

Brief all available information prior to a flight.  Complacency and rushing can be deadly.

Good point.  Interestingly, Syracuse, NY, airport changed their ATIS frequency the third week of March this year, or about a month ago.  This rather important fact was and still is NOTAM'ed while the charts play catch up (the approach plates still do not reflect this change a month later).   

There isn't an hour that goes by where an IFR aircraft just handed off to SYR approach checks in with "negative ATIS" (meaning that they were unable to retrieve the ATIS on what is now the unused frequency).  So far, SYR controllers have been very patiently responding with the fact that the ATIS changed frequencies and they even provide the new one with no mention of the NOTAM.  What is this fact really implying?  That the pilots do not have the current NOTAMs for the airport when they briefed the flight.   If they don't have that one, what other information might they be missing?

Know who the biggest offenders of this have been?  Airline pilots.  Um, does anyone recall a particular and avoidable Comair off-the-end-of-the-runway crash several months ago that, in part, had at least one contributing factor pertaining to airport NOTAMs?  Sheesh...