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Coast Guard Finds Missing Pilot's Empty Life Raft

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By LISA A. DAVIS, The Tampa Tribune

Published: October 16, 2007

They searched 20,000 square miles around the Bahamas, but Coast Guard crews couldn't find Port Richey pilot Harris M. Sullivan or his hand-built aircraft.

They did discover what might be evidence of his fate Saturday night: His yellow life raft was drifting about 15 miles southwest of his last known location that morning. They weren't sure it was from Sullivan's airplane until they took a closer look and found his handwritten name on it.

By Monday morning, the Coast Guard had suspended its search after finding nothing else that could be linked to Sullivan or his Lancair IV.

'We're still presuming it's missing,' Petty Officer Barry Bena said of the kit plane. 'If he was in that immediate area we would have found him.'

The four-person aircraft was reported missing about 11 a.m. Saturday after the Federal Aviation Administration lost radar and radio contact with Sullivan.

He was on board alone, en route to Palm Beach International Airport from the Bahamas, and was last known to be about 50 miles northwest of Nassau, according to the Coast Guard.

A search was launched first with an HH-60 Jayhawk helicopter and a long-range C-130 Hercules from Air Station Clearwater. An HU-25 Falcon jet from Air Station Miami, the cutter Forward based in Portsmouth, Va., and sea and air units from other stations also were part of the search.

'What we understand is he wasn't in distress but he was flying around weather,' Bena said of the 68-year-old pilot's last transmission to the FAA.

Sullivan built the Lancair in a Port Richey warehouse, fellow aircraft enthusiasts say. It took the retiree about five years to complete, and he has been flying it for about a year.

'It was a beautiful plane,' said John Edwards, president of Experimental Aircraft Association Chapter 791 in New Port Richey. 'All the instruments were top-notch.'

He couldn't imagine what happened on what could be Sullivan's final flight.

'Every indication I had was he was just an outstanding pilot,' Edwards, 51, said Monday.

'You begin to wonder what potentially could've happened. You could speculate all day long.'

For years, Sullivan has participated in his EAA group's Young Eagles program, in which pilots take youths ages 8 to 17 on free flights to introduce them to aviation.

'He brought a lot of joy to a lot of people,' said Young Eagles coordinator John Voda, 58.

'He was a good guy.'

Peter Gibson, Sullivan's next-door neighbor in San Clemente Village, knew him by his middle name, Marshall, and said he helped older neighbors with difficult household tasks.

The 80-year-old Gibson heard Sullivan's stories about globe-trotting adventures including flying over Australia and about fly-ins at air shows.

Gibson said Sullivan's relatives have given up hope, as has he, that the pilot survived.

'If you've got a passion for flying and you have to go,' Gibson said, 'that's the way to go.'

ABOUT THE LANCAIR IV
• Fastbuild kit price: $95,000 ($122,500 for the IV-P, which has a pressurized cabin)

• Horsepower: 350 at 2,600 rpm

• Length: 25 feet

• Wingspan: 35.5 feet

• Weight: 2,000 pounds (empty), 3,550 pounds (gross)

• Fuel capacity: 90 gallons (110 with extended tanks)

• Cruise: 330 mph at 24,000 feet (typical)

• Fuel consumption: 18 to 22 gph (typical)

• The Continental TSIO-550 engine: 'With the 'IV's' performance optimized for the flight levels, this twin turbocharged, twin intercooled engine delivers 75 percent power all the way up to 25,000 ft. where, depending on conditions, you'll be realizing true airspeeds of 330 to 345 mph. For takeoff, you'll experience the spectacular acceleration and climb performance of all 350 horses up front which can quickly and safely get you above 90 percent of the weather.'

• Selling points: 'the Lancair IV has truly proven itself to be incredibly fast, efficient, safe, reliable, comfortable and now more than ever, easy to build.

• Fastbuild means: 'All major structures are installed for you in the wings, horizontal stabilizer, elevators, and vertical fin. The fuselage also sees major component installation performed for you using our massive alignment fixtures, which include the firewall, nose gear tunnel, engine mount, nose and main gear assemblies, fuselage bulkheads, etc. Also included is the wing mating feature that aligns and attaches the wing into the fuselage. Main gear doors are also trimmed out for you. Recently added to our pre-assembly is the wing fuel system that includes fuel caps, drains, slosh doors, pickup and return line fittings, vent lines, and tank sealer. In short, this is one very complete Fastbuild kit that is fully FAA approved. Our Fastbuild kits effectively enhance safety since major components are assured to be properly assembled and of course, they will greatly reduce your remaining assembly time as well.'

Source: www.lancair.com

Reporter Lisa A. Davis can be reached at (727) 815-1083 or ldavis@tampatrib.com.

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