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Jumping the Gun...
Near Rubidoux, California
April 26, 1987
A
License to Learn…
Cline Hogg was born in 1929
in Kinchafoonee, Georiga. Part of a large family, he himself beget a large
family, fathering five children, and was a step-father to three more.
In the late 1960s, and
after the birth of his last child, Hogg decided to begin to save some money, and
buy a helicopter. The final fiscal touch came after Hogg received some
settlement money from a work related accident
In 1987 – twenty years
after the start of his dream – Hogg purchased his dream helicopter, a Hughes
269B, for $26,000. Registered as N101DN, and powered by a 190 horsepower
Lycoming HIO-360-A1A engine, the helicopter featured a three seat cockpit and
flight controls that are directly linked to the control surfaces, eliminating
any need for hydraulics.
Hogg had
earned his private pilot’s certificate for fixed-wing aircraft, and had flown
over 500 hours. The addition of a rotorcraft rating seemed to be a simple,
yet challenging, proposition to the 58-year-old.
Kickoff of a Dream…
On the morning of April
26th, 1987, Hogg was waiting for his instructor on the runway at Flabob Airport
(KRIR),
near Riverside, until about 11:30 AM, when he apparently decided to activate
some of the controls of the chopper, despite being told by his instructor to
wait for him and not to touch anything.
Hogg, eager to begin,
started the aircraft, ran the engine up to full RPM, and then began to increase
the collective pitch control. He claimed he never intended to leave the ground,
but slowly, the helicopter climbed vertically to a high hover, fluttering up to
around 75 feet.
But, he had not released
the cyclic friction before becoming airborne. With no warning, Hogg lost
control, and the helo plummeted back to the tarmac below.
"When it flipped over, one
rotor hit the roadway and threw it all out of control," Hogg said to reporters
after the crash. "I tried to straighten it out but it bounced all over and
disintegrated."
And the entire catastrophe
was caught on video by a friend of Hogg's, hoping to capture what was expected
to be Hogg's first copter flight.
Fumble!
Surprisingly, according to
Riverside County Sheriff's Sergeant Chris Coplen, Hogg was uninjured by the
mishap. But Hogg claimed to have sustained a deeper wound - "The only thing
broken on me was my heart," said Hogg. He had saved 20 years for the $26,000
helicopter, but did not have it insured, and the wreck was a total
loss.
According to John Baginski of Moreno Valley, who
witnessed the accident, "The guy is a miracle survivor."
"The old man upstairs decides when it's your
time to go," Hogg said. "Any landing that you walk away from is a good landing."
Flag on the Play…
In April of 1989, the National Transportation
Safety Board released their conclusion as to the probable cause of the crash.
The Board determined the probable cause was that directional control was not
maintained, and poor judgment was exhibited, by the student, in connection with
an uncontrolled vertical takeoff – all of which was caused by the student’s
disregard to his instructor’s instructions.
Cline Hogg continued to
reside in Fontana until 2002 with his wife, Zee. He passed away in Geneva,
Ohio, on November 19th, 2006. |
