Pubdate: Sat, 06 Jan 2001
Source: Santa Barbara News-Press (CA)
Copyright: 2001 Santa Barbara News-Press
Contact:  P.O. Box 1359, Santa Barbara, CA 93102
Website: http://www.newspress.com/
Author: Chuck Barns

DOUBLE STANDARD?

I remember a few months ago in when actor Patrick Swayze had an accident 
during a landing of a small aircraft. He was tested for drugs the same day 
of the lousy landing and was found to have been drinking.

Was Sheriff Jim Thomas tested for drugs after his pilot-error landing, or 
do I smell a double standard?

Chuck Barns, Ventura

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Pubdate: Sat, 06 Jan 2001
Author: Dawn Hobbs, News-Press Staff Writer

SHERIFF SAYS PILOT ERROR LIKELY AT FAULT FOR HIS BELLY LANDING

Sheriff Jim Thomas said Friday he believes pilot error on his part was the 
reason the landing gear on his department's twin-engine Cessna did not come 
down as he approached the Paso Robles Municipal Airport, forcing him to 
land the small aircraft on its belly.

The Federal Aviation Association has indicated that because the Dec. 27 
accident is considered routine, it will take no further action.

The plane, which was used by criminals to run cocaine from Mexico before 
being seized by U.S. Customs agents and turned over to the Sheriff's 
Department six months ago, is being stored at the Paso Robles airport until 
insurance agents inspect it.

"When the insurance company goes through the plane, they could 
theoretically find a malfunction, but I don't believe they will," Thomas 
said. "I believe it was pilot error, but I'm not absolutely positive."

Thomas, 56, had been practicing landings and takeoffs that day to meet FAA 
flight standards as a registered pilot for the department's Aviation Bureau.

Like other pilots in the bureau, opened in January 1996, he is required to 
conduct three landings and take-offs every 90 days to keep his 
certification current. The pilots will often fly to a variety of airports 
to hone their landing skills on a diversity of strips. To do so, Thomas 
took off from the Santa Ynez Airport, where the department has a hangar, 
and made his first landing at the airport in Santa Maria. The second was in 
San Luis Obispo.

It was during the sheriff's third landing at Paso Robles that trouble surfaced.

"There's a point when you think you should be touching down, but you 
don't," said Thomas. "And by now you're only one foot off the ground 
traveling at 105 mph, so it's too late to pull it back up."

When a plane lands on it's belly, FAA officials say, the propellers hit the 
ground, cutting the engines, and the plane will slide to a stop.

"Once I touched down, I knew what had happened," Thomas said, "but I wasn't 
sure how."

Thomas, who has been a certified pilot since 1968, has logged 600 hours of 
flying time, 300 of those in complex aircraft that have retractable landing 
gears, like the twin-engine Cessna.

"The FAA calls this an 'incident' and not a 'crash,' because it happens 
quite frequently," he said, quickly adding, "which is not an excuse. But 
I've never had an incident before or any other close-call with aircraft."

Thomas explained that pilots will run through a mental checklist when 
preparing to land an aircraft.

"In this particular aircraft, it's called B-GUMP: Booster pump, gas, 
undercarriage, mixture, prop," he said. "I've gone through this process in 
my mind hundreds and hundreds of times -- like everyone else who flies a 
retractable gear airplane."

This particular aircraft has three positions for the landing gear: Up is 
gear up, middle is neutral, and down is gear down.

"So I know I made the physical movement and I was under the impression that 
when I was landing that my gear was down," Thomas said. "But it obviously 
wasn't."

Once the plane came to a halt, Thomas quickly exited in case of fire. He 
then contacted all of the proper authorities, including the airport 
manager, police and FAA.

And within 20 minutes of the crash, he called Lt. Mike Burridge, the 
department's spokesperson, to notify him in case of media inquiries.

"We figured it was about the same as a single-car accident with no 
injuries," Thomas said. "We just didn't see it as a major public concern or 
major public issue."

Consequently, the News-Press did not learn of the incident until Wednesday 
and the Sheriff was unavailable for comment.

"I was out of town most of the day with my family," he said. "But I also 
wanted to give the FAA an opportunity to look at the aircraft and do what 
they wanted to do."

Damage to the aircraft will not be assessed until the insurance company has 
had an opportunity to inspect it. The department will then determine 
whether it will be worth repairing the damage or obtaining a replacement.

In addition to the Cessna, the department has a helicopter and another 
small airplane that is used for search and rescue and patrol. The Cessna, 
which became operational about two months ago, was to be used for a variety 
of administrative services.

"We intended to use it for flights not only for our department, but for 
county personnel to go to various locations where the airlines don't go or 
it's cheaper for us to go," he said. "We were also going to use it for 
prisoner transportation, to pick up people with warrants and so forth, 
because it's cheaper than paying the companies to do so."

In its old days, the plane was used to transport cocaine. It was owned by 
Daniel Wesley Allen until August 1998, when he was arrested for smuggling 
more than 600 pounds of cocaine from Mexico to Ventura County.

Allen, who is now serving out a 17-year sentence, also owned a Conejo Road 
house that was seized because agents believed he used drug money to 
purchase it.

The house was auctioned off by the U.S. Department of Treasury last year 
for $870,000. That money was split between several agencies. The Santa 
Barbara County Sheriff's Department, which assisted in the investigation, 
did not receive any money from the house, but did get the plane -- which 
has reportedly had problems with its landing gear in the past.
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