A volunteer pilot for the animal rescue organization Pilots N Paws was killed when his Mooney 201 went down in a remote mountainous area in upstate New York on Sunday about 6 p.m. A puppy and another dog survived the crash but another dog also died. Weather was reported rough at the time of the crash, which occurred about 35 miles south of Kim's destination of Albany. The flight originated at Harford Airport in Maryland. Weather was cloudy with some rain and gusty winds in the last part of the flight.
Animal rescue flights might seem like a noble cause, but letâs be realâsometimes theyâre more about the pilots than the animals. These âmissionsâ often give pilots a chance to rack up flight hours, justify the cost of their hobby, or bask in the spotlight for âsavingâ animals. Sure, the photos and stories make them look like heroes, but there are cheaper, more practical ways to get these animals where they need to go. Instead of focusing on whatâs best for the animals, it can end up being more about ego and recognition. God Rest this Pilots Soul, and the poor animal he took to their deaths if that was the case.
Strange viewpoint. To know whatâs best for the animals? As in, what, euthanasia? And how could you possibly know from your keyboard?
To ignore the love, sacrifice and compassion the pilot undoubtably felt about his motive to give back to life and replace it with a personal bias devoid of any of the above traits, and yet attempt to frame it as an inadequacy of the pilot is quite revealing itself.
Whatâs next, flying into bush airstrips, air races, formation flying, meeting friends for breakfast - all just for ego and to ârack up hoursâ and âjustify the cost of their hobbyâ? Or are they more noble activities than flying for P&P?
I think your comments are disrespectful of the pilot who died, and also certainly do not match my experience.
I fly Pilots N Paws flights, and yes, they are a great opportunity to build flying experience, but the trips I make are often either time critical (newborn cleft-palate puppies who canât nurse and need special care, animals with broken bones or other injuries, etc) or long distances (e.g. San Bernadino, CA to Redding, CA) where ground transport is very difficult to arrange because it would require so many hours of driving.
There are networks of volunteer ground transporters who move animals when thatâs appropriate, and in my experience most of the rescues try to limit flight requests to trips where going by air is the best option.
My condolences to Mr. Kimâs family. May he rest in peace.
None of us fly PnP Rescues do so to âjustify the cost of our hobbyâ or bask in someoneâs spotlight. We do it because we love to fly, we love our pets and are willing to donate time and money to help either rescue animal(s) or get them from shelters to forever homes. We are responsible for making risk assessments, and sometimes flights are better not made. Sad dualfadec so cynical, but from his nickname perhaps he flies for a living and doesnât really enjoy flying or much elseâŚ
Hear hear! I lost my husband in 2020 to a small plane crash. Many condolences were sent my way with those same words about he died doing what he loved however, that mightâve been true but he was doing something very stupid. Thank you for the honesty
My comment was not meant to br disrespectful of the pilot. I respect his volunteer spirit, and I love dogs. Itâs a comment on my own fallibility and the fallibility of all humans.
As a fellow Mooney pilot I followed Seuk on social media. Very sad. I applauded his noble missions. I hope to learn from his tragedy. His history showed he had gotten his private 4 years. I will be curious if this was simply a VFR pilot flying into IMC. His altitudes were all VFR in Flightaware. He changed altitudes several times during his flight, which is usually an indication of a VFR pilot trying to avoid clouds and/or to find smoother air. Unfortunately, the location and weather required an IFR flight over mountainous terrain. It was also 6pm-ish in winter, so likely dark. Iâm doubting that anything was wrong with his Mooney, but we will find out. I wonât be surprised if the report concludes he flew into terrain. His track shows he did not fall out of the sky - the article says his plane âwent down,â but his flight track shows he flew the plane in a controlled decent into the mountain peak altitude and never accelerated or had a fast rate of decent. Perhaps he had icing and could not maintain his altitude? Or was he purposely flying lower and lower over the peaks to avoid the clouds in an attempt to see the ground? I read somewhere Seuk was in contact with ATC and requested altitude changes based on turbulence, but I donât know if he was using flight following or was IFR. We will find out. Either way, he broke some rules as he was well below the MOCA for that area. I will be curious to read the expertâs assessment, hear the ATC recordings, and to know if he was an IFR pilot or if he was just choosing to fly below the MOCA. I implore pilots to get an IFR rating and please be careful.
@cbhuntress1 I am very sorry for your loss. I am unsure whether you or the OP meant to say that the whole idea of flying is stupid, or that some less-than-perfect choices/decision-making in the final moments amount to âstupidâ (only top be used about one-self : I would do so to : I have an idea about making a little video for my funeral, but considered I need a version without jokes just in case I took some innocent soul with me. Well I guess you still like flying if you visit Avweb, so glad to still have you on board. I love airplanes, the pilot community, and dogs !
âLetâs be realâ you are not ânobleâ enough to do what these pilots do for rescue. How dare you make these horrible remarks about a man you seem jealous of. Suek Kim and the pilots who fly for pilot and paws do not need recognition and you are correct that they could get their hours in other ways and sure there is ground transport which is âcheaperâ (as you put it) but also harder on an animal who has already been through trauma but you donât understand this so instead you judge and make hateful remarks? Not only did Suek fly for rescues, he also flew many trips for the hurricane victims and not because he needed recognition but because he was a wonderful human. The puppy who passed in that crash is sad but that last comment was truly uncalled for as all of your unkind words were. I like many others took offense to your nasty comments but itâs clear that YOU CAN ONLY WISH YOU COULD BE HALF THE WONDERFUL MAN SUEK KIM WAS.