The NTSB has released its preliminary report of the off-airport landing of Lancair IV-P N9JE at Hilton Head. The accident killed a jogger but left the plane’s two occupants uninjured. According to the preliminary report,
Further examination of the airplane revealed that the propeller assembly separated from the crankshaft flange and was missing.
In
That’s the number one question I’ve been asked about this accident. Not "why did the accident happen," but "why didn’t the pilot use the parachute?"
As I note here, most Cirrus pilots would say that the parachute should be deployed in the event of engine failure, unless there is a long, paved runway beneath the aircraft such that a safe on-airport landing is assured. But that doesn’t mean that, if there is no airport within range, a pilot who opts to glide to a field rather than pull the chute is negligent.
Pulling the parachute has serious risks. The aircraft’s rate of descent under the parachute is high. Ground impact forces are severe. Cirrus warns that the decision to deploy the parachute shouldContinue Reading Morton, Washington Cirrus Crash: Should the Pilot Have Deployed the Parachute?
Nothing scares helicopter pilots more than wires. Flying into a wire is often fatal. What worries the pilot is that wires are hard to spot. The trick is to look for the towers. Once you see the towers, you can spot the wires strung between them.
But not always.
In January, a California Fish and Game
A Cirrus SR-22, N224GS, crashed yesterday in Washington state. The pilot was killed. The passenger was critically injured. The aircraft departed Concord, California (CCR) in good weather, bound for home. It crashed in Morton, 60 miles from its destination, which was presumably Renton (RNT).
The accident appears to have been the result of engine failure:
Facts suggesting that the engine failed because it ran out of gas:
Only modifications that carry a Supplemental Type Certificate may be legally installed on an aircraft. The Supplemental Type Certificate guarantees that the FAA has thoroughly tested and reviewed the modification. And it’s the Supplemental Type Certific
ate that insures that the modification is safe and compatible with the particular model aircraft on which it’s being installed. Right?
Maybe not. Owners really shouldn’t place too much stock in an STC. Or so says one former NTSB accident investigator. The investigator, now retired, explained to me that most owners might be surprised by how little work the FAA does before issuing an STC. Sure, the STC process is a huge paperwork shuffle for the modification’s manufacturer. But it’s little more than that. The process seldom entails any real independent engineering cross-check on the FAA’s part.
"Give me an example", I asked. "OK,’ he said. "Let’s talk tip tanks."
A popular modification for many models of Cessna single-engine aircraft are wingtip extensions thatContinue Reading The Trouble With Tip Tanks
Most general aviation aircraft manufactured today come with "glass cockpits." Instead of being equipped with mechanical gauges and indicators, they are equipped with computer screens. The screens integrate and display all sorts of useful flight information. The information displayed may include satellite weather, synthetic vision, infrared vision, terrain awareness information, trafficContinue Reading NTSB: Glass Cockpits Associated With Higher Rate of Fatal Accidents
Other countries severely limit compensation that may be awarded in wrongful death lawsuits arising from airline accidents. For example, many other countries do not allow families to be compensated for loss of a loved one’s "care, comfort, or society." As a result, in almost all situations, the best venue for a family’s lawsuit against an airline