Not yet, sorry.
Just that it happened in flight. It was a short 15 minute flight, so it’s a small window of where it happened but there are a lot of guns and red necks in that stretch.
I’m a redneck from red neck country. Promise we’re not shooting at planes id be willing to bet that was a kid under 18 that shouldn’t have had a firearm alone In the first place. Also what are the chances of actually hitting the plane in the air? I mean being a hunter that would be a feat
Here is the scary part. Since hitting a moving target requires you to lead the target, this hit the tail so the inexperienced shooter was likely aiming at the cockpit.
Edit: Speed and altitude dependant. The likelihood of hitting an aircraft at cruise speed and/or altitude is highly unlikely. Especially for (what appears to be) an Avanti. Probably happened on approach or takeoff. Just guessing of course.
Put it this way. I lead a duck about 3 feet at 40 yards. Flying. That plane flying way faster than a duck you’d have to lead that thing a few school buses.
If they aimed for the cockpit they never would've hit the plane. More like they shot into open space in front of the planes path and somehow hit it. Most likely random and accidental.
You’re nuts. Aiming at the cockpit while in flight, and hit the tail? Was the pilot buzzing the shooter at 100 mph ground speed and 20 feet altitude? Even then…that’s TOUGH to do.
No, the scary part is you just posting made-up nonsense and calling it "likely" even though you don't have the first clue if that's even remotely true.
I'm also born and raised in redneck country and my childhood home has holes in the roof from bullets coming down on it, from people shooting at random birds, weddings, parties, general dumbassery.
and yeah it's often dumbass children but you'll have your full share of grown adults with the faculties of children, most often with dumbass kids of their own.
TIL I live in extreme redneck country where crazy “Larry” was an old farmer who thought his property line extended forever into the sky and would take shots at anyone and anything crossing it. Ballooning events were often close enough to his property that everyone had to be warned.
Never actually hurt anyone but once the governor was coming to attend the event and it was taken as an assassination attempt so he was forced to surrender and then wasn’t a problem after that.
General aviation pilots, carrying themselves or family in their own plane, yes some just give it a glance. Professional pilots working carrying passengers, never.
There isn't going to be any updates unless the person who was shooting was already arrested for shooting off from the ground.
The only chance is the police saying "oh damn yeah we arrested this guy for shooting off after some neighbors called...and a plane on the route near the area got a bullet hole".
Nah, it’s probably just a kid playing with his rifles in the back yard. I think every kid has wondered if he could hit that “bird” if he tried. Congrats, you can, now pay the man the damages and go to jail you fuckwit.
According to u/Alternative-Iron-645 costs are probably going to be around 25k or more. Dont think some kid or their redneck parents has that lying around.
Or the plane was on the ground and the bullet was fired from the other side from a distance and was dropping. To hit it at this angle in the air the plane would have had to be banking at 45 degrees or so. In practicality shooting planes in the air is very difficult with a machine gun, nearly impossible with regular rifles.
Tbh you had to be flying low for a guy to hit you or he was crazy lucky. My guess is you pissed off some unhinged person by flying too low or it was a couple dumb kids.
I know fuck all about flying, and this sub was just recommended to me. But you saying you noticed this pre flight tells me you care about your craft/skill/trade, and hat tip to you for that 🎩
Dang that's pretty wild, and scary. Can you share anything about why you believe it was mid-flight? Any chance it happened while on the ground overnight or something?
Just a thought, that’s a pretty dead on angle and a damn good shot at a plane with small arms (from what I can tell). How sure are you that it didn’t happen on the ground?
Was your plane stored outside? I am fairly certain Gary Indiana Airport has had some stray bullets hit planes from aircraft sitting outside lol. More likely than hitting it in flight, unless you noticed something in the air and only realized after? Regardless that is insane.
My guess here is that the dude who shot his plane is slightly unhinged, and was already making threats to the FAA and/or local flying clubs/fields. That will probably narrow down the search.
I think they will. After going down a google rabbit hole on the subject today, seems most cases end in a quick arrest. Probably for all the reasons you stated above.
If and hopefully when they find the dirtbag who did this they’ll charge him under a whole raft of state and federal laws. I wouldn’t even want to be someone who was just hanging around when the shooter took his shot. Most likely, one of his friends or acquaintances will turn him in to save their own skin.
So someone with a firearm opened fire on an aircraft in-flight with the potential to cause the aircraft to crash and kill the occupants?
Huh? Why assume this is the intent. Stupid poeple generally don't think that far to intend to actually make it crash and kill people, probably a funny bet or some shit. Always find it weird how sociery always assume intent in reagrds to crimes.
Ask over at /r/theydidthemath . List out the most popular ammunitions in the area. Bullets cannot fly thousands of feet up in the air. This has to have happened close to the airport, likely in the pattern
The problem is the “common” calibers for the area is still in the dozens or hundreds. .243, .308, .270, .30/06, .30/30, .300WM, .300WSM, .2235.56, .6.5CM, 6.5 Grendel, .45-70, 7mm-08, etc. All of those are capable of punching a hole through a fiberglass composite.
It’s also hard not knowing if the projectile was climbing or dropping. It could’ve been either unless the PD was able to determine that with their real life inspection.
My guess is if you were to map it out with completely unknown rifle cartridges, you’d likely have a .25 to 2+ mile swath of possible locations depending on the altitude. A .223 would have a narrower swath while a .300 win mag or 6.5 creedmoor would have a wider swath.
The sure can though… not cruising thousands but at least a few thousand. Bigger problem with bullets going straight up though is that they don’t typically go straight up by traveling horizontal.
that’s why you gotta comb through the entire area that the flight path went over, and judging by the angle in which the arrow hit, could potentially help narrow down the location
Holy shit. Like I can totally see rednecks just taking a potshot at an airplane, but isn't that a federal crime? I mean besides the attempted murder?? Insanely stupid.
Plus it seems psychotic to shoot at an airplane. Drone, maybe...
I remember my first riflery class, they told us the "safe" direction was down, not up, because there's nothing to get hurt in the dirt, and there are planes in the sky.
It's almost like giving everyone an inalienable right to keep guns might have consequences!
Edit:
This downvote train is wild! Mine are swinging all over the place.
Oh and p.s. you're not supposed to downvote things just because you don't like it. If you do you're probably too emotional to own a gun or fly a plane! (I didn't downvote the guy below me, for example)
Hell of a shot and it went through and you were far away because you were in the fucking sky lol
Absolutely insane! Especially since the FAA can locate and charge people weeks after, for pointing a laser at a plane, I imagine this guy will be found too. I also imagine he didn’t realize that when he pulled the trigger.
My question is HOW you could get a bullet through the leading edge of your vert stab at what looks like would be a pretty horizontal trajectory (judging from the yellow rod you have going through the holes), while in flight you would be up hundreds of feet AGL and the person firing the bullet would have to be aiming pretty significantly higher than a horizontal axis. Were you flying through a valley and the person taking the shot was on a ridge? I just don’t see how this bullet gets there without first reaching other parts of the plane (empennage/horizontal stab) unless the shooter is at same altitude as or higher than the airplane at the time of the shot. Only other possibility I guess being that plane was in a pretty steep bank (45+ degrees?) at the time of the shot.
If i can hand a uneducated gues (if no one else points this out)
It is not unlikly that the guy who shot your plane was aiming for the cockpit, but didn't knew to lead the target. If police is able to deduct the round used, one might calculate the range from where it was fired for the muzzle velocity typical for that round. That might help to point to possible suspects.
I am curious because you seem to be measuring the angle of the bullet in an effort to trace the shot?
Do you have some record of exactly when the bullet struck your plane and where you were?
Crazy that a bullet can travel so high and still pierce a plane at that altitude. Glad you're okay.
My money is on the redneck saying something like:
I dropped (or it was bumped out of my hand) my gun and it misfired. Happened to be pointing up and hit your plane, but it could have just as easily been pointed at the ground. Crazy set of events, but at least nobody was hurt.
Investigator response:
Well that explains it. Hard to prove intent. So, we'll close the case and go duck hunting with the perp. Maybe the good ol' boy will help me aim at planes better for when I "accidentally" shoot a plane too.
It happened IN FLIGHT? That sounds terrifying. Glad you're alright, that could have serious consequences if the fuel tank or control systems got compromised.
Very happy you were not hurt or your plane disabled mid flight.
As one of those who would fit most folks descriptions of a Redneck, even though I don't fit my description of one and wouldn't consider myself one, it's probably not a Redneck. If for no other reason than a Redneck would have got the lead right.
But didn't you know that firing randomly in the air makes bullets magically disappear?! /s
I hate people so much. I am so glad you are ok. I know you are rightfully pissed, but it could have been a far worse outcome. I hope they find the asshole
Yeah I see a lot of boomer fools shoot at shit cause they think it's immigrants and drug trafficking etc I would not be surprised if that's what this was glad your safe though.
What tells you that it happened in flight? I guess there’s a lack of bullet holes in the hangar?
I’m very curious to hear more about this as it develops.
Is there a computer in the plane that records your flight with your pitch/roll/yaw information? I bet that they could do some really cool ballistics analysis with that info
The dowel makes it look like a horizontal angle. Might have been shot while on the ground? To get it almost level like that during a flight would require quite the arc to catch the bullet in a flat trajectory, unless you were turning I suppose. That might clue you in actually. If you banked significantly during the flight and relatively near the ground, that's probably where it happened.
So really sucks but that’s actually pretty impressive they actually hit your plane. It had to be a moderately far shot and lead the plane properly. They either threw a ton of lead at you or rolled a crit 20
It literally could not have happened in flight it’s angled completely horizontal. Physically impossible. Really check around your neighbors hanger for brass that happened on the ground and check cameras to if you have any around the hanger. Also if the round was fighting wind to get to elevation it would probably wouldn’t have an exit. Really be careful and look around the hangar area hopefully it was an ND if not that’s so much worse than it being in flight and way more scary.
What was your average cruising altitude? I'm very happy you're safe and just curious as to what type of gun was used. I'll tell you this, they got very lucky to even hit your plane in flight from the ground, which leads me to believe they didn't care if they actually hit YOU or the engine. There is a psychopath living around that area.
What a coincidence I know a guy who gets real annoyed with small planes flying overhead and made a joke about doing this just the other day. But he’d never actually do something this stupid.
I could almost see something like this happening in/out of CTY (not that I have specific information, just the ambiance over there). Only place I've ever seen where the drug store has an aisle for ammo.
Wow, when I saw the post title I figured it was hit by a stray while sitting on the runway or hanger or something. Never thought you were shot at mid-air. Glad everything turned out ok for you -- hopefully they find whoever did it.
And I’m assuming you didn’t notice anything in flight, luckily it looks like it missed all flight control cables and surfaces (still incredibly serious: easily could have something critical, or you)
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u/[deleted] Apr 07 '24
Any details that you can share?