PanamaSkydive Airplane Crash Lands in Panama Canal
By DON WINNER for Panama-Guide.com - A Beech Model 58 twin engine small airplane, tail number N511MP, piloted by American Monte Pollock, the owner of one of our sponsor's PanamaSkyDive.com, was forced to make an emergency ditching in the waters of the Panama Canal, just off of the Amador Causeway, on Saturday afternoon. There were two people aboard the aircraft, Monte and a co-pilot from the Albrook Flight School who was aboard the flight to learn how to handle the aircraft during sport parachute operations. The right engine of the aircraft quit suddenly as the aircraft was approaching the Albrook airfield, and with the right engine dead the plane pulled hard to the right due to the significantly increased drag on that side. Faced with the prospect of possibly crashing into either a heavily populated neighborhood of Panama City or Ancon Hill, and while flying at a relatively low altitude and low speed with only one engine, Monte decided the prudent thing to do was to kill the left engine as well and ditch the aircraft in the water. In addition, there are strong winds and vortexes created near the end of the Albrook runway as aircraft come around Ancon Hill, and Monte did not have confidence he could maintain controlled flight of the aircraft until landing at Albrook. Both Monte and his co-pilot escaped unharmed, and were released after a check at the hospital. There were no deaths, no injuries, and no damage to anything except the aircraft.
Copyright 2009 by Don Winner for Panama-Guide.com. Go ahead and use whatever you like as long
