Australian Flying - July 2018

Lessons from a logbook

was immaculate in all he did. He

dressed immaculately, and he f lew

immaculately. Everything was just

so, and by the book, which is why

his accident took us all by surprise.

Ken was f lying a charter in a

Twin Comanche. He was on his

way to Bloemfontein at f light level

85 (roughly 4000 ft above the

ground) when witnesses saw the

aircraft put its nose down vertically

and dive straight into the ground.

The cause of the accident was

a huge mystery. The aircraft

was almost new and properly

maintained. It was a crystal clear

day, and Ken’s reputation was

unblemished. The DCA finally

concluded that the windscreen

must have broken and blown

in, incapacitating the pilot.

This was indeed a reasonable

finding because there was an

Airworthiness Directive out at the

time dealing with cracks round

the edges of Twin Comanche

windscreens.

So there the matter stood for

something like two years. Then

the investigation was suddenly re-

opened. Here’s what happened.

We employed a new salesman,

Angus Mackenzie (we used to

call him Fungus). He was there

to replace Jack Jay or Quinten

Posthumus or someone.

Fungus was a great f loppy,

awkward thing with arms like an

orangutan. Fungus returned from

somewhere in a Twin Comanche.

Afternoon thunderstorms had

built up and Fungus had managed

to get on the wrong side of one of

these Charlie Bravos which spat

substantial lumps of hail at him.

The pilot’s windscreen broke

around the edges and the whole

thing came on him. Actually that’s

not quite true, it didn’t come on

him. It simply came in a few inches

and stayed there. The pressure in

the cabin must have equalled that

of the outside air, and no one was

any the worse for the event.

When Fungus was telling us

about it, with great animation and

excitement, he also declared that

he had been struck by lightning.

In the light of this event, the

CAA had another look at Ken

Anders’ crash, and came to a

horrifying conclusion. It seems

his passenger, whose name I have

forgotten, had a motor dealership

in Bloem. The finances were not

good, and nor was his marriage, but

he had substantial life insurance.

54 australianflying.com.au

AUSTRALIAN FLYING July – August 2018

down into a valley and he hit power

lines. Fortunately he was alone.

This was a year for me to take

careful note of the mistakes

of others. Somehow one was

becoming hardened to these

deaths. Not that I was unaffected

by their impact, but rather that I

was able to analyse them and see

them for what they were. God was

not randomly swatting people out

of the sky – they were all masters

of their own destinies.

Ken Anders

Then there was the very sad

business of Ken Anders, who it

turned out was not master of his

own destiny.

Ken was one of those guys who

He was a big man and would have

had no problem overpowering the

immaculate, but small-framed, Ken.

The Piper Comanche: there’s only one door and its on the other side!

BRUCE PERKINS

Piper’s Cherokee 140: probably not the best

aircraft for doing four-up stall turns.

WIKIMEDIA COMMONS/CESMITE