Small plane crash caught on video from inside cockpit

Small plane crash caught on video from inside cockpit | The Sideshow - Yahoo! News

 

It's easy to be critical after the event but it seems like he had loads of time to abort when the performance wasn't up to scratch.

Nasty pilot injuries but they were mighty lucky to get out of it alive, all things considered.

Thanks for posting it, lessons for all in that one.

 

Not sure what happened. Was the airplane headed into rising terrain? Or just high density altitude and unable to climb at all?

 

Yes, it's easy to be critical, but that is the longest takeoff roll I've ever seen...

...and I have been in a fully loaded KC-135 Tanker leaving Beale AFB on a 110 degree day!

 

It's described as being in the Idaho wilderness so I'd guess they had 6000' density alt, and going to the wilderness they probably had baggage plus 4 PoB, therefore overloaded I expect, and even on their way into the trees the flaps were fully retracted... it also looks like slightly rising terrain so it all adds up to no climb available. Amazing that no-one seemed to say a word as the crash became inevitable.

 

That is one tough airplane. Talk about crash worthy.

 

Yeh, that's my thought also.
I would have tried a gentle turn back much sooner, I think.

I just saw a clip of this video on NBC news preview here... will probably be on all the news channels later.
Makes me wonder if it was staged somehow... four cameras.... the guy videos himself....

 

It looks like that airfield is at 6370MSL, pressure was 30.00"Hg, and the temp was 80 deg F (27 deg C). So, density altitude was 9049 ft. That little Stinson was probably doing the best it could at that DA and weight.

 

That crash happen just north of where I live here in Idaho.
High altitude airport,high temperature,a plane full of people plus gear. leads to disaster.
They were lucky to get ou alive.
This is the first time I have seen the video,it looks like he should have aborted the takeoff and waited for the temp to cool.

jic

 

As has been pointed out elsewhere, it appears his mixture control is set Full Rich in the video.
For a small engine at 9000ft DA, that can make all the difference.

One thing is for sure, the pilot wont have much "wiggle room" in his story with the FAA...

 

Lets just be glad that they all made it out alive.
We can all point fingers at this or that but it could have been a hell of alot worse.

 

That has got to be the worst case of decision making, maybe combined with get-there-itis, I've ever seen. I don't wish to be an armchair quarterback but...

 

Early in my flying career I took some friends for a ride out of Needles Ca airport in a 180 HP Cardinal. It was hot, we were heavy, but the airplane lifted off with plenty of runway left. As I was trianed, I verified positive rate of climb and faired the flaps from the 10 degree position. Big mistake! The airplane settled immediately and I was flying into rising terrain. I dumped the flaps back to 10 degrees and all was well again.

I couldn't help but notice the flaps were faired on this Stinson as it went through the trees.

 

Pilot error: four (4) adult males survived crash into trees, after takeoff with density altitude of 9,000 feet, in their single engine Stinson.






"I know were heavy, will just run her rich for awhile."

 

I have never seen a climb so anemic.

 

Guys, I'm not going to play monday morning quarter back but I do have a scenario question. If the FAA penalizes him, can he start flying LSA?
Ron

 

The crash looked staged to me. Funny how nobody seemed to panic or scream, etc. And just so happened to be all those camera angles.....Hmm. Looked staged.....

 

WPR12LA283

 

I'm guessing this accident is going to show up as a safety article in one of the major aviation magazines before too long.

 

Just to get us on the same page and confirm pilot language, I think "dumped the flaps" means move the flaps to the 0 degree position.
And second, I think 0 degrees flap is best for climb in this situation of heavy load, provided there is room for the initial sink after retracting the flap.

But yes, I think full flaps could be used at impact.