Wednesday afternoon, July 20th, 2005 Glenn Saunders was fatally injured while performing an emergency landing.
Glenn was flying his 914-ROTAX powered VariEZe from Ft. Lauderdale (FXE) to Vernon, British Colombia Canada to meet his wife and 6 year old daughter that were vacationing there.
The trip was well planned and the aircraft had been performing flawlessly prior to the flight.
On the final leg of the flight, Glenn stopped at Lethbridge County Airport to refuel and Clear Customs. He filled his tanks and took off; shortly after taking off (Approx 1000 Ft.) Glenn advised the tower he had a problem and he was returning to land, shortly after that he advised that he was on fire.
One witness reported seeing smoke coming from the aircraft prior to impacting the ground in a wheat field.
I have personally been in contact with the Canadian Transportation Safety Board and I can tell all of you that they are working very hard at attempting to identify what caused this tragic accident.
Glenn was and excellent pilot and an Ace mechanic, additionally he was an expert ROTAX technician and more importantly a friend to all.
Funeral Services have not been set yet, but I will, with permission from the family, post something on the WEB as soon as possible.
Tony Utset
Miami Fla.
