Pilot happy he walked away

Pilot Charles Hugh Denany might be the one area resident wishing for an even lower area lake level.

Had Thurmond Lake been lower than the current 9-feet-below-full-pool level, the plane he crash-landed Sunday might have been spared some damage.

"I was going to ask the (Army Corps of Engineers) if they would drop it another 20 feet for me," the Martinez resident joked. "I could have kept it out of the soft soil up there and had no damage at all."

Mr. Denany said Monday that his single-engine, two-seat aircraft experienced engine failure because of vapor lock in the gas line as he flew above the lake on his way back to an airport in Trenton, S.C. That forced an emergency landing onto the shores of the Sunset Cove community of Trade Winds Marina.

"What I tried to do was just touch down at the edge of the water, so I could have as much room as possible," Mr. Denany recalled. "The momentum of the plane carried it into the sandy soil and the nose wheel dug in. When it did, it turned sideways, the wingtip hit and it rolled over."

However, reaching the shoreline might have saved his life, he said.

"I didn't want to take a chance on a water landing," Mr. Denany said. "A small plane like that has a tendency to want to roll over in the water. That leaves you disoriented and upside down."

Mr. Denany, who said the SLSA aircraft he purchased in November likely can be fixed, suffered just a little soreness.

"I'm a little stiff, but at 59, you don't get up and not be stiff," he said.

Mr. Denany helped remove his wrecked plane from the shore Sunday afternoon and spoke with a Federal Aviation Administration investigator Monday.

He suspects it might take months for the agency to conclude its investigation.

Mr. Denany said the wreck won't keep him grounded, and he still believes flying is safe.

"I've never been hit by a truck up there," he said. "I've never even had one pull out in front of me."

Reach Donnie Fetter at 863-6165 ext. 113, or donnie.fetter@augustachronicle.com