could someone give me update (Huntsville, County Line: houses, neighborhood, live in)

[Bowling Nut]

There was a plane crash down in Huntsville area few days back and the person who were killed was pretty good friends with us and i have not heard any more information so i thought i would post and see if anyone has a link to the news site or a site that has some information

[Maya Blue]

I don't think there is a whole lot of new info out there. The local site is www.al.com go to the Huntsville section. This also includes the local paper.

Local stations are waff, whnt, and waay. Their web addresses correspond to the name.

Sorry about the loss of your friends. I live in the neighborhood next to the crash. I must say that he was a pretty good pilot to avoid all of those houses.

[cornutt]

Don't know much more, unfortunately. We know from the filed flight plans that the plane had refueled at Jones Field and was bound for Nashville. It got as far north as Pulaski (about 15 minutes of flying time) when the pilot reported engine trouble and asked for a clearance back to HSV. We know from witness reports that the left engine was not running shortly before the crash. However, that type of plane should be capable of flying on one engine.

I've heard some speculation about the possibility of fuel contamination. If that was what happened, it would explain some things; fuel contamination might have stopped the left engine, and prevented the still-running right engine from making enough power to keep the plane in the air. This, however, is all speculation at this point. I'm sure the NTSB will check the fuel.

There's two things that I'm wondering about. One is, given how far the plane made it northward before the engine trouble started, why the pilot decided to return to HSV instead of looking for a closer airstrip. I'm not very familiar with that area up there, though; possibly there wasn't a closer strip that was long enough for that aircraft to land. The second thing is that I'm a little surprised that the pilot, once he realized he didn't have enough altitude to make it back to the airport, didn't try to land on County Line Road, which is certainly straight enough and wide enough. However, I don't know what kind of traffic there was on it at that time of day.

Mind you, I'm not blaming the pilot at all; I can't say I would have done any better. But this is the sort of thing pilots do study and try to learn from.

[Charles]

Could have forgot to open the fuel line. I used to fly twin aircraft (Beech 76, Duchess). He may have not had the time to realize that and try to start it, or he may have panicked. But, as mentioned above, twins normally can fly with one engine, it is a common emergency training and check ride procedure. If I remember correctly, there can be enough fuel in the lines downstream of the cutoff valve to start the engine and use it for takeoff - giving a false impression that everything is OK. But once airborne, with the fuel shutoff closed, the engine will lose power.

Fuel contamination, wrong fuel used? Water in the lines? I thought I read he fly from the south, stopped at Huntsville, and continued flying north. Water can condense in a fuel tank if the plane is left out overnight in colder weather, but that is also something that is drilled into a pilot's head as something to check for. That's (one of the reasons) why planes are fueled before they are parked for the night, less moist air inside the tanks to condense to water. But I think he just stopped in HSV to refuel and didn't spend the night.

[cornutt]

Originally Posted by Charles

Water can condense in a fuel tank if the plane is left out overnight in colder weather, but that is also something that is drilled into a pilot's head as something to check for. That's (one of the reasons) why planes are fueled before they are parked for the night, less moist air inside the tanks to condense to water. But I think he just stopped in HSV to refuel and didn't spend the night.

Correct; he was only at HSV for about 45 minutes.

[skinem]

I've understood according to reports that they were within just a few miles of the airport at Lawrenceburg, TN.
The whole thing's a shame.
I'm sorry Bowling Nut's friends were killed.

[cornutt]

I was just reading the NTSB preliminary report on this. It appears that the plane's right engine suffered a piston, rod, or crankshaft failure; the NTSB found a large hole in the engine's crankcase and noted that the #1 cylinder's piston was not found at the crash site.

The report also states that the right engine's propeller was found to be in a "low pitch" position. I'm not totally sure what they meant by that, but it appears that when the engine failed, the prop failed to go into the "feather" position (in which the prop blades are turned edge-on to the direction of motion). If the prop remained in a "flat" position, with the faces of the prop blades facing the direction of motion, that would have added considerable aerodynamic drag. That would explain why the plane was apparently unable to maintain altitude on one engine. It also would have made the plane difficult to fly in a straight line, since the drag on the right side would have caused the plane's nose to want to turn to the right. Additionally, the NTSB report contains mention of a witness who said he saw the engine cowl in a "popped up" position. If the engine failure launched some part through the side of the crankcase, that piece may have knocked the cowl loose on its way out of the aircraft. That would have added even more drag.

The report states that all of the engine controls were found to be consistent with proper operation with an engine failure; the throttle and mixture had been pulled and the fuel shut off from the failed engine. It's still a puzzle as to why the pilot chose to try to return to HSV instead of diverting to a closer airstrip. However, the handling of the aircraft appears to have been by the book.

[Bowling Nut]

Thanks for the news cornnutt, Only thing i can think is he started to panic and was not thinking clearly/or he thought he could make it.

[Charles]

Originally Posted by cornutt

If the prop remained in a "flat" position, with the faces of the prop blades facing the direction of motion, that would have added considerable aerodynamic drag. That would explain why the plane was apparently unable to maintain altitude on one engine. It also would have made the plane difficult to fly in a straight line, since the drag on the right side would have caused the plane's nose to want to turn to the right.

**


Additionally, the NTSB report contains mention of a witness who said he saw the engine cowl in a "popped up" position. If the engine failure launched some part through the side of the crankcase, that piece may have knocked the cowl loose on its way out of the aircraft. That would have added even more drag.

*********

The report states that all of the engine controls were found to be consistent with proper operation with an engine failure; the throttle and mixture had been pulled and the fuel shut off from the failed engine. It's still a puzzle as to why the pilot chose to try to return to HSV instead of diverting to a closer airstrip. However, the handling of the aircraft appears to have been by the book.

Thanks for checking this out.

I'm not 100% certain of this, but a non-feathered prop alone probably wouldn't add sufficient drag to prevent straight and level flight. I remember doing engine failure procedures (my instructor would simply pull the throttle back on an engine), I'd have to apply opposite rudder and trim, but I still could maintain straight and level flight.


**

Now, with a popped up engine cowling, a truly freakish occurrence, that would add considerable drag and possibly cause the aircraft to stall.


******

Just because the fuel shut off was open (no flow) doesn't mean the pilot transitioned to that position on an engine failure. It might be possible he never opened it prior to take off???? However, the investigators probably have other indicators of pilot operation prior to the crash and can conclude the shut off valve transition.