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Pilot missing after landing plane on Cape May beach

by Jonn Lilyea••44

A plane usually used to tow banners for Paramount Air Service landed on a Cape May beach, a Coast Guard facility. The Piper PA12 pilot skipped out after touching down nose first, according to the Cape May Star and Wave Newspaper;

Personnel from Training Center Cape May, county Sheriff’s Department and Cape May police continued searching Monday for the pilot of a banner-towing plane that illegally landed on a secured Coast Guard beach Sunday night and fled the scene.

According to Barbara Tomalino, president of Paramount Air Service, one of her pilots took a banner towing plane without authorization. She did not know if the aircraft landed on the Coast Guard beach as a result of mechanical difficulties.

Coast Guard watch standers became aware of the incident at 7:52 p.m., after the plane was seen landing on the beach by closed circuit cameras.

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44 thoughts on “Pilot missing after landing plane on Cape May beach”

  1. My fat ass would have been hauling it off that beach. Any dope found on the plane? What is the range of the plane?

    Hey, anyone checked Bernasty’s grave for signs of an escape? He’s a sly one, capable of reinventing himself.

    1. Ah, you beat me to it, Chief! Let’s just say he tried to ‘pull a bernasty and it backfired on him’.

    2. Well you know what they say, any good landing you can walk away from….or in this case, drunk, stoned stumble run etc etc.

      2. Any landing after which one can actually fly the aircraft again is a great one, which this isn’t.

    3. Gotta be ShOrTbUsWiNdOwLiCkEr42… he likes to fly after sucking down a fifth of Thunderbird.

    4. No signs of duct tape, iPads with shitty airspeed apps, or drunk-assed clowns wearing purple jumpsuits.

      Then again, Sealy McChippendale has yet to be accounted for….

  3. Looks like a case of flying while drunk after reviewing the film. Either that or Bernasty faked his death and is still around, which I doubt.

    2. The pilot likely fled the scene because he didn’t want an FUI (flying under the influence) on his record. That would likely result in a suspension of his pilot’s license and end his flying job.

      1. Agree. Pilots are generally the type to stand next to the wreck and boast about how only their incredible skills were able to bring it down without killing everyone.

      2. I think I can safely say that his flying job, and license, were gone as soon as he got the plane off the ground.

  5. Interesting stuff this crash landing business. I prefer the categories of events and incidents. That aside, one wonders if there can be a crash landing w/o a crash? If a civilian a/c flies into a mountain, is that a crash landing? How about if the pilot tries to set down on the mountain but a crash results? Is that then a crash landing? How about if a pilot glides his way onto a runway without so much as a paint-chip missing? Is that a crash landing? Gawd, my mind hurts.

    1. Happy to explain this, AirCav.

      “How about if a pilot glides his way onto a runway without so much as a paint-chip missing? Is that a crash landing?”

      In effect, no. It is how a glider lands under the hands of even an unskilled beginner pilot. Just don’t turn too soon and run into the uncut corn.

    2. 1. Any landing the pilot walks away from is a “good landing.”

      2. Any landing after which the aircraft can be flown again is a “great landing.”

      3. If neither of these conditions apply, it is a “crash landing” and the surviving pilot(s), if any, will blame maintenance, wake turbulence or other odd weather conditions, sun spots, Coriolis effect, phase of the moon, or “the other guy’s watch was too big, and the reflection blinded me.”

      Hope this helps.

    3. The latter example is called a “dead stick” landing not a crash landing. As part of basic pilot training they make you practice those. The instructor pulls out the throttle so there is no engine power and announces, “OK where you going to land?” If the student pilot picks some farm field ahead when there is a runway directly behind him (or her), it is time for more training.

  6. Has anyone considered someone who is not a pilot stole the aircraft for a joy ride and was lucky enough to survive the crash landing.

    1. CM: Based on what Jonn posted above, the President of Paramount Air Services knew the pilot:

      “According to Barbara Tomalino, president of Paramount Air Service, one of her pilots took a banner towing plane without authorization. She did not know if the aircraft landed on the Coast Guard beach as a result of mechanical difficulties.”

      1. Yeah I read that but after watching the video figured no skilled pilot would have flown in such a manner. My thought was she was covering her butt with a disclaimer.

        1. An off-airport landing on a beach is an extremely dangerous move. I doubt any pilot would intentionally do that if not confronted with an emergency.

  7. I’d like to know what else was in the plane, the pilot’s name, and where he was heading. Yeah, could be joyride, simple theft, drunk ass stupidity, but then again, it could be something else.

    Where did I put my tinfoil hat…..

  10. The pilot of the plane is whom I suspected last night, but withheld his name until the news article came out.

    It IS Barbara Tomalino’s stepson, James Peter Dahlen, Jr.

    http://6abc.com/warrant-issued-for-pilot-after-cape-may-beach-landing/3648980/

    http://www.bdtonline.com/news/authorities-seek-pilot-who-landed-plane-on-coast-guard-beach/article_f83c8c52-5363-585f-a316-c8402febb9aa.html

    Even though he was a student pilot, his Pilot’s license expired in September 2017. He had a Medical 3 License:

    http://www.city-data.com/pilots/cape-may-ch-new-jersey.html

    JAMES PETER DAHLEN JR
    Medical Class 3 (Expires: Sept 2017)
    Address: 317 ROUTE 47 S, Cape May Ch, NJ 08210
    Licenses: •Mechanic – Airframe
    •Mechanic – Powerplant
    •Pilot

  12. If I was the pilot after awhile and before I was located, I would notify the authorities and I would claim that since no one was around, that I left the area to seek medical attention.

    Who knows, maybe thats what the pilot really did. With a nose over like that, a trip to a clinic is probably needed.

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