You certainly don't expect a wing to fall off the aircraft -- that calamity doesn't have a page in the emergency checklist.

Condolences to the survivors of both pilots.

No one can prepare for a tragic loss; it comes like a swift wind. However, take comfort in knowing that the poor souls are now resting in peace. I regret that Peter and bdarnell dont have the capacity to understand my words of condolence and resort to negative expression Shame on you guys! Two young lives lost with soo much life left is tragic. Before jumping into the pool make sure it has water in it. As a pilot my heart cries anytime someone is injured or dies in a tragic plane crash.

"According to (NTSB) data, there has been only one other fatal crash involving Embry-Riddle aircraft at Daytona Beach International Airport since 1994."

"...since 1994". I remember when I was a student there in late '65 and a Cherokee 140 augered in with an instructor on board, killing both. Horrible day for both the school and students.

Let’s all scream for blood over a figure of speech that we didn’t understand. We’re all very impressed that you can be mad about things.

So much dumb... sooo much dumb.

They found cracks in the spars of the sister ship arrow at the school. They were on downwind departure and told to extend downwind they responded then the wing simply came off the airplane.Plane did two turns and impacted inverted. I myself would ground entire fleet.

Holy cow, people. Try to focus on the loss and stop finding reasons to criticize/hate people. Good Lord! How angry are you?

The danger? But danger is one of the attractions of flight.

— Jean Conneau, 1911.

Aviation in itself is not inherently dangerous. But to an even greater degree than the sea, it is terribly unforgiving of any carelessness, incapacity or neglect.

— Captain A. G. Lamplugh, British Aviation Insurance Group, London. c. early 1930's.


Loss of life in aviation is never in vain. We will all learn from this.

All the back and forth arguing on here could have been avoided if FA gave us the ability to delete or edit our comments. Sure would save a lot of hassle. Don't understand why that's not possible.

My post was simply meant to be a metaphor to express my condolence regarding loss of live at such a young age of the two pilots. A metaphor is a figure of speech that describes an object or action in a way that isn’t literally true.

Mr. 30west I hope you are much better at reading clearances.

So sad two young trees with a lot of growing time ahead. RIP my friends.

...witnesses said a wing "fell off"?...I remember back in the days when the Mooneys couldn't drop their gear (late 70s)...Godspeed to both, for they fly freely now...

Can't tell for sure but it kinda looks like both wings are there in the one pic ?? What am I missing?

Any aircraft that goes down is tragic. In this case, I hope all the students will be able to learn something when the NTSB/FAA finish the accident report. This event might be enough of an emotional experience for some that they will help avoid similar events in the future. We all learn over time that we can break the chain of events in cases like this and that is what make flying as safe as it is. My prayers go out to the families of both pilots and to those who have worked on the plane. For those people, it will be with them the rest of their life.

THat's tragic.
I had a friend in New Jersey that was a grad of Embry-Riddle. He went on to a career in the Air Force flying C-5's out of Dover.

It would seem very unlikely that during climb out that the pilot put enough stress on the airframe to cause a wing to depart the aircraft. I can only surmise that some one previously overstressed the airplane and did not report it as Embry-Riddle is a top notch company and I am quite sure they maintain their aircraft accordingly. we will see, sad for the aviators loss of life at such a young age

In 1999 I believe, the Prescott campus of Embry-Riddle lost two students in one aircraft.
It was heartbreaking to fly over that scene. Such dedicated, talented, responsible lives taken so tragically without warning. First reports attributed it to a downdraft that created an unrecoverable spin.

This is a sad tragedy, actually, it goes without saying because any reasonable person feels that way. A diversion from the subject was created earlier in the posts by Lentner. He felt the need to make a post using very obscure language, not everyone understood his meaning, but their interpretations were not unreasonable. Qualities that are important for a pilot to have are good communication skills, pride/ego that is in check, and responsibility. Lentner was lacking in all three of those areas. He chose language that was readily misunderstood. He failed to acknowledge his choice of words could have been better and proceeded to impune the intellect of those who did not understand his obscure reference. Not good.