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I walked onto the ramp, and my heart dropped. There she was. The plane I had last rented, suddenly so different than when I had left her.

The Cessna Skyhawk sat helplessly in its parking spot. Its tail section looked like an accordion, laying limp on the ground and beyond repair. Its wings were no longer capable of carrying the trainer skyward, with the leading edges dented and scratched, the ribs visible under the warped aluminum, and the wing struts bent in half.

I didn't know what had happened. I did know that I had last flown the plane a couple of weeks earlier, and I could only guess that it had landed hard at some point after that. But what about the people inside?

I pushed those thoughts away and headed for my rental for the day, another Skyhawk on the ramp not far from where I stood. I tried to concentrate on my flight that afternoon, but as I navigated the skies, thoughts of the injured bird raced through my mind.

After six laps around the pattern later, I was headed back to the ramp, more curious than ever.

I put the chocks out and walked back over towards the 172SP. So young in its life, now sitting in the damp summer heat with its engine and propeller gone, and its Hobbs meter, stuck on its last tick forever.

I walked back into the flight school office to pay for my flight. "Hey, what and the heck happened to 401FS?"

"Well, we don't really know, but..." the dispatcher started, as I stood listening in amazement at the probable cause, or at least probable theory.

Turns out late one night, as all of the trainers slept happily on the ramp, an elder Boeing 727 apparently made a legal but unusual turn from a taxiway to cross one of the main runways. As it hustled to clear the runway, jet blast from its three engines apparently scooped up the Skyhawk and flipped it on its back.

Turns out no one actually saw the incident, but a ramp worker came across the plane soon after and alerted the flight school owner, who rushed down to the ramp.

The tower acknowledged the 727 that night, but says it never saw the incident or the Skyhawk on its back.

The moment by moment details are probably still being worked out by the insurance companies. But what is certain is the lesson it leaves. Stay back from the big boys. And if you're one of those big boys, take care of the little guys behind you.

Article by Chris Archer; Send him an email