Life on the Playa
After a really fun Elliott's Fall Festival the first weekend in October, a friend of mine informed me he had an extra ticket to Playa Del Fuego. I missed the chance to buy tickets earlier in the year, had the extra time due to Monday being a holiday and my work schedule being a bit insane this month, and took him up on the offer.
I worked until Midnight on Wednesday and then got on the road, stopping in Knoxville for a quick breakfast with me mum. The drive was pleasant, little construction, light traffic, things were going well. I drove by Mountain Empire Airport up near Wytheville, VA and thought to myself I was going to have to look that up on the maps. About 30 seconds after I passed the airport, I saw a plane tumbling end over end out of the sky ahead of me in a stall/spin. As it approached the hill in front of me all I could think was I hope that's someone practicing aerobatics and it's going to pull out of it. No such luck. It flipped over and went nose first into the hillside next to me. The wings folded, fuel went everywhere, and a big fireball engulfed the wreckage and splattered it across the grassland.
I pulled over. There was no way for me to get to the wreckage. Between it and I were northbound and southbound sides of interstate and a steep ravine off the southbound side. I called 911, gave them the report, precise position, size of the plane (single-engine land, maybe held 2-4 people), contact info, etc. I then called flight services and reported it to them too, just in case. Noone else pulled over. I'm not sure how many saw it and how many just thought, "hey there's a fire in that field," and drove on. There was little else for me to do. I saw no movement. Whoever was in the plane was almost positively dead and burned up, and I was starting to feel really sick. I never thought to take any pictures. I had to get in my car and move on. I didn't get very far. I pulled over at a petrol shop because I was shaking, fueled the car, bought some snacks to eat and some fruit juice to drink, sent out some text messages and a tweet or two, and eventually got moving again. The rest of the drive was without incident.
I arrived at the playa later than planned, checked in, got my wristband, and found my friends' campsite. The temperature was dropping, and the dewpoint spread was so close everything was just turning cold and wet instantly. We got what we could set up and sat around the fire. I eventually went to bed. The rest of the weekend there was fun and music and sun and camping and friends and big fires. Of course it had to eventually end. One last lunch with my friends and I got on the road for home. No incidents this time. By the time I passed the plane crash location it was too dark to see anything and take a picture. I hit light rain about 30 miles north of Tennessee, stopped in Knoxville for supper with mum, and then kept driving for home through increasing rain.
I worked until Midnight on Wednesday and then got on the road, stopping in Knoxville for a quick breakfast with me mum. The drive was pleasant, little construction, light traffic, things were going well. I drove by Mountain Empire Airport up near Wytheville, VA and thought to myself I was going to have to look that up on the maps. About 30 seconds after I passed the airport, I saw a plane tumbling end over end out of the sky ahead of me in a stall/spin. As it approached the hill in front of me all I could think was I hope that's someone practicing aerobatics and it's going to pull out of it. No such luck. It flipped over and went nose first into the hillside next to me. The wings folded, fuel went everywhere, and a big fireball engulfed the wreckage and splattered it across the grassland.
I pulled over. There was no way for me to get to the wreckage. Between it and I were northbound and southbound sides of interstate and a steep ravine off the southbound side. I called 911, gave them the report, precise position, size of the plane (single-engine land, maybe held 2-4 people), contact info, etc. I then called flight services and reported it to them too, just in case. Noone else pulled over. I'm not sure how many saw it and how many just thought, "hey there's a fire in that field," and drove on. There was little else for me to do. I saw no movement. Whoever was in the plane was almost positively dead and burned up, and I was starting to feel really sick. I never thought to take any pictures. I had to get in my car and move on. I didn't get very far. I pulled over at a petrol shop because I was shaking, fueled the car, bought some snacks to eat and some fruit juice to drink, sent out some text messages and a tweet or two, and eventually got moving again. The rest of the drive was without incident.
I arrived at the playa later than planned, checked in, got my wristband, and found my friends' campsite. The temperature was dropping, and the dewpoint spread was so close everything was just turning cold and wet instantly. We got what we could set up and sat around the fire. I eventually went to bed. The rest of the weekend there was fun and music and sun and camping and friends and big fires. Of course it had to eventually end. One last lunch with my friends and I got on the road for home. No incidents this time. By the time I passed the plane crash location it was too dark to see anything and take a picture. I hit light rain about 30 miles north of Tennessee, stopped in Knoxville for supper with mum, and then kept driving for home through increasing rain.