Hey…What’s That Smell?
O My God the Airplane’s on Fire!
By Jim Cavanagh
What is the biggest fear we have when it comes
to flying our airplanes? Is it a wing falling off?
Is it busting an FAR and getting the FAA on
your case? Is it the next engine inspection?
How about snakes on a plane? The movie was
about an airliner, but over thirty years ago I
wrote a fiction short story about this on a small
single engine aircraft and it IS very spooky.
But snakes on a plane, while possible, is a
concept difficult to collate with reality. Not so
much, though, is fire!
Many, many years ago, a friend of mine loaned
his Bonanza to one of his buddies so that he
and his girlfriend could take a trip to California.
After a fuel stop, they taxied to the end of the
runway but he never took off. His voice was
never heard again. Witnesses saw smoke and
drove to the run-up area and found the Bonanza
engulfed in fla Y\