I was thinking maybe wx was a factor, like maybe a crosswind, but it doesn’t seem likely…
METARs from nearby KRDM
Date Time Rules - Wind Sky Vis TC TF DPC DPF RH Press
16-Jul 08:56AM VFR Variable 3kts Clear 10 22 71 5 41 33% 30.14
16-Jul 07:56AM VFR Calm Clear 8 19 66 5 41 39% 30.14
16-Jul 06:56AM VFR Calm Clear 10 14 57 5 41 54% 30.13
Note: times above have been adjusted for PDT time zone
Yeah, the weather here in Central Oregon has been clear and calm lately. This morn was no exception. It looks like the pilot possibly died from impact and not fire?
Terrible news. Rest in peace friend…
Sunriver resident Owen Shirley said he was waiting to take a “glider ride” nearby when he saw the plane “coming down the runway at us.”
“It kind of bounced off one tire, went sideways and lost control,” Shirley said. “It looked like it hit the runway once and lost control.”
Maybe he saw these folks on the runway @ the last second and got distracted? Damn.
RIP
Let’s hope that’s true.
RIP.
Is that not smoke trailing the starboard engine/wing???
looks more like fuel. the wing is below the tree line, so it could have hit a tree and ripped the fuel line in the wing open.
Yeah, it was good wx, light winds. There’s a weather station at Lava Butte (found HERE), which is a lot closer to sunriver than Redmond or Bend. Same story there. Peak wind gust there was 7 mph during the morning.
Picture taken from the Northwest
looking at the crash images and comparing it to this “grainy” pic of the airport, he looks to be on the Eastern side of the line of trees paralleling the runway. This seems to put him 100’ or so off of the runway centerline and more than halfway down the runway when the first pic is taken.