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 (pulled from here)
No snark here.
David Riggs’s body has been recovered from a lake in China. Riggs crashed his plane on Tuesday “while performing a stunt in which the wheels of the aircraft grazed the surface to produce a skiing effect”.
An 18-year-old Chinese woman who was working as Riggs’ translator was also killed in the crash.
Why is this noteworthy here? Two reasons:
- Ah! Now I know why those planes looked familiar! (Okay, those were L-29s and that’s an L-39. But I’m still pretty sure that’s why.)
- And why did I recognize the L-39? Because I’ve written about it, and David Riggs, before.
Paraphrasing a famous quote, to lose your license once can be regarded as bad luck, to lose it twice smacks of carelessness.