Posted on 04/28/2005 5:55:32 AM PDT by pabianice
A 20-year-old from Springfield who had hoped to swim in the Olympics was flying a single-engine plane to his college in Wisconsin late Monday night when he ran out of fuel over Lake Michigan.
Jonathan Leber, a blond competitive swimmer nicknamed "Ace" who sported a buzz cut, told a 911 dispatcher while sitting on the roof of his sinking plane that he had no flotation device and would try to swim the five miles to land.
As of last night, Mr. Leber had not been found, and the Coast Guard had called off its search for him.
In his call to the dispatcher, Mr. Leber remained calm.
"I need help really fast," he told the dispatcher at 11:45 p.m. "I'm in Lake Michigan. My plane ran out of fuel. ... I'm in the water..."
... Coast Guard Lt. Rolando Hernandez said Mr. Leber could not have survived more than three hours in the water. On Monday night, the air temperature was 32 degrees and the water was 44 degrees. The wind was blowing 1- to 3-foot waves away from land...
(Excerpt) Read more at insider.washingtontimes.com ...
This type of accident is too common.
I wonder why the reporter went in to so much detail about his hair in the second sentence of the article.
The seat cushion of most aircraft makes an adequate floatation device in an emergency. He didnt even have that!?
It's so that you get the stereotype right in your mind.
There's no bias in the MSM. No sir.
Graduate of the John F Kennedy Jr. School of Aviation Excellence.
AK, have you seen this one? Comments?
Ha!! Now that's funny.
Pilots' seats, and seats in small aircraft often don't come apart that way. Not having a floation device even if you don't think you'll be flying over water, just as a piece of standard equipment, is a good idea.
Part of your pre-flight checklist is making sure you have fuel. I feel bad for this guy, but he chose not to follow the safety rules.
Was it a suicide or simply a disappearance.
It is especially sad to hear of such a young promising individual getting caught in the trap of unforgiving pilot error.
At the risk of sounding MORE insensitive: What kind of foolish parents give their 20 yr old a plane to fly to school, without properly preparing him... most 20 year olds are still post-pubescent idiots, anyway! I bet they are thinking about it now.
Four of my five kids have had flight training, but I wouldn't think of letting them fly off to school! Give 'em a car, but still pray a lot!
I was thinking about buying a boat- until I started having nightmares about my 3 little girls suddenly washed overboard (with lifejackets- even in my dreams I am not stupid with my children)
In fact the entire dream consisted of how to protect them and tie them to the boat for safety - so I took it as a bad sign and didnt buy one.
I think it is common when boating solo to wear your floatation device 100% of the time AND tie yourself with wire line to your boat. I have the kind of luck where I would be the one to fall overboard and watch my boat sail away without me.
would a cell phone work 5 miles offshore?
how much does that suck...?
well, if the cold and the waves and the exhaustion didn't get him , the current would...everyone who lives around lake michigan has heard tons of stories over the years of wonderful swimmers drowning in the current in lake michigan.
Now there's a totally hosed sentence. Try again:
Pilots' seats, and seats in small aircraft often don't come apart that way. Having a floation device even if you don't think you'll be flying over water, just as a piece of standard equipment, is a good idea.
Sadly indeed...
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