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RV12 missing in Florida (March 3, 2022)

dothetime

Well Known Member
My hangar partner Tommy Compana and his girl friend are missing
After departing for Key West Florida on Tuesday March 1
Tail N123RR
He had his locater beacon turned off since it was acting erratically.
Really nice guy, was a new pilot.
RIP Tommy
 
Missing?

Was the RV12 NEW to him? Flightradar24 shows last flight with that tail# in Oct 2021. Hope they are found and all is well. Appears to have turned off tracking on Flight Aware too. At owner/operator request.
 
Last edited:
Tracking from Feb 27th:
 

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Tragic, very sorry for the families.

Question: Do south Florida pilots in light aircraft typically fly over the Everglades and open water on the way to Key West or stay close to the highway?
 
Sam, we fly over water. Usually Everglades airport then direct to Fl keys airports. Altitudes 7500-9500 feet never lower. We wear manual inflating (not automatic) life vest while overwater. Have a waterproof bail out bag that floats along with my PLB. Passengers always briefed RE: ditching procedures.
 
Its on MSN NEWS now.

I would post a link, not that Tech Savvy yet, (maybe someone else will post a link) Its a bit of a long the story. Pieces of wreckage have been found in Keys. Another plane was accompanying the flight but diverted to Marathon due to weather. Life Vests were found in their Hangar. Tracking turned off, Epirb may have been disabled. Learned to fly a year ago, may be some serious lessons to learn here. In the meantime: May they Rest In Peace. Very Tragic.
 
I would post a link, not that Tech Savvy yet, (maybe someone else will post a link) Its a bit of a long the story. Pieces of wreckage have been found in Keys. Another plane was accompanying the flight but diverted to Marathon due to weather. Life Vests were found in their Hangar. Tracking turned off, Epirb may have been disabled. Learned to fly a year ago, may be some serious lessons to learn here. In the meantime: May they Rest In Peace. Very Tragic.

To paste in a link, just paste in the link and it usually gets formatted ok.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/p...e-on-way-to-key-west-still-missing/ar-AAUzVu2
 
Weather Sunday Feb 27th between 8am and 10am. Green track line is not N123RR. Just showing the weather.
EFDE3-A46-5731-4-B36-9-DC5-CA79-AC65-C10-F.jpg
 
Local news reported Sheriff and Coast Guard have suspended their search. AC parts were located 9 miles North of Big Pine after a Coast Guard helicopter crew noticed an oil slick in that area and requested marine units respond to investigate.
 
Sad story. I did my flight training in Fort Lauderdale and to me, Palm Beach direct to Key West seems like a pretty challenging flight for a new pilot.
 
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