PUTNAM COUNTY, Fla. — A flight crew from Naval Air Station Jacksonville rescued an 81-year-old pilot who had to make an emergency landing Monday due to a mechanical issue.
For roughly 55 years, pilot Jim Goolsby has taken to the skies without hesitation, but twice, things have gone wrong.
STORY: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy addresses Congress; invokes 9/11, Pearl Harbor
“The other accident was a design problem, this accident was a mechanical problem,” Goolsby said. “Personally, I haven’t screwed up an airplane yet.”
The 81-year-old was headed towards the Palatka Municipal Airport, but called in a “mayday” after a mechanical problem and ended up doing an emergency landing into a pond, leading to a rescue by NAS Jax.
STORY: Jacksonville police searching for 2 gunmen after man found shot in Westside backyard
“I was getting ready to descend here to refuel but the engine didn’t respond to the throttle movement,” he said. “Then I touched down, the airplane sort of skied on its gear for a bit and I thought it was going to be real easy and then it plunged in; water went over the top of the canopy, that was scary for a few seconds but then it came to the service and I saw it was floating on its wings so I said okay let’s get out of here.”
Action News Jax first told you back in 2019 when Goolsby was involved in another plane crash.
He was 79 at the time. Now getting close to 82, he says he still plans on flying.
STORY: Police: Missing 11-year-old Jacksonville boy found safe after nearly 24 hours
“I think I know when I’m supposed to stop and these accidents I had weren’t something I screwed up at,” he said. “I still hold a second-class physical, which allows me to fly for hire if I wanted to and I’m healthy, but I just had a run of bad luck here lately.”
Action News Jax looked Goolsby up on the Federal Aviation Administration registry and found he has his second-class physical, but the FAA said the medical certificate expired on February 28, 2022. Goolsby said he got checked last April but plans to renew it immediately.
Retired Naval flight officer John Holzbaur said those tests will look at your sight and hearing amongst many other health-related checks. He also says there are plenty of older pilots out there but that you’re never really in the sky alone.
STORY: Gov. DeSantis eliminates FSA in all Florida public schools
“Every time you fly, you’re still being graded, you’re taking off and landing, you’re still talking over the radio to air traffic control so its not like you’re not being monitored. People have eyes on you all the time,” he said. “It may be this individual’s experience that allowed him to safely work through these emergencies and come away reasonably unharmed.”
For Goolsby, he hopes to meet the members of NAS Jax who got him home safely.
“If I can find out the guys who did it, they’re going to get a bottle of Jack Daniels,” he said.
Goolsby was the only pilot on board and the FAA said it is investigating the crash.
STORY: Prices at the pump are high but Florida Lawmakers say relief is coming. Here’s when that will happen
©2022 Cox Media Group
