Don Matheson died after crash in his RHJ-8
Dave Nadler
Any additional info would be appreciated.
Here is the shortcut: http://www.canoe.ca/CalgaryNews/cs.cs-06-26-0017.html
And the article:
Source: THE CALGARY SUN Section: News
Page: 7 Byline: Mike D'amour
Date: 06/26/2001
VETERAN PILOT DIES; GLIDER CRASH KILLS B.C. MAN
Corinne Skuse had a terrible premonition about her father's death the
day he left Vancouver Island to fly his glider in Invermere.
"I just had a gut feeling something would go wrong," she said
yesterday after her dad -- 65-year-old Don Matheson -- died following
a glider accident.
The portent of doom tragically proved out Sunday when her dad's
glider went down near the Kootenay River, 16 km west of Invermere,
about 280 km southwest of Calgary.
Matheson, of Campbell River, B.C. was attempting to fly his Schreder
RHJ-8 glider a distance of 500 km.
The glider was towed aloft from the Invermere area about 12:15 p.m.
Glider pilots are not required to file flight plans so investigators
are unsure of his planned destination.
They do know he last made radio contact about 3 p.m., said Tony
Pleasants, an investigator with the Transportation Safety Board.
'NORMAL CHATTER'
"It was just normal chatter," he said.
The plane was not seen again until about 5:30 p.m. when a commercial
airliner picked up the emergency location beacon of a downed aircraft.
Search and Rescue personal in Comox, B.C. sent a plane to the area.
It soon located the downed glider, but because of rough terrain, was
unable to make a rescue attempt.
A helicopter from Fernie went in and the pilot quickly located the
wreckage.
The helicopter pilot had to land a short way from the wreckage and,
when he got to the crash site, was surprised to find the pilot still
alive.
"The glider pilot indicated he could walk out, but he only took a few
steps before he fell to the ground in excruciating pain," Pleasants
said.
TOO PAINFUL TO MOVE
The chopper pilot then attempted to carry the injured man, but the
pain was so intense for Matheson he had to be placed back on the
ground.
"The (helicopter) pilot made him as comfortable as he could then left
to get help," Pleasants said.
However, when help was ready to go, the weather turned ugly and held
rescuers at bay until early Monday, when they were able to get to
Matheson.
He was being airlifted to Calgary's Foothills hospital, but his
condition while in the air took a turn for the worse and he was
diverted to Cranbrook hospital, where he succumbed to his injuries.
Skuse said her dad first caught the flying bug as an officer in the
air force.
After leaving the service, he was a bush pilot in the Campbell River
area and flew commercially for Air B.C.
"He's probably one of the most experienced pilots ever, so this is a
shock."
Officials are continuing their inquiry.
R. Wubben
of there or is this another person?
-Ryan Wubben
Indianapolis,IN
Wayne Paul
Here is a link to pictures/history of Don's RHJ-8.
http://www.soaridaho.com/Schreder/RHJ/C-FAJT.html
Wayne
http://www.soaridaho.com/
"R. Wubben" <rwu...@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:af731a10.01062...@posting.google.com...
Dan Armstrong
brought his beautiful ship down to Tehachapi. It was great fun to spend
time with him. What a special man he was! Our thoughts are with his
family.
Soar in peace, Don.
Janice Armstrong