[PCWorld]

Post your comments for Don't Text and Fly: Pilot Nearly Crashes Plane While Checking Text Messages here

[MichaelRousseau]

Yeah! Nice goof up there!

[peterq1td]

THAT'S FUNNY SHALL THEY ALWAYS FOLLOW THE INSTRUCTION BY CREWS FOR SAFETY BRIEFING.

LUCKILY, THEY DID NOT TAKE DRUGS MAKING THEIR EYES BLURRY AND HEADS SHAKY WHEN FLYING AS EVER HEARD OF SOME PILOTS OF ONE CERTAIN AIR LINER OVER THE SKY OF INDONESIA SERVING THEMSELVES WITH "HAPPY PILLS".

OBVIOUSLY, THEY ALL HAVE FUN UP THERE!

[peterq1td]

THAT'S FUNNY SHALL THEY ALWAYS FOLLOW THE INSTRUCTION BY CREWS FOR SAFETY BRIEFING.

LUCKILY, THEY DID NOT TAKE DRUGS MAKING THEIR EYES BLURRY AND HEADS SHAKY WHEN FLYING AS EVER HEARD OF SOME PILOTS OF ONE CERTAIN AIR LINER OVER THE SKY OF INDONESIA SERVING THEMSELVES WITH "HAPPY PILLS".

OBVIOUSLY, THEY ALL HAVE FUN UP THERE!

[Tinman1957]

I'm a pilot, and I would NEVER text or talk on the phone while flying, co-pilot or not. Your eyes should always be scanning the skies for other aircraft and the gauges to make sure everything is alright.
I just wonder why the co-pilot didn't make the request again when the pilot didn't answer, that is standard operating procedures (SOP).

[Npcp]

I hired a federal government pilot to moonlight & fly tourists on my biplane around the the Florida keys. He sent me 2 TEXT messages 10 minutes before the crash in the ocean where he was teaching the customers to swim. He ran out of gas, a multi tasker, just not a good one!
No mention of texting & flying appeared in FAA report. See NTSB ERA12LA126.

[V1Rotate]

I just read that NTSB report! WOW, you are lucky nobody died. If you/readers look at the Factual Finding portion it appears they blame it on the owner and maintainer, no? One part of the full report says that the cause was "fuel starvation", in technical terms that isn't a plane that runs out of gas - the FAA calls running out of gas .... "fuel exhaustion". Looks like they had junk in the gas tank, which causes a lot of aviation accidents - "the fuel screen was approximately 40 percent occluded with a similar material as was found in the carburetor"; "The fuel screen was removed, was approximately 10 percent occluded with the same substance that was found in the carburetor bowl. Approximately 300 milliliters of fluid was removed from the fuel strainer, the fluid was translucent in appearance and was allowed to settle in the jar revealing sediment in the bottom, "Both indicators revealed approximately a 7/8ths full fuel level, even though no fuel was present within the tank. Examination of the wire revealed a slight bend; however, it could not be determined if the deformation was preimpact or as a result of the accident. " It goes on an on....that plane had bad maintenence and should never have flown. Look out for these fly by night operations, I'd never fly in a plane I didn't know well.

[Npcp]

Obviously u chose to read only a partial report & not the final. Pilot did not ensure proper fuel management. The aircraft as well as fuel system was preserved with motor oil & mineral spirits, as the NTSb report said after being submerged in salt water. Remember Shawn etcher of the NTSb called me directly to notify me there was nothing wrong with the engine, jan 19,2012. I flew & maintained that waco for over 4000 hours with never ONE in air problem. Read the final report if u are capable.
Remember if the engine is running at near full power the last thing u should do is crash with the airport 1/2 mile away! That's just me. Waco gliders are not float equipped. Paul goodwin