Chewie Posted July 29, 2009 Report Share Posted July 29, 2009 Wow...Not about a helicopter per se, but one was involved. Just posting fyi Last updated: 11:05 amJuly 29, 2009Posted: 1:50 amJuly 29, 2009 A blundering small-town pilot nearly caused a disaster over Kennedy Airport when he steered his single-engine plane for a landing in front of a Boeing 747 and forced controllers to reroute other airliners out of his meandering path. Hundreds of lives were endangered around noon Saturday because 69-year-old John Prendergast of Sterling, Va., couldn't find his way to Republic Airport in Farmingdale, LI. "I don't know what he's doing -- he's going everywhere," sputtered a controller as he radioed warnings of an "unknown aircraft" to passenger jets. Lost, Prendergast made several 360-degree turns east of Kennedy before he finally appeared to find his bearings -- and was escorted to Republic by an NYPD helicopter sent to chase him down. Prendergast -- a retired Navy pilot whose name was revealed by law-enforcement sources -- should have been in radio contact with controllers. Prendergast took off Saturday morning from Martinsburg, W.Va., said Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Jim Peters. He was flying a two-seat RV-7A experimental plane, which records show he built himself. As he neared New York, Prendergast headed up the Jersey Shore, slightly inland, Peters said. Prendergast's plan -- which was not filed with air controllers -- was to cross from Colts Neck, NJ, over water to Robert Moses State Park, then head north and west to Republic. But Prendergast hit Long Island further to the west, flying over Long Beach, which is just east of Kennedy. Then, said Peters, the meandering pilot headed further north -- and turned around as if he were going to land with the big jets on Kennedy Runway 22L. A Taiwanese Eva Air 747 -- heading to New York from Atlanta -- at one point flew over Prendergast's plane and had to abort its landing. "At least twice, he interfered with aircraft that were attempting to land at Kennedy while they were on final approach," Peters said. The bungling pilot, evidently realizing he was lost, flew several complete circles before finally heading east toward Republic -- chased by the chopper that finally raised him on an emergency radio frequency, sources said. "We have the pilot's attention now for sure," a police flier radioed controllers. Prendergast has not been charged with any crime, but FAA officials are investigating. He could not be reached for comment yesterday. bill.sanderson@nypost.com Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crashed_05 Posted July 29, 2009 Report Share Posted July 29, 2009 A retired Navy pilot...you'd think he'd have the experience and knowhow. I'd be sh*ttin bricks being lost in that area! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IFLY Posted July 29, 2009 Report Share Posted July 29, 2009 And a GPS Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Goldy Posted July 30, 2009 Report Share Posted July 30, 2009 Prendergast -- a retired Navy pilot Lets see, Navy pilots dont have to talk to an ATC, they dont care about airspace unless someone is intruding into theirs, and at 69 yrs old he probably just doesnt give a sh*t ! All kidding aside, if he was really navigating by just looking at the land below, you can see how similar the points of land looks like the other point many miles to his NE. Isn't flight following a wonderful tool ? Goldy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RockyMountainPilot Posted July 30, 2009 Report Share Posted July 30, 2009 Lets see, Navy pilots dont have to talk to an ATC, they dont care about airspace unless someone is intruding into theirs, and at 69 yrs old he probably just doesnt give a sh*t ! All kidding aside, if he was really navigating by just looking at the land below, you can see how similar the points of land looks like the other point many miles to his NE. Isn't flight following a wonderful tool ? Goldy I was thing the same thing. He thought he was next to that second island when he turned North, but was still over that first one. Couple hundred bucks for a cheap GPS is cheap insurance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aclark79 Posted July 30, 2009 Report Share Posted July 30, 2009 having flown in that area I'll say its easy to get overwhelmed by the amount of stuff happening in the class B airspace, but at the same time the area around JFK looks pretty radicaly different from the area around Farmingdale! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FLHooker Posted July 31, 2009 Report Share Posted July 31, 2009 Reminds me the joke I have seen online several times... "what is your last known position?""Um, I was first in line for take off!" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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