Watch Airplane Crash Into SUV As it Lands at Denton County Airport

By Eric Nicholson Mon., Nov. 5 2012 at 10:00 AM

NBC DFW

William Davis is just learning to fly an airplane, so his wife was filming as he brought a 2005 Cessna Skyhawk in for a landing Saturday at Northwest Regional Airport in Roanoke, Texas. Then, an SUV drove in his way. He hit it, the plane crashed, and you can see it all on the video above, courtesy of NBC 5. The couple in the car suffered minor injuries. Davis walked away unscathed.

View more videos at: http://nbcdfw.com.

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ozonelarryb

Darwin almost got one. SUV s just vapid yupsterspeak for 'Able to convince myself it ain't a station wagon.'

ThePosterFormerlyKnownasPaul topcommenter

Ooops ...

I would love to hear the conversations with the various insurance adjusters ...

Montemalone topcommenter

2 Like

What a fucking moron, and yes, I know that's redundant to say of an suv owner, but what the fuck?

I hope he sues the shit out of them.

holmantx topcommenter

The county is liable. That road is not supposed to be there. Auto drivers are not conditioned to look out for low-flying aircraft and most people do not look up, even at a low angle.

James080

@holmantx They ignored a STOP sign. They were driving on a street which connects east hanger to west hangers....and serves no other areas of the city, so they were likely familiar with airport operations and they knew the street crossed the threshold of the runway. They were negligent and should be sued, and they should thank their version of god that they didn't kill that young man through their own stupidity. If you saw them interviewed you would see that they knew they screwed up.

holmantx topcommenter

@James080 the one painted on the asphalt?

that public right of way should not be there.

plfarmer

With everything else, I'm betting new upholstery is needed.

TheCredibleHulk topcommenter

@plfarmer New underwear, at a minimum.

pilotpoint

The plane landed at "a Denton County airport" (Northwest Regional, not to be confused with Denton Municipal Airport).

The car was driving across a public road on airport property , but there were warning signs to watch for planes:

http://maps.google.com/maps?q=northwest+regional+airport&hl=en&ll=33.05651,-97.232282&spn=0.001768,0.003449&fb=1&gl=us&hq=northwest+regional+airport&hnear=0x864c212bbbdd571f:0x9c1efd49b3841d5d,Carrollton,+TX&cid=0,0,2601765101595950634&t=h&layer=c&cbll=33.056781,-97.232601&panoid=BtY5BVuYiVRIY4JPO_AIKA&cbp=11,97.59,,0,0&z=18

The plane was too low coming in whether or not it hit the car (check at :42 on the video). That runway is plenty long enough where don't you need that low of an approach.

So all you can concluded at this point is that the car and plane both were not ideally located:

http://www.pilotsofamerica.com/forum/showthread.php?p=1018715

ScottsMerkin topcommenter

@pilotpoint even so, the plane has the right of way, no matter how high or low it is. and when listening to mulitple interviews, their stories contradict each other and change.

pilotpoint

@ScottsMerkin You are assuming the vehicle occupants could see the plane in time. That could be a faulty assumption considering how low the plane was. The runway threshold is clearly marked hundreds of feet south of that road.

ScottsMerkin topcommenter

@pilotpoint you are correct that we are assuming, since in his first interview he was the plane and thought is was low, he wife said they never saw the plane. then in the next interview he said he saw it at the last second and had no time to think before they got hit , and also stated he never saw it at all. hmmm.

chasd00

wow, driver's side too. wouldn't it be pretty much instinctive to look out your window for a plane when crossing a runway? the fail is strong in this one.

ScottsMerkin topcommenter

1 Like

and the stupid fucks in the car blamed the pilot saying he was too low. No fuckstick, you drove across an active runway with a plane landing, that you stated you clearly saw. Lucky the plane didnt decapitate you