Speaking of the devil, and planes

"ESSSIX GmbH - Accountant/Wagon Thumper" (thedlo)
06/21/2016 at 13:57 • Filed to: planelopnik

So Sunday was interesting: spent an awesome day with my Dad, Girlfriend, and a close family friend.

We flew out to Block Island for lunch, had a great time, and ate some great food. On the way back to the airport my friend asks how often do planes go down, my father told him it wasn’t often, but when they do go down its usually human error.

Fast forward a few minutes; we’re going through our preflight checklist, and an shreek from my GF causes us to look up just a plane over shoots the runway disappears behind the hill. A fire ball erupts, we spring in to action, my and my friend run through the brush to reach the plane. I expected to see bodies, but thanks god everyone made it out unscathed.

(the plane crashed on the far side across the road you see at the top, our plane was on that same end in that smaller parking lot you see)

The plane was carrying 6 people... Which, if my dad has tought me anything, is far too many people for a single engine.

!!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!!

DISCUSSION (23)

For Sweden > ESSSIX GmbH - Accountant/Wagon Thumper
06/21/2016 at 14:00

Did you talk to any investigators?

Steve in Manhattan > ESSSIX GmbH - Accountant/Wagon Thumper
06/21/2016 at 14:03

I am happiest when I see a gray-haired probable Vietnam vet in the cockpit when I fly. I want someone who wasn’t shot down.

And I will say - flew All Nippon Airways a few months back, and the pilot was so good I could not even tell when the plane touched down at JFK - I had to look out the window.

And no, I’d only had one beer.

$kaycog > ESSSIX GmbH - Accountant/Wagon Thumper
06/21/2016 at 14:06

Interesting day and a bit scary.

Ash78, voting early and often > ESSSIX GmbH - Accountant/Wagon Thumper
06/21/2016 at 14:07

Wow! Shocking (from that wreckage) that everyone was okay. That fuselage is in amazingly good shape. And no, 6 people isn’t necessarily bad if your calculations are right — Cherokees/Saratogas have been carrying 6 people with a single piston engine for many decades with a great service record. But they can be less forgiving on short runways...usually human error. Losing your only engine can also be dangerous, but in a twin-engine plane on takeoff, it can be just as bad (or worse) when you lose power just on one side.

Rico > ESSSIX GmbH - Accountant/Wagon Thumper
06/21/2016 at 14:13

Wow that’s crazy and quick thinking! Glad everyone made it out okay.

WilliamsSW > ESSSIX GmbH - Accountant/Wagon Thumper
06/21/2016 at 14:13

So glad everyone was relatively unhurt. Your dad is, of course, correct - in fact, it usually takes more than 1 human mistake to cause an accident. Looks like that *might* be a Saratoga that crashed? 6 seats, but I was always taught that a piston single should almost always have at least 1-2 seats empty. Looks like it was a beautiful day to fly otherwise!

ttyymmnn > ESSSIX GmbH - Accountant/Wagon Thumper
06/21/2016 at 14:15

Any landing you can walk away from....

Rock Bottom > Ash78, voting early and often
06/21/2016 at 14:20

Bonanza can carry 6, too. Just not from Mexico City with a full tank and 500 lbs of weed luggage!

Ash78, voting early and often > Rock Bottom
06/21/2016 at 14:22

How do you think Beech came up with that name, then? That is flagrant false advertising.

Rock Bottom > Ash78, voting early and often
06/21/2016 at 14:37

Right? I mean, how great can an airplane be if you can’t carry half of your fledgling cartel and a whole load of product? It should have been named “Adequate Plane”.

ESSSIX GmbH - Accountant/Wagon Thumper > For Sweden
06/21/2016 at 14:46

No, we didn’t stick around after giving our info to the authorities, but their was a nice cross wind, so I would imagine that also played into it. The news says there was a plane in its path, but we saw none (not saying there wasnt one).

For Sweden > ESSSIX GmbH - Accountant/Wagon Thumper
06/21/2016 at 14:48

You’ll likely get a call from someone at the FAA asking for your account of the crash. Please pass these photos to them as well. Every bit of information helps.

ESSSIX GmbH - Accountant/Wagon Thumper > $kaycog
06/21/2016 at 14:51

Yea, and I trust my dad more, that morning he made us weigh our selves before we loaded up. All four of us were 650lbs.

ESSSIX GmbH - Accountant/Wagon Thumper > Ash78, voting early and often
06/21/2016 at 14:53

I was totally surprised when we came upon the wreckage, the wings were cleaned right off. That day there was a sick little cross wind too, which made things interesting when we first came in.

Ash78, voting early and often > ESSSIX GmbH - Accountant/Wagon Thumper
06/21/2016 at 14:55

The wings being sheared off is a good thing — pilot training typically includes advice for overrunning a runway like "find two trees and aim between them." The impact dissipates a lot of energy without causing a sudden stop or crushing the cabin. I used to take glider lessons as a teenager and you're always looking for a safe place to land just in case. No second chances.

ESSSIX GmbH - Accountant/Wagon Thumper > WilliamsSW
06/21/2016 at 14:56

IIRC its a Cherokee. Yea when we saw that it was 5 adults, and 1 kid (probably 120lbs), taking on that short runway would be a handful in those conditions. And there was a fair cross wind.

ESSSIX GmbH - Accountant/Wagon Thumper > Steve in Manhattan
06/21/2016 at 14:58

Haha, it takes a lot of skill to land smoothly lol. My dad says anyone can fly, bringing it down is the problem.

ESSSIX GmbH - Accountant/Wagon Thumper > Ash78, voting early and often
06/21/2016 at 15:01

Yup! He went through a fence too! Its why we got to them so fast, the fence was just bent over, no climbing needed. They really lucked out, when I saw that fire ball, I was certain it was going to be bad.

$kaycog > ESSSIX GmbH - Accountant/Wagon Thumper
06/21/2016 at 15:13

He’s a very responsible pilot. I’d be comfortable flying with him.

WilliamsSW > ESSSIX GmbH - Accountant/Wagon Thumper
06/21/2016 at 16:40

That’s a lot of weight for ~140-150 horsepower. Whatever the cause was, I hope they figure it out and learn from it, mechanical or otherwise.

sunnydaysam > ESSSIX GmbH - Accountant/Wagon Thumper
06/22/2016 at 13:47

6 in a 140 Cherokee is definitely a load, probably over gross, depending on everybody’s weight and fuel load. And that airport; I’ve never been into it but looking at the pic I’d sure want to nail the numbers and if I didn’t have them made I’d have a go-around already in mind, which I always do anyway, even if it’s 5000'. Sounds that this pilot didn’t. As my Dad, an instructor, told me: ‘Remember, Son. No landing is a foregone conclusion.’

ESSSIX GmbH - Accountant/Wagon Thumper > sunnydaysam
06/22/2016 at 15:20

yea, there you have to come down on the numbers, we actually did a go-around on our first approach, just cause.

xyzabc > ESSSIX GmbH - Accountant/Wagon Thumper
07/22/2016 at 17:39

The plane crashed exhibited “Controlled Flight into Terrain”.