[DeTomaso] Good news from the Swedish crash

[Bill Lewis]

I'm reading WHAT THE DOG SAW by Malcom Gladwell, and one of the essays is about Kennedy's plane crash several years ago off hte coast in the Northeast.  It talks about panic and other actions, but the point is that pilots at night in total darkness can not "see" nor can they "feel" what the plane is doing in a downward spiral.  What feels normal is not!  The point was that it takes experience and training to act on self-autopilot many times.  So, my question also, is what should a person do when the gas feed sticks open.  Maybe I will try to episodic-act what to do.    ---Bill

> From: panteraplace at hotmail.com
> To: detomaso at realbig.com
> Date: Wed, 4 Jul 2012 12:12:55 -0400
> Subject: [DeTomaso] Good news from the Swedish crash
> 
> I had my throttle sick wide open on my 1960 Ford that I owned at age 19.  It
> was a 292 V8 and a three speed manual floor shifter.   I had the air cleaner
> off and when I put it back on it was turned so the throttle lever would
> stick open.  I pulled out of the service station and floored it in first
> gear.  I started to back off a bit in first gear and realized my throttle
> was stuck to the floor.  It all happens in absolute nano-seconds, and by
> instinct alone my left hand went for the key and my left foot for the
> clutch.  My left foot on the clutch beat my hand to the key and thank
> goodness the rpm was limited by valve float.   It sounded absolutely
> horrible.   The engine survived fine, but from then on I've always been very
> careful with free throttle movement.   
> 
> Anyone else have a throttle stick wide open?  I wonder if this type of WOT
> crash event could be related to a person that normally drives an automatic
> and the instinct is to go for the brake rather than the key and clutch. 
> 
> Mike        
> 
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