No Noticeable Damage

I read your magazine every month and have never written a letter on an article in my life, but will now. In the December 2016 issue, the first NTSB report involved a Vans RV-6 Experimental. The report states the commercial pilot and passenger were fatally injured; the airplane was destroyed...there was no noticeable damage to the fields corn stalks. Really? Someone should care about the corn stalks? Everything else was destroyed, including lives, but the corn stalks made it!

Editorial Staff

Friday, January 06, 2017 at 12:00 AM ET

Verified

Key Takeaways:

NTSB reports include seemingly minor details, like undamaged corn stalks, to describe crash dynamics and how an aircraft came to rest, which helps investigators understand the nature of the impact.
The FAA's ability to regulate and enforce the removal of physical obstructions (e.g., trees) on private property near airports is severely limited, impacting its tools for risk mitigation.
Restrictions on night instrument approaches due to 20:1 slope penetrations are a risk management strategy, applying stricter criteria for instrument operations at night when visibility of obstacles is reduced, rather than implying absolute danger.

See a mistake? Contact us.

I read your magazine every month and have never written a letter on an article in my life, but will now. In the December 2016 issue, the first NTSB report involved a Van’s RV-6 Experimental. The report states “the commercial pilot and passenger were fatally injured; the airplane was destroyed…there was no noticeable damage to the field’s corn stalks”

Really? Someone should care about the corn stalks? Everything else was destroyed, including lives, but the corn stalks made it! This should have been edited. If I was related to the people fatally injured in his accident, I would be appalled.