Armchair Flying Ace
Active Member
So basically, I was reading about the tragic crash in 2014 where two people walking on a beach were struck and killed by a small plane which was attempting a force landing after an engine failure.
(news story here): Man walking on beach struck and killed by plane - CNN.com
Now, the various comment threads were full of people arguing over what the pilot should have done differently, whether he should have attempted to land on the beach or ditched it in the ocean, whether he could reasonably have seen the victims, etc. But a couple people pointed out that because the plane's engine had failed it was nearly silent and extremely difficult to hear on the ground, and suggested that the accident could have been avoided if the aircraft was equipped with a horn or siren to warn people on the ground of its approach.
What do you guys think? Would a horn or siren on an airplane actually be practical? The only other case of someone on the ground being killed or injured by a light aircraft making an engine-out landing was this: Single-Engine Piper Plane Towing Banner Crashes on Carlsbad Beach | NBC 7 San Diego so I'm guessing these incidents are relatively rare. However, I know emergency landings on roadways aren't unheard of, so there's a potential collision risk there - but a driver might not be able to turn to look at a sound coming from behind and above him the way a pedestrian could.
(news story here): Man walking on beach struck and killed by plane - CNN.com
Now, the various comment threads were full of people arguing over what the pilot should have done differently, whether he should have attempted to land on the beach or ditched it in the ocean, whether he could reasonably have seen the victims, etc. But a couple people pointed out that because the plane's engine had failed it was nearly silent and extremely difficult to hear on the ground, and suggested that the accident could have been avoided if the aircraft was equipped with a horn or siren to warn people on the ground of its approach.
What do you guys think? Would a horn or siren on an airplane actually be practical? The only other case of someone on the ground being killed or injured by a light aircraft making an engine-out landing was this: Single-Engine Piper Plane Towing Banner Crashes on Carlsbad Beach | NBC 7 San Diego so I'm guessing these incidents are relatively rare. However, I know emergency landings on roadways aren't unheard of, so there's a potential collision risk there - but a driver might not be able to turn to look at a sound coming from behind and above him the way a pedestrian could.
