- This topic has 5 replies, 2 voices, and was last updated 2 months, 3 weeks ago by Jonathan Dietch.
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August 25, 2024 at 11:02 AM #20881
Yesterday, 24 AUG 2024, a wildfire broke out on the 2nd ridge north of the Crestline launch at approximately 1400 PST. It was named the Summit Fire and details can be found on the provided link:
Pilots who launched Crestline between 1400 and 1430 noticed the smoke plume develop and firefighting aircraft begin to arrive in the area. Pilots on radio moved to the front ridge (Marshall/Cloud) and observed a continued increase in traffic to include the SkyCrane helicopter flying over the LZ at 500 AGL on route to the reservoir west of the LZ to fill its tanks. All pilots airborne during this period, on radio or not, proceeded to LZ to land. The three CSS Board members present unanimously agreed to to deploy the white X on the LZ instructing all pilots to land and those who had yet to launch to waive off. the white X was deployed around 1600 and remained in effect for roughly 2 hours twenty minutes. The X was cleared at 1820 when firefighting aircraft traffic had cleared the airspace.
August 25, 2024 at 11:08 AM #20883Club Issues that warrant a reminder to Club Members.
Several pilots had launched from Regionals and the 750 just prior to the White X being deployed on the LZ and quickly gained altitude in buoyant conditions. Three other pilots pilots were observed launching from Regionals AFTER the White X was on the LZ.
Radio calls were made on know frequencies the pilots were monitoring. Several of the pilots pulled big-ears and made ever effort to land as quickly as possible, and that was a hard thing to do based on conditions. It may have taken up to 20 minutes or maybe a bit more for some pilots to descend and land, but utilizing several techniques for immediate descent they were able to get down as quickly as reasonably possible. I spoke to those pilots personally and thanked them for their active efforts to get down as quick as they could.
August 25, 2024 at 11:17 AM #20884Club Issues that warrant a reminder to Club Members (continued)
The other three pilots who launched Regionals AFTER the White X was deployed, however, flew along the front ridge in excess of 2 hours and made no attempts to descend and land. CSS Board members and other pilots in the LZ continued to observe multiple firefighting aircraft pass through the airspace during that time, although there were no close calls.
As noted above, the White X was cleared from the LZ at 1820 and the three pilots still aloft landed between 1840-1900.
The first pilot to land was found not to be an active club member. He may have had a membership in the past but did not have a current club membership. That pilot was asked not return to CSS/AJX until 01 October for any flying and that he must have an active membership to fly our site. It goes without saying that he got an education on what the White X means as well why its important to maintain a current club membership.
The second two pilots landed were active club members, but both didn’t understand what the white X meant. They were both directed to review the club rules that posted on the CSS website as well as on a GIANT color poster displayed in the LZ. Both pilots were asked to take a break from flying at CSS/AJX for the next weekend and may return to flying at our site on the weekend of 7-8 SEP.
August 25, 2024 at 11:36 AM #20885Reminder to CSS Members:
IT IS FIRE SEASON, events like this are going to happen and unfortunately it may interrupt our recreational flying. Here are some points we need to remind ourselves of and we must also make sure visiting pilots are aware of;
– the White X means LAND NOW, DO NOT LAUNCH. NO EXCEPTIONS.
– An official TFR is NOT required for the club to make the call to put out the White X. To my knowledge there still is no TFR posted for the Summit Fire. We make the call to deploy the White X (most often) based on air traffic in the area. The fire may not be within 5 miles of the LZ or the launches, but CALFIRE and other agencies have and will fly through the area multiple times.
– The CSS has to be an active partner with CALFIRE and other agencies to ensure the safety of their pilots and aircraft, our pilots, and the safety of people on the ground who may be endangered by the fire that the emergency services are trying to fight. We cannot and WILL NOT be a hinderance to firefighting efforts.
– Typically, not always, the call to deploy the White X will made by CSS Board members who are present and or/our local Instructors. If none of the above mentioned people are on-site, the call can and should be made by experienced and knowledgeable pilots who are regular CSS members. It is a very rare occurrence that none of three categories of pilots mentioned here are not present on a flyable day.
– DO NOT question or argue with the call made to deploy the White X. A TFR is not not the minimum ‘requirement’ for the White X. We know that it’s very disappointing to have cease our flying activity when a fire fighting effort is underway, but arguing the deployment of safety precautions does not help the situation. Yesterday was a very clear situation with roughly 6 aircraft involved and making multiple runs. It was a straight forward situation with a clear outcome.
August 25, 2024 at 11:45 AM #20886Some other points that are noteworthy and could be helpful:
– Flying with a radio is not required by the CSS, but during fire season its a good idea to have one so that clear communication can help with the situation. We use different frequencies between groups of pilots, totally normal to minimize heavy chatter. Its a good idea that you share with someone outside of your group what freq you are on in case we have to send out comms related to fires or any other safety related event. There is also a big whiteboard in the LZ, you can write your frequency in use on that board and how many pilots are on it for that flying day (this a good idea for many other safety reasons besides just fires).
– The regular CSS club members and all of the students who learn at CSS have a solid foundation in club rules, big thanks to our resident Instructors who make sure all our P1/H1 students are taught this from the get-go. While the Club Rules are on the website, on the poster in the LZ, and on the trifold pamphlets in the LZ… it appears that some visiting pilots still don’t get the word. Lets all do what we can to make are pilots are aware of our safety rules and procedures (to include the approach patterns and the White X, this are really our two biggest rules).
– CSS membership is REQUIRED to land at AJX and use club facilities. There are multiple people who have flown our site without being, at the very least, even temporary members. This behavior is disrespectful to the founders of the club, people who have put in countless hours over many years improving and maintaining the club, to the volunteers who run current club operations, but perhaps most immediately it is disrespectful to all of the Club Members who maintain a current paid membership. It takes money to operate our club, maintain the facilities, and pay our insurance premiums. Luckily, that total dollar cost annually shared between our active members makes the individual contribution each year a very low dollar amount. Anyone who ‘pirates’ the privilege to fly at CSS/AJX is doing a disservice to the people who made it possible for us enjoy this site for the last 30 years and to our current members, also putting our club at risk if something bad were to happen.
August 27, 2024 at 6:16 PM #20905Jonathan DietchGeneral MemberI commend the CSS members who stood up on behalf of the club. I hope that more and more members take a personal stake in keeping the club strong and vital.
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