ARFF Daily News

Today is Thursday the 24th of April, 2025

Here are the stories for today...

Of note, another sad day after word that Chicago Fire Captain David Meyer, assigned to Truck Company 29, succumbed to injuries sustained after a structural collapse while fighting a fire on Chicago's West Side. Captain Meyer leaves behind a wife, three daughters, a son and his parents. Please keep them and our Brother and Sisters of the Chicago Fire Department in your thoughts and prayers.

May He Rest in Peace.....

Tom

Person of interest in custody following Chicago LODD

A veteran Chicago firefighter died after a garage collapse during a fire, later ruled as human-caused

By Carolyn Stein, Andrew Carter, Nell Salzman

CHICAGO — The emergency call came in at 4:03 Wednesday morning, with a report of a fire in the 1200 block of North Pine Avenue in the Austin neighborhood on the West side. The blaze was less than 2 miles north of the Chicago Fire Department station known as Engine 96/Truck 29 — the station where David Meyer had worked his way up to captain, where he was in his 29th year as a Chicago firefighter.

He and his colleagues rushed into the truck and to the scene. The fire had spread to the garage at 5505 W. Crystal St. Fifteen minutes after the call came in, though, they had the fire extinguished. It had to seem, for a brief moment, like a routine early-morning call, and the responders “were outside the garage,” Commissioner Annette Nance-Holt said later, “starting salvage and overhaul.”

That’s when the garage collapsed. Meyer, working in the midst of it all, suffered injuries that prompted what Nance-Holt described as a “mayday alarm.” He was transported to Stroger Hospital and by 11:21 a.m., some of his fellow firefighters could be seen with tears in their eyes as they walked out of the hospital, mourning the death of one of their own.

Meyer, who joined the department in October 1996, was 54. He left behind a wife, three daughters, a son, his parents and “of course,” Nance-Holt said Wednesday morning during a brief but emotional news conference, “his big family — the Chicago Fire Department .”

“Please keep us all in your prayers,” she said. “This is unfortunate. It’s one of those things we go to work every day and, you know, we never know if we’re going to come home.”

It was still too early to know the details, she said. Too early to know how the fire spread and moved to the garage, and how everything happened so quickly, in a terrible rush. Late Wednesday afternoon, though, the department’s Office of Fire Investigation, working with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, determined the fire was started “by human action,” in a trash can near the garage.

Chicago police on Wednesday evening confirmed that a person of interest was in custody.

One moment the firefighters had everything under control. The next came the mayday call, and the frantic race to the hospital.

Near the corner of Crystal and Pine on Wednesday afternoon, Elio Alonso Jr . recalled the horror of awaking to the threat of a fire that he said originated in a trash can in their alley and then spread to their garage. At first there was a knock on a window from police, he said, and then the barking from the family’s dog, named Gigi.

The family rushed out of their house and watched while their garage disappeared into the flames. Those flames “were huge,” Alonso said, adding they’d consumed and damaged a 1965 Cadillac and a motorbike. And soon enough the garage itself collapsed, leading to the scramble to try to save Meyer’s life.

Nance-Holt, who joined the department in 1990, received the awful phone call in the early-morning hours. When she heard the caller relay Meyer’s name she immediately made a decades-old connection.

“Oh, my God,” she said she thought when hearing Meyer’s name. “I know him.”

“I was a deputy on the West Side,” she said. “And I worked with Dave.”

Meyer spent almost all of his nearly 30 years as a Chicago firefighter on the West Side. Before becoming captain of Truck 29, he was a lieutenant on Truck 35. Nance-Holt and Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson spent Wednesday morning meeting with and consoling members of Meyer’s family, those related by blood or badge.

They learned things about him and told stories and tried to console each other amid the grief. Nance-Holt said Meyer’s wife shared that she and her husband had been a couple for nearly 40 years, since they were teenagers. The commissioner spent time with Meyer’s mother, who said, according to Nance-Holt, “No one should watch their child go first.”

She knew as well as anyone, though, what Meyer knew and what all firefighters know. And that was the grim reality that the next call could always be their last — that in their chosen line of work they were never guaranteed another call or another day. Nance-Holt spoke of the bond among firefighters. The time spent in the station, watching each other age, watching their children grow up. Being in each other’s weddings. Becoming godparents and even grandparents. Going to funerals.

She’d come to know Wednesday morning that Meyer “was the rock” of his family. That he was a talented builder, and good with his hands.

Johnson called Meyer’s death “a very difficult time for our city,” and underscored his sacrifice.

“Our city is strong,” the mayor said. “The brave women and men who serve this city every single day and put their lives on the line for us — we do not take that for granted.”

Meyer became the first Chicago firefighter to die in the line of duty since 2023, when the department mourned the death of four firefighters. That was part of why, the commissioner said, she was hesitant to discuss the cause and the details in the immediate aftermath — because after a calendar year without any deaths, Wednesday came as a sad and painful shock.

There was a thought, she said of the pain of the past, “that we’d escaped that.”

“And now here we are again. … So just give us a moment to grieve, to wrap our minds around it. To take our brother to the morgue, where we go next with his family.”

By the middle of Wednesday afternoon, the site of the fire had already been cleared. There was nothing left of the garage, and few signs that such a calamity had happened. Meyer’s station, meanwhile, remained quiet. American and Chicago flags rustled slightly in the wind. Neighbors gathered occasionally and the red garage doors opened and closed.

Officers shuffled around inside. Around 4:30 p.m., a little more than 12 hours before a tragedy unfolded, another call came in. A truck pulled out of the station with its lights flashing and sirens blaring, on to the next emergency.

https://www.firerescue1.com/person-of-interest-in-custody-following-chicago-lodd

Small plane crashes in Mason County

by: Mike Browning

UPDATE: (6:15 P.M. Wednesday, April 23) – A pilot is being checked out for what fire officials are calling “minor” injuries after their plane crashed in a wooded area of Mason County.

According to the New Haven Volunteer Fire Department, first responders were dispatched to the scene in the Letart area around 4:47 p.m. Wednesday afternoon. Matt Gregg with the New Haven VFD says the pilot was able to walk away from the plane and made contact with the first responders as they were heading toward the scene.

First responders say the pilot was the only person onboard the plane.

Gregg says the National Transportation Safety Board and Federal Aviation Administration are on their way to investigate the incident. He also says no further details about the incident, the pilot or the aircraft will be released at this time.

“We appreciate the swift cooperation and teamwork of all responding agencies and remind the public to respect the investigation process and refrain from speculation,” the New Haven VFD said.

MASON COUNTY, WV (WOWK) — Mason County officials have confirmed that a small plane has crashed in the Letart area.

Reports said that the plane is out of the Gallia Meigs Regional Airport in Gallia County, Ohio.

According to Matt Gregg with the New Haven Volunteer Fire Department, the New Haven and Mason volunteer fire departments, along with Mason County Emergency Medical Services, Mason County Office of Emergency Services and Mason County Sheriff have been dispatched to the scene and are in the area to stage and start units into the wooded area.

“We have rescuers with the pilot and plane,” Gregg added. “He was walking away from the plane and met our personnel.”

https://www.wowktv.com/news/west-virginia/mason-county-wv/small-plane-crashes-in-mason-county/

Small plane crashes in eastern Manatee County

By Eric Garwood

Federal aviation investigators are looking into the cause of a light-airplane crash Wednesday morning at a private airstrip in eastern Manatee County.

The three occupants – a pilot, co-pilot and passenger – were not seriously injured, but a small brushfire resulted. Fire crews from Manatee County and the Florida Forestry Service extinguished the fire.

The pilot of the single-engine Grumman Tiger AA5 was identified as 35-year-old Christopher Mischo. Timothy Vasiloff, 35, was identified as the co-pilot, and Alyssa Vasiloff, 34, was listed as the passenger.

The airplane, manufactured in 1977, was registered to a Sarasota-based limited liability corporation naming Timothy Vasiloff as its principal. Video from the scene appeared to show the airplane extensively damaged by fire.

According to the Manatee County Sheriff’s Office, the airplane veered to the left upon takeoff and crashed into vegetation near Bald Eagle Airfield along State Road 64.

Brush-fire fighting trucks, water tankers and the Florida Forestry Service responded to the 10:10 a.m. crash along with ambulances and fire engines. Conditions in eastern Manatee County are among the driest in the state, and drought conditions prompted a burn ban to be enacted earlier this week. Florida Forestry Service reported the brushfire to be about a quarter-acre.

Also known as Myakka Head Airport, Bald Eagle Airfield is near Wauchula Road. It operates a single grass landing strip, about 3,400 feet in length. It’s owned by YouTube personality Cleetus McFarland, who bought the 50-acre facility in 2023.

Previous

Manatee County sheriff’s deputies and fire-rescue personnel were called to Bald Eagle Airfield in eastern Manatee County on Wednesday morning on a report of an aircraft crash.

Numerous fire-rescue units, along with the Manatee County Sheriff’s Office, were sent to the scene of the 10:10 a.m. incident.

Manatee County Commissioner Carol Ann Felts said three people were aboard the small plane that crashed into nearby woods and caught fire. There were no reports of serious injuries, authorities said. Sheriff's Department spokesman Randy Warren said the single-engine plane swerved to the left upon takeoff and crashed, igniting a small brushfire.

Brush-fire fighting trucks, water tankers and the Florida Forestry Service also responded. Conditions in eastern Manatee County are among the driest in the state, and drought conditions prompted a burn ban to be enacted earlier this week. Florida Forestry Service reported a quarter-acre brushfire was 80% contained about an hour after the crash took place.

The Federal Aviation Administration has been notified to conduct a crash investigation.

Also known as Myakka Head Airport, Bald Eagle Airfield is on State Road 64 near Wauchula Road. It operates a single grass landing strip, about 3,400 feet in length. It’s owned by YouTube personality Cleetus McFarland, who bought the 50-acre facility in 2023.

On his Facebook page, McFarland said the plane was carrying a pilot, a flight instructor and a passenger. He wrote he was told all were OK.

https://www.yourobserver.com/news/2025/apr/23/plane-crash-eastern-manatee/

NTSB Final Report: Cessna 180

Pilot’s Failure To Maintain Clearance From The Water During A Low Pass Over A Lake

Location: Owinza, Idaho Accident Number: WPR25LA036
Date & Time: October 13, 2024, 11:40 Local Registration: N9493C
Aircraft: Cessna 180 Aircraft Damage: Unknown
Defining Event: Collision with terr/obj (non-CFIT) Injuries: 2 Minor
Flight Conducted Under: Part 91: General aviation - Personal

Analysis: The pilot reported that he descended to make a low pass over Pettit Lake. He noted that the clear weather condition with no wind impacted his depth perception as the lake surface appeared glassy. During the low pass over the water, the pilot misjudged his altitude above the lake, and the airplanes main landing gear contacted the water. The airplane then bounced and impacted the water a second time before it came to rest and sank. 

The pilot reported no preaccident mechanical malfunctions or failures with the airplane that could have precluded normal operation.

The airplane was not recovered.

Probable Cause and Findings: The National Transportation Safety Board determines the probable cause(s) of this accident to be -- The pilot’s failure to maintain clearance from the water during a low pass over a lake. 

FMI: www.ntsb.gov

Today in History

31 Years ago today: On 24 April 1994 A South Pacific Airmotive Douglas DC-3 crashed into the water shortly after takeoff from Sydney-Kingsford Smith Airport, NSW, Australia; all 25 occupants survived the accident.

Date: Sunday 24 April 1994

Time: 09:10

Type: Douglas C-47A-20-DK (DC-3)

Owner/operator: South Pacific Airmotive

Registration: VH-EDC

MSN: 12874

Year of manufacture: 1944

Total airframe hrs: 40195 hours

Engine model: P&W R-1830-92

Fatalities: Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 25

Other fatalities: 0

Aircraft damage: Destroyed, written off

Category: Accident

Location: 0,1 km S off Sydney-Kingsford Smith International Airport, NSW (SYD) -   Australia

Phase: Initial climb

Nature: Passenger - Non-Scheduled/charter/Air Taxi

Departure airport: Sydney-Kingsford Smith International Airport, NSW (SYD/YSSY)

Destination airport: Lord Howe Island Airport, NSW (LDH/YLHI)

Investigating agency: BASI

Confidence Rating:  Accident investigation report completed and information captured

Narrative:

A South Pacific Airmotive Douglas DC-3 crashed into the water shortly after takeoff from Sydney-Kingsford Smith Airport, NSW, Australia; all 25 occupants survived the accident.

The DC-3 aircraft VH-EDC had been chartered to convey college students and their band equipment from Sydney (SYD) to Norfolk Island Airport (NLK) to participate in Anzac Day celebrations on the island. The aircraft was to proceed from Sydney (Kingsford-Smith) Airport to Norfolk Island, with an intermediate landing at Lord Howe Island Airport, NSW (LDH) to refuel. The flight was to be conducted in accordance with IFR procedures. The aircraft, which was carrying 21 passengers, was crewed by two pilots, a supernumerary pilot and a flight attendant. Preparations for departure were completed shortly before 09:00, and the aircraft was cleared to taxi for runway 16 via taxiway Bravo Three. The co-pilot was the handling pilot for the departure. The aircraft was cleared for takeoff at 09:07:53. All engine indications were normal during the takeoff roll and the aircraft was flown off the runway at 81 kts. During the initial climb, at approximately 200 ft, with flaps up and the landing gear retracting, the crew heard a series of popping sounds above the engine noise. Almost immediately, the aircraft began to yaw left and at 09:09:04 the pilot in command advised the Tower that the aircraft had a problem. The co-pilot determined that the left engine was malfunctioning. The aircraft speed at this time had increased to at least 100 kts. The pilot in command, having verified that the left engine was malfunctioning, closed the left throttle and initiated propeller feathering action. During this period, full power (48 inches Hg and 2,700 RPM) was maintained on the right engine. However, the airspeed began to decay. The co-pilot reported that he had attempted to maintain 81 KIAS but was unable to do so. The aircraft diverged to the left of the runway centreline. Almost full right aileron had been used to control the aircraft. The copilot reported that he had full right rudder or near full right rudder applied. When he first became aware of the engine malfunction, the pilot in command assessed that, although a landing back on the runway may have been possible, the aircraft was capable of climbing safely on one engine. However, when he determined that the aircraft was not climbing, and that the airspeed had reduced below 81 kts, the pilot in command took control, and at 09:09:38 advised the Tower that he was ditching the aircraft. He manoeuvred the aircraft as close as possible to the southern end of the partially constructed runway 16L. The aircraft was ditched approximately 46 seconds after the pilot in command first advised the Tower of the problem. The four crew and 21 passengers successfully evacuated the aircraft before it sank. They were taken on board pleasure craft and transferred to shore.

The investigation found that the circumstances of the accident were consistent with the left engine having suffered a substantial power loss when an inlet valve stuck in the open position. The inability of the handling pilot (co-pilot) to obtain optimum asymmetric performance from the aircraft was the culminating factor in a combination of local and organisational factors that led to this accident. Contributing factors included the overweight condition of the aircraft, an engine overhaul or maintenance error, non-adherence to operating procedures and lack of skill of the handling pilot. Organisational factors relating to the company included: 1) inadequate communications between South Pacific Airmotive Pty Ltd who owned and operated the DC-3 and were based at Camden, NSW and the AOC holder, Groupair, who were based at Moorabbin, Vic.; 2) inadequate maintenance management; 3) poor operational procedures; and 4) inadequate training. Organisational factors relating to the regulator included: 1) inadequate communications between Civil Aviation Authority offices, and between the Civil Aviation Authority and Groupair/South Pacific Airmotive; 2) poor operational and airworthiness control procedures; 3) inadequate control and monitoring of South Pacific Airmotive; 4) inadequate regulation; and 5) poor training of staff.