Florida Man Trades For Homemade Plane, Dies After Takeoff
Charles Alban of Venice, Florida was a pilot, until November 15th. That was his last day of piloting. The short story is that the man lost control of an airplane and died in the crash. The far more interesting story is that he had just ‘traded’ airplanes with another man and immediately hopped in it to fly home.
Earlier this week, Alban decided to swap airplanes with another man. Both aircraft were in the popular’experimental/homemade‘ class, which features homebuilt airplanes and other types of aviation. Folk singer John Denver loved to fly. He was heavily into experimental airplanes. In fact, that’s how he was killed. But back to our story. Alban was a 73-year-old pilot who crashed into a tree close to Orlando. According to the Volusia County Sheriff’s office, Pilot Charles Alban died just minutes after trading his airplane with another man. Shortly after takeoff, the airplane suddenly veered into a tree close to the airport. Witnesses say the Taylor Monoplane taxied several times before taking off from the small, local airport. As the airplane picked up speed and lifted off of the runway, onlookers say it failed to climb. Shorty afterward, witnesses say the craft veered and flew directly into a tree in the yard of a nearby home.
Alban, who was the only person onboard, died just before 5 p.m. at a local hospital. An inspection of the aircraft following the crash showed no obvious or immediate signs of mechanical failure. The airplane was also searched for anything that could have moved around in the cabin to cause the crash, They found nothing. The Federal Aviation Administration will conduct a full investigation into the crash and death of the pilot. Source: AMP.KansasCity.com
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