Trent's friend Nick crashed

[tjentzsch]

Just saw Nick was in a crash. Did anyone else hear about this?

Trent said he's in surgery.

Reddit post:https://www.reddit.com/r/flying/comments/9tz40a/kitfox_crash_near_reno/

A few more details via his family from FB:

Erika Twenge:
Yes, it was Nikk Audenried who got in the plane accident this morning. He is at Renown ICU and had several surgeries today and is doing well, no brain or spinal injuries. Just a long recovery down the road. Please keep him in your thoughts and prayers ❤️

Debbie Blanche Audenried:
Yes, the airplane crash this morning was Nikk Audenried. He has survived and is in renown ICU. Both legs were critically injured with open fractures. He has injuries to his wrist, fractured ribs and facial lacerations. Surgery was already performed on lower extremities and we are now waiting for developments over the next few days. As of now, there are no known head or spinal injuries. He has a long road of recovery ahead, but we are very optimistic. We will post updates as we have them. Thank you for all of the support so far. Please keep him in your thoughts and prayers.

[efwd]

Don't Say.
Can you elaborate? "Just saw"? You Tube?

[tjentzsch]

Ya, let me get the link. Actually saw it on Reddit first, then FB....

[tjentzsch]

FB post: https://www.facebook.com/groups/Bigtirepilots/942824775911311/?comment_id=942843222576133&reply_comment_id=942840155909773&notif_id=1541298891839058&notif_t=group_comment_follow

reddit post: https://www.reddit.com/r/flying/comments/9tz40a/kitfox_crash_near_reno/

[DesertFox4]

Prayers going out for Nikk’s full recovery. So sorry to see this.

As usual when something like this happens, few facts are available this soon after and I hope we adhere to the forums long standing decorum of not second guessing and publicly disecting this unfortunate accident befallen one of our own. First order of business is Nikk’s well being. Thanks guys for your concerns and prayers. Hoping for some good news soon.

[tjentzsch]

Well said! I hope he gets well soon.

[bbs428]

That's really bad news. :(
It looks fairly flat where the plane impacted the ground.
Plane is totaled. I guess we'll find out soon enough what exactly happened.

Prayers to ya Nick, get well soon.

[tjentzsch]

Ya, it's hard to think what could have happened. Hope he is doing well. His girlfriend posted on FB that he has had several surgeries but no head or spinal injuries.

[tjentzsch]

A few more details via his family from FB:

Erika Twenge:
Yes, it was Nikk Audenried who got in the plane accident this morning. He is at Renown ICU and had several surgeries today and is doing well, no brain or spinal injuries. Just a long recovery down the road. Please keep him in your thoughts and prayers ❤️

Debbie Blanche Audenried:
Yes, the airplane crash this morning was Nikk Audenried. He has survived and is in renown ICU. Both legs were critically injured with open fractures. He has injuries to his wrist, fractured ribs and facial lacerations. Surgery was already performed on lower extremities and we are now waiting for developments over the next few days. As of now, there are no known head or spinal injuries. He has a long road of recovery ahead, but we are very optimistic. We will post updates as we have them. Thank you for all of the support so far. Please keep him in your thoughts and prayers.

[efwd]

Dang, I kinda wish I hadn't asked. :( Prayers to Nick and his family.

[cubtractor]

Prayers to Nick. Get well soon.

[DesertFox4]

Lates update from Kevin Quinn off of Facebook-:)



“Update this morning is he's awake. Breathing tube may come out today but he is awake and writing asking questions. Awesome news”

[Clark in AZ]

God's speed Nikk. Here's to a speedy recovery!


Clark

[efwd]

That is spectacular news. Thx Steve. If he gets that tube out this early it is incredibly reassuring.

[jmodguy]

Great news! Speedy recovery Nikk.

[ken nougaret]

A very sad situation. All the best. Will certainly be thinking of Nikk and hope to see a full recovery.

[Ronin]

Prayers for a speedy & complete recovery Nikk.

[aviator79]

Just awful news. It sounds like he's got a difficult time ahead of him. Wishing him and his family well.

[Meyer]

Best wishes for a speedy recovery!

[GWright6970]

Prayers for a speedy recovery! Hang in there Nick!

[oldfox]

How Can I Help Nick ?? Get well soon brother

[PropWash]

Not much left of that plane! Wow. Amazing he survived. Prayers

[jrevens]

I might be wrong, but I think some of that damage was due to the "Jaws of Life" being used to get him out.


Not really much of a comparable situation, but I knew a guy who flipped over on landing (with a Thorp T-18). He and a passenger were OK, but they couldn't get out (sliding canopy), and as soon as the rescue people got there they immediately attacked the airplane with "The Jaws", despite the pilot yelling and pleading with them to just get a couple of people to lift the tail up so they could get out. They completely destroyed the airplane, which had relatively minor damage before the "rescue". I'm sure this was probably a much different situation, and he was lucky to be rescued as quickly and the way that he was. Having been saved once myself, I'm very appreciative of the job that firemen, emt's, emergency rooms, police etc. do.

[Av8r3400]

I've seen this before. The rescue crews need to get the fuel (wings) cut off and away from the cabin to do their work.

The "jaws" do this efficiently and quickly.


Thoughts and prayers to Nikk, his family and friends. He has a long road ahead...

[Tom Waid]

Best wishes for a speedy recovery. We're all thinking about you, Nikk.

[Rooster]

Thank you Jesus that you are going to be alright, Nikk!
We love your guys and girl's attitude to enjoying life and doing so with loads of gratitude!
I will continue to pray for your complete recovery and for you all to not be set back in your flying.
You guys are a testimony as to how one should enjoy the gifts that God has given us.
You are all making a difference!
Be strong and keep it up!


Reid
South Africa

[Rodney]

Truely lots of prayers for a complete recovery

Would it be appropriate for us as a Kitfox family to set up
some way to make donations to his family???

This is certainly a serious incident and I would like to help them out
but not sure where to send help to

Prayerfully
Rodney

[hamer]

Glad to see Nikk survived and is recovering. Best wishes to him.

Looking at the damage in the photos, makes me think wearing a flight helmet probably isn't a bad idea in these small airplanes.

[Esser]

I've been thinking about a helmet for a while and Nikk's accident has solidified this idea. I'm now in the market for one.

[colospace]

Yikes!! Prayers for your recovery Nikk.
Being real near the end of my build, I hope you at some point feel up to sharing what happened, but first things first. Get better!

[rdooley79]

I've been thinking about a helmet for a while and Nikk's accident has solidified this idea. I'm now in the market for one.


I was looking at this one. Pick the bill length you like. Plus it doesn't have a button on top to mess with your headset headband. Reasonably priced too.

https://goo.gl/icdjD5

[efwd]

If it doesn't have a restraint to keep it on your head you might as well go without.

[Slyfox]

first off I want to say, glad Nick is going to be ok. now onto the use of a helmet. I googled why fighter pilots wear a helmet. this is what it said, I agree.
A helmet provides head protection. A fighter airplane can make many sudden turns and a helmet provides reduction of the risk of a head injury. If the pilot needs to eject the airplane, helmet is needed to protect from wind blast, in addition to what I mentioned #1. Helmets play an important role in noise attenuation.

so I asked myself why would I need one. not for banging my head on the side when doing a turn, never had that problem. not for ejection, there's no way to fit an ejection seat in the kitfox.

noise reduction, no, I have a bose a20 that is pretty quiet.
so I guess I can save my money because I would probably hit the top anyway or the braces on the side all the time with one. so no fighter pilot with this guy.

[hamer]

Not sure comparing to a fighter pilot makes sense. Slow speed, non-ejecting aerobatic pilots also wear helmets.

From my perspective, there are two main threats to your head inside a kitfox, the instrument panel and the crossbar behind your head (third would be a passenger next to you). Both easily within striking distance in a hard crash/landing. You need the helmet to be good for that one impact, non-reusable. Ski/snowboard helmets are designed for a single impact on a hard surface, so those are a cheap option, Then there are the $1000+ options with built in comms.

A severe head impact could delay your reactions in an otherwise non-injurious hard landing. Hit your head, get knocked out, delay your ability to escape a fire or other hazard. Something to think about.

Just like everything else, it's a risk/benefit curve, how much risk are you avoiding to what benefit?

I don't want to hijack Nick's thread, we should probably start a new thread on this topic.

[ColdFusion]

This recent highly publicized S7 kitfox crash in Reno puts everyone in a tough spot.

Thousands of aviators and every kitfox driver wants to know the details without appearing insensitive to the injured, or hurting the brand, or risk of putting the pre crash decisions and resulting actions of the pilots in a position of judgment.

The only reason this S7 kitfox crash is known world-wide is the close proximity to the high action, low flying, youtube sensation, water skiing bush plane pilot and category brand ambassador, Trent Palmer. Without Trent this would be just another silent kitfox crash, add Trent, and arm chair pilots everywhere chime in. Ironically, a group of outback flyers in Australia, about as far away from the crash site possible, seem to have a pretty interesting timeline and rescue photos on this crash, just google kitfox crash and look for the Aussie bush plane blog.

I would have expected the first mishap on team Palmer to be a low speed ground loop or a scraped wing tip from tire grabbing sand, mud or gravel, not a low energy event in extreme vfr above extreme flatness. Short of an in-flight structure break up, I could not imagine a better place to have an emergency then where that plane fell.

Good luck to the pilot. He is very lucky. Things could have been much worse, especially with leaking fuel.

[ken nougaret]

Does anyone have any additional information on Nikk and what went wrong? I dont do instagram or facebook etc.

[Esser]

I posted this yesterday:

Hello everyone, Nikk called me this morning. He is in good spirits and comfortable. His eye socket surgery yesterday went well and he can already notice a difference. Wrist next and when the swelling in his legs goes down, they will start on those.

He says he really appreciates all the support from everyone and that it really means a lot to him. He wants to get into a plane again as soon as possible and is already talking about how he wants to build another Kitfox.

[PropWash]

If anyone hears what happened, please post. I don't do facebook or other social media so can't get info there. Nick seems like a pretty cool guy, and I am sure he'll do a debrief when he is able.

[Mountainflyer52]

So glad he is alive, recovering, and wanting to get back up!
Prayers sent Nikk

[Coopdog]

https://app.ntsb.gov/pdfgenerator/ReportGeneratorFile.ashx?EventID=20181103X75031&AKey=1&RType=Prelim&IType=LA

[Av8r3400]

Trends latest video. All about Nikk and th incident.

https://youtu.be/nF1riozcme0

[Av8r3400]

Trent has set up a go-fund-me to help Nikk bridge the gap between the cost of a new plane and what his insurance will pay.


Link to go-fund-me page - Link (https://www.gofundme.com/let039s-get-nikk-flying-again)



Video explanation link - Link (https://youtu.be/p05pRCaNfpM)

[mscotter]

Man that is awesome. Nick, you are an inspiration to so many. Wishing you continued healing and success in your recovery.

[Paul Z]

Good to see your doing well. Get well. I hate to tell you this but you will never be the same. Bones will ache, knees will hurt, it's all part of ones Life Experiences. God's speed in getting better.



Paul Zimmermann

[jrevens]

I'd like to be just a little bit more upbeat, if you read this Nikk. I have a friend who is a doctor at Children's Hospital here in Denver - Jeff Cain. Quite a few years back he lost both his legs beneath the knees in an airplane crash. He loves flying and old classic airplanes. He got "back on the horse" as soon as he could... he has 2 pretty high-tech artificial legs, and you'd never know it unless he wears shorts. He flies regularly (taildraggers) and does all kinds of other activities that most people never do. He was featured in an article in Sport Aviation with his Hatz biplane awhile back. He's an inspiration, like I know you will be too... hell, you already are. Heal well, and whatever happens I know you'll have a good life and will continue to enjoy and do things that most people in this world will never experience.

[rv9ralph]

Nikk,
Great to see you vertical. Hang in there and keep moving. The more you move the better you will get. You will back at it in no time.

Ralph

[herman pahls]

It’s exciting to see that Nikks go fund me goal has been reached.

[Part91]

I might be wrong, but I think some of that damage was due to the "Jaws of Life" being used to get him out...
It's not a terrible idea to keep one of these (https://www.midwayusa.com/product/101778050/ontario-mil-spec-asek-survival-knife-system-tactical-5-drop-point-carbon-steel-blade-polymer-handle-green) handy.

[NinerBikes]

https://app.ntsb.gov/pdfgenerator/ReportGeneratorFile.ashx?EventID=20181103X75031&AKey=1&RType=Prelim&IType=LA

This has been updated recently, 12-18-18.