Sunday, January 22, 2012

Bell 206B JetRanger, Longhorn Helicopter, Inc (Rgd. Lana Air LLC), N555NB: Accident occurred January 22, 2012 in Irving, Texas

http://registry.faa.gov/N555NB

NTSB Identification: CEN12LA141 
 Nonscheduled 14 CFR Part 135: Air Taxi & Commuter
Accident occurred Sunday, January 22, 2012 in Irving, TX
Probable Cause Approval Date: 04/20/2012
Aircraft: BELL 206B, registration: N555NB
Injuries: 4 Uninjured.

NTSB investigators may not have traveled in support of this investigation and used data provided by various sources to prepare this aircraft accident report.

During the landing sequence to the landing zone, the helicopter’s fuel light illuminated and the engine lost power. The pilot performed an autorotation to flat terrain at a golf course. During the forced landing, the helicopter impacted the level terrain and came to rest about 10 feet from the initial impact point. An on-scene examination of the fuel system revealed no evidence of fuel and the fuel gauge read empty. Less than a half gallon of fuel was recovered and there was no evidence of fuel contamination. An examination of the remaining systems revealed no anomalies. The pilot stated that he mismanaged his fuel and that the tailwind component was less than forecast.

The National Transportation Safety Board determines the probable cause(s) of this accident to be:
A total loss of engine power due to fuel exhaustion as a result of the pilot’s inadequate fuel planning.

On January 22, 2012, approximately 1540 central standard time, a Bell 206B, N555NB, was substantially damaged during a forced landing to the Las Colinas Golf Course, Irving, Texas. The airline transport pilot and three passengers were not injured. The helicopter was registered to and operated by Longhorn Helicopters Inc., under the provisions of 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 135 without a flight plan. The flight originated from Waco, Texas, at 1500, and was en route to the Las Colinas Four Seasons Resort, Irving, Texas.

During the landing sequence to the Las Colinas Four Seasons Resort, the fuel light illuminated and the engine lost power. The pilot performed an autorotation to flat terrain at the Las Colinas Golf Course. During the forced landing, the helicopter impacted level terrain and came to rest approximately ten feet from the initial impact point. The tail stinger impacted the ground and the vertical fin was bent. The tail boom was bent adjacent to the airframe mount.

An on scene examination of the fuel system, conducted by a Federal Aviation Administration inspector, revealed no evidence of fuel and the fuel gauge read empty. An examination of the engine compartment revealed no anomalies. The helicopter was moved from the golf course and the fuel system was sumped. Less than a half gallon of fuel was recovered and there was no evidence of fuel contamination. An examination of the remaining systems revealed no anomalies.

The pilot reported that he departed with 35 gallons of fuel and had estimated that he would have 25 minutes of fuel remaining when he arrived at the destination. He stated that he mismanaged his fuel and the tailwind component was less than forecast.









IRVING — A helicopter made a hard landing Sunday afternoon at Las Colinas Country Club in Irving.

Investigators were trying to determine whether high wind was a factor in the mishap.

The tail boom of the 1977 Bell 206B JetRanger helicopter appeared to be bent at an unusual angle, and the impromptu landing spot on a fairway near the 4400 block of North O'Connor Road was surrounded by yellow police tape.

No one was hurt.

The aircraft is registered to Lana Air LLC of Mead, Oklahoma.

Prince George, British Columbia: Fourth Person Extracted From Plane Wreckage

RCMP are advising that the fourth and remaining person has been extricated from the wreckage of a small plane crash west of Williams Lake.

'E' Division Media Relations Officer, Constable Annie Linteau, says the individual has been transported to hospital with undetermined injuries.

The three other passengers on-board the private plane remain in hospital with minor injuries.

The aircraft left the Springhouse airstrip near Williams Lake shortly before 8:30am this morning to conduct animal surveys in the Big Creek Park area. A search began after the aircraft's beacon was reported to be relaying an intermittent signal, indicating a hard landing or crash. Williams Lake Fire Centre and National Defence dispatched resources to the area. The plane was located at approximately 1:40pm, approximately 45-kilometres south of Hanceville.

The Transportation Safety Board is investigating. No further details are available at this time.

http://www.opinion250.com

Aerostar Yak 52TW crash not airshow related. (New Zealand)



The Yak 52 aircraft that crashed in Fielding today killing two people is not related to the Tauranga City Airshow this weekend.

The Yak, a fully aerobatic Soviet era trainer crashed at Timona Park, off East Street in residential Fielding, at about 10.45am.

The plane had taken off from the nearby Taonui Aerodrome.

A witness, who lives next to the park, says she saw smoke coming out of the back of the aircraft moments before it crashed.

The aircraft is a privately operated aircraft based in Fielding and Tauranga City Airshow co-director Andrew Gormlie says it was not expected to be participating at the event.

There are eight or nine Yak aircraft expected to put on a flying display at the airshow, with a number of them flying up from New Plymouth.

http://www.sunlive.co.nz

 

Turbulence injures crew on flight to Miami from Brazil

Six crew members were injured Sunday on an American Airlines flight from Brazil to Miami, an airport spokeswoman said.

The carrier’s Flight 980 apparently encountered turbulence on its way to Miami International Airport from the Recife Airport in Brazil, airport spokeswoman Maria Levrant said.

The flight landed at MIA shortly after 6:30 p.m. It had had 136 passengers and nine crew members on board, an airline spokeswoman said.

Six crew members were injured due to the turbulence, Levrant said. Of the six, one was treated on the scene, she said, and five were taken to hospitals.

Of the five, one was transported to Metropolitan Hospital of Miami, she said, and the other four were taken to Jackson Memorial Hospital.

http://www.miamiherald.com

Disaster looms in Tanzania skies over unqualified pilots, says report

Grave disaster looms in Tanzania’s skies, in the wake of revelations that the local airline industry is progressively employing unqualified pilots.

The air accident investigation unit of the Ministry of Transport attributes three of 12 aircraft accidents that occurred last year to the ineptitude of inexperienced pilots.

The pilots, according to the ministry’s annual report, were allowed to venture into the skies despite several shortcomings, including blatant disregard for safety and operational guidelines. The report, signed by the deputy chief inspector of air accidents, Mr J. Nyamwihura, said while last year was the safest in the aviation sector in the last five years, the rate of accidents involving unqualified personnel was alarming.

“Acts of unqualified pilots taking command of aircraft, some of this commercial, appears to be on the rise,” the report released over a week ago, reads in part.

The report says the main reason for the “unqualified pilot accidents” is the growing shortage of pilots in the aviation industry. “This shortage is worldwide but appears to be particularly acute in the country because the government has not trained pilots for two decades,” the reports says.

However, when reached for comment, top officials at the Tanzania Civil Aviation Authority (TCAA), the national industry overseer organ, played down the findings.

They were jittery over accusations of insufficient oversight inspection directed at the authority by the ministry, terming them as “misdirected and dangerous”.

TCAA director-general Fadhili Manongi told The Citizen, a sister paper of Daily Monitor, in an interview that the report unfairly piles individual pilot error and operator misdemeanor to the authority.

“It is our responsibility to ensure that only qualified and licensed pilots take command of aircrafts and I can assure you that not a single unqualified pilot has been licensed. But that does not mean we have the capacity to man every operator’s office and each plane taking off to monitor their conduct”.

Mr Manongi said TCAA does not only counter-check with licensing authorities of foreign pilots serving in the country but also deploys inspectors to respective countries to personally examine records and aircraft maintenance facilities without failure.

“Laxity among operators and air crew is partly attributable to the inadequate level of safety oversight inspections. It is recommended that oversight inspections be increased particularly at airports, notably Julius Nyerere International Airport,” the report reads.

However, Mr Manongi said it is not only untrue but also impossible for a pilot to take off without filing a flight plan and gathering weather information. As for the flying hours, he said a pilot is required to complete at least 40 hours of flying in order to pass airmanship before he/she is awarded a Private Pilot License (PPL).

Mr Manongi allayed safety fears by declaring his authority one of the safest and most respected in Africa, arguing that the bureau’s competence has been tested and passed by notable international bodies whose credibility is beyond reproach.

“Interestingly, the very same last year whose events this particular report is based on is when we were certified by the International Standardization Organisation (ISO) number 9001:2008, after a long and thorough scrutiny of our operations,” he said.

He however acknowledged inadequate personnel as one of the challenges facing the authority. Of the seven minimum flight operation inspectors required, the authority has only 4 (57 per cent) and only seven airworthiness inspectors are available out of the required 10, which is equivalent to 70 per cent.
“That is why this year we are sending 10 pilots and 10 engineers for training abroad in a bid to curb the shortage of manpower,” he said.

On his part, the TCAA director of safety and regulations, Mr John Njawa, said Tanzania is much safer compared to other countries because its standards are set higher than most countries in Africa and the rest of the world.

 “We document even the minutest events and classify them as accidents because security is our absolute priority. In other countries, such small, non-fatal issues are regarded as mere incidents but not accidents. So, if we lower ourselves to other countries’ standards, then our ratings will be very impressive,” he said.

Source: http://www.monitor.co.ug

Charlotte County Sheriff's Office helicopter pilot sees low flying aircraft in Port Charlotte; arrest made.

Charlotte County Sheriff's deputies arrested a Port Charlotte man for flying his aircraft very low over Port Charlotte last night. Around 9 p.m., the CCSO pilot and a pilot volunteer were flying an aerial patrol and observed a small red and white airplane flying about 500 to 600 feet off the ground in the general area around Promenades Mall and the two hospitals.

The helicopter pilot followed the aircraft back to Punta Gorda Airport. The pilot, Jayde Keith Machado, 20, 1160 Aletha Avenue, landed, and the CCSO helicopter hovered over his small plane to get the tail number. The helicopter then landed at the hangar and Machado approached the CCSO pilots. He complained about “blowing grass and crap into my plane.” A road patrol deputy was called and talked with Machado who declined to make any statements. He was arrested and charged with Operating an Aircraft in Careless or Reckless Manner, and transported to the Charlotte County Jail. Machado was released from jail on a $2,500 bond.

Cessna 210-5 (205) Centurion, C-FEDE, Lawrence Aviation Ltd: Accident occurred January 22, 2012 in Big Creek Park, app. 45 km S of Hanceville off Highway 20, BC

Earlier today, members of the Williams Lake RCMP were advised that a private aircraft was overdue from the Springhouse Airstrip near Williams Lake, BC. The aircraft departed the Springhouse Airstrip shortly before 830am this morning and was due to return to the airstrip in the early afternoon for refuelling. The aircraft was apparently conducting animal surveys in the area of Big Creek Park when the aircraft’s beacon was reported to be relaying an intermittent signal indicating a hard landing or a crash.

The Williams Lake Fire Center and National Defence dispatched resources to the area in an attempt to locate the aircraft.

At 140pm, an update was received from National Defence rescue personnel that the aircraft had been located in Big Creek Provincial Park, approximately 45 km south of Hanceville off Hwy 20. All four occupants of the aircraft have survived the crash. Three of the occupants have been extracted from the aircraft and are currently being transported to hospital with undetermined injuries. Efforts are currently being made to extract a fourth occupant from the aircraft. These efforts are ongoing.

The Transportation Safety Board has been advised of the incident and will be conducting an investigation to determine the cause of the crash.
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Mounties say all four people on board a private plane that crashed west of Williams Lake, B.C., Sunday have survived.

The plane was reported overdue Sunday afternoon after leaving the Springhouse airstrip at about 8:30 a.m. PT.

Police say it's believed the four people on board were conducting animal surverys in the area of Big Creek Park when the aircraft's beacon relayed an intermittent signal indicating a hard landing or a crash.

At 1:40 p.m. PT, the plane was located in Big Creek Provincial Park, about 45 kilometres south of Hanceville, B.C., off Highway 20.

All four people on board survived the crash. Three people have been extracted and are being taken to hospital with undetermined injuries. Crews are still working to extract the fourth person.

The Transportation Safety Board has been advised of the incident and conduct an investigation to determine the cause of the crash.

Sources:
http://www.cbc.ca
http://www.opinion250.com

Cessna 172RG, N473KP: Davenport Municipal (KDVN), Iowa

A rented Cessna 172RG crashed into the Carver Aero fixed-base operator building at the Davenport Municipal Airport late Saturday.


Update 8:01 p.m. Sunday: Davenport Municipal Airport personnel temporarily boarded up a window and repaired a column after a single-engine Cessna crashed into the west side of a terminal building late Saturday, according to the Davenport Police Department.

The terminal was not open for business at the time.

The incident was reported at 10:22 p.m., and no one was injured. There was considerable damage to both the structure and glass front of the Carver Aero FBO terminal building and the aircraft, according to the news release from police Capt. David Struckman.

Carver-Aero opened the $3 million, 7,460-square-foot terminal in 2010 that also includes a 20,000-square-foot hangar.

Photographs sent to the Quad-City Times and others from Sandra Barrett, Carver Aero’s operations manager, shows the plane knocked out a large window and damaged a column.

Kevin M. Kadlec, 39, of Eagle River, Wis., rented the plane from Duffy’s Aircraft Sales and Leasing Inc., based in Neillsville, Wis., according to the media release.

Kadlec said he was attempting to “hand-prop” the plane to get the engine started when it jumped away from him and traveled about 200 feet before it hit the building, according to the release.

To “hand prop” an airplane, one starts the engine by turning the propeller by hand.

According to the news release, there are numerous inconsistencies between the evidence at the scene and what Kadlec said happened.

The National Transportation Safety Board and the Federal Aviation Administration have been notified and will be investigating the incident.

Carver Aero operates a charter business, flight ground school and maintenance services from the airport. The company not only has its own planes to maintain but it provides services to about 200 planes a year from the Davenport site.

Original story, posted 1:58 p.m. Sunday: A single-engine Cessna collided with the west side of a terminal building late Saturday at the Davenport Municipal Airport, according to Davenport Police.

The incident was reported at 10:22 p.m., and no one was injured. There was considerable damage to both the structure and glass front of the Carver Aero FBO terminal building and the aircraft, according to the media release from Capt. David Struckman.

The terminal was not open for business at the time.

Kevin M. Kadlec, 39, of Eagle River, Wis., rented the plane from Duffy’s Aircraft Sales and Leasing Inc., based in Neillsville, Wis., according to the media release.

Kadlec said he was attempting to “hand-prop” the plane to get the engine started when it jumped away from him and traveled about 200 feet before it hit the building, according to the release.
To “hand prop” an airplane, one starts the engine by turning the propeller by hand.

According to the release, there are numerous inconsistencies between the evidence at the scene and what Kadlec said happened.

The National Transportation Safety Board and the Federal Aviation Administration have been notified and will be investigating the incident.

Bombardier DHC 8-315: Japan Coast Guard plane survives albatross strike

Unwelcome passenger: A dead albatross is lodged in the nose of a Japan Coast Guard patrol plane Wednesday night at Ishigaki airport in Okinawa Prefecture.
JAPAN COAST GUARD / KYODO


 Bird strikes are a chronic problem for pilots, but an incident Wednesday over the East China Sea involving a Japan Coast Guard patrol plane was particularly serious.

After hitting an albatross at around 5:10 p.m. at an altitude of 300 meters, the Bombardier DHC8-315 sustained a big hole in its nose, and the dead bird was stuck in it, coast guard officials said.

The hole was reportedly as wide as 1 meter.

But the patrol plane flew on and landed at its intended destination of Ishigaki, Okinawa Prefecture, a little after 6 p.m. after leaving Naha at 2:50 p.m., the officials said.

None of the nine crew members on the plane was hurt.

The transport ministry dispatched investigators to Ishigaki on Thursday to look into the matter.

Bird strikes pose a serious threat to passenger planes and the transport ministry plans to set up radar equipment at Tokyo's Haneda airport in April to track flocks of birds to help guide aircraft out of their way.

It will be the first such project in Japan. Bird strikes are on the rise at the nation's busiest airport despite daily efforts by ground staff to disperse birds when they are spotted near flight paths.

Yakovlev Yak-52TW, ZK-YTW: Aerostar Yak 52TW: Accident occurred January 23, 2012 at Timona Park, Feilding - New Zealand

A re-enactment of the screwdriver's positioning before the crash.



A loose screwdriver that became jammed in the side of a plane as it was doing aerobatics over Feilding caused a crash that killed a Palmerston North doctor and his friend.

A Civil Aviation Authority report into the crash - which claimed the lives of plane owner and pilot Ralph Saxe, 51, and his friend Brett Ireland, 50 - was released today, almost a year to the day after the 2012 crash at 10.45am on January 23.

The report, written by safety investigator Alan Moselen, found the crash was the result of design flaws in the plane that led to a screwdriver getting stuck in the elevator controls of the plane during a "slow roll" manoeuvre.

As Saxe, a member of Warbirds, entered a steep dive immediately following the slow roll he was unable to get the elevation needed to prevent the plane from slamming into the ground in Timona Park, Feilding.

The forces were so strong that the aircraft nose, engine and wings "created deep ground scars then virtually disintegrated".

The crash was not survivable.

Three witnesses to the crash were flying model aircraft at the park when the aircraft passed within 50 metres of them, moments before ground impact.

The plane rolled to the right in the moments before impact, and the report states this was probably a result of Saxe trying to "avoid a line of houses situated on the western side of the park".

In investigating the crash the CAA found a "stubby" type screwdriver 15 metres from the main impact site, which the report says could have been sitting in the fuselage of the plane for a long period of time.

It is not the first time rogue objects have become jammed in Yak 52 aircraft elevator controls.

In Essex in 2004 a UK pilot managed to recover from a aerobatic manoevre after a cellphone left in the aircraft two months earlier had penetrated a safety barrier and lodged itself in the elevator.

Saxe's Yak 52 did not have a safety barrier installed.

In March 2012, as a result of the crash, the CAA issued a mandate for Yak 52 owners to fit a barrier.

They also called on all Yak 52 operators worldwide to check for loose objects in the fuselage before flying. 

http://www.stuff.co.nz

Dr Ralph Saxe.



The two-seater Yakovlev-52 aircraft belonging to Ralph Saxe that crashed, killing the Palmerston North doctor and his friend, former Manawatu chiropractor Brett Ireland, inset.



Two people are dead after a small plane crashed near Feilding this morning, police have confirmed.

Next of kin started arriving at the scene shortly before 1pm. Police would not be releasing the names of the deceased at this stage but said they were two ''relatively well-known Manawatu men".

Inspector Mark Harrison said the plane crashed at Timona Park, off East St in residential Feilding, around 10.45am. The plane had taken off from the nearby Taonui Aerodrome.

Harrison said he was at home, about 1km away, when he heard the plane crash.

Police were called to Timona Park after a number of witnesses reported seeing the plane go down.

Sandra Elliott, whose house is next to Timona Park, said the plane flew right over their washing line.

She could see smoke coming out of the back of it. They heard the bang when it crashed moments later. They were thankful the pilot had managed to steer the plane away from the neighbouring houses.

Her sons then went to see what had happened.

The area had been cordoned off so that a thorough scene examination could be conducted by the Civil Aviation Authority and police.

The CAA confirmed the plane was a Yak, which could carry up to two people.

CAA safety investigators Al Moselen and Steve Walker were travelling to the scene from Auckland and were expected to arrive later this afternoon.
----------------------
At least one person is dead after a plane crash in a park near Feilding town centre this morning.

Emergency services were called after witnesses reported a small plane going down in Timona Park to the east of the town centre at 10:46am.

Police said they found no sign of survivors in the extensively damaged wreckage of a small plane.

Inspector Paul Jeremy said there was at least one person dead in the crash - though police were still investigating whether a second person had died.

A Fire Service spokesman said the crashed plane was a single-seater "aerobatic" model.

He said officers would remain at the scene to help extricate the body from the wreckage.

Emergency services were called after a number of witnesses reported seeing the small plane crash.

Police at the scene had confirmed a small plane has been extensively damaged but said it was not yet known how many people were on board.

The area had been cordoned off so the Civil Aviation Authority and police could investigate.

Police said the aircraft was an Aerostar Yak 52TW.

Per Madie, who lives on a road bordering the park, said he heard a loud explosion.

"I heard it, and I thought it was a gas container that had blown up. It was just one sound.''
After a phone call from his neighbour, he headed out to the park to see the wreck of the aircraft partially buried in the ground.

"It's just a heap of wrangled metal. Most of it is underground. If one can imagine it's coming full force into the ground, then the front of it is buried.''

The wreck crashed dead centre in the middle of Timona Park, he said.

Mr Madie said an explosive fire had burnt out the entire plane, leaving it a blackened shell. Any marking or details on the plane were burnt off in the blaze, he said.

"It's all burnt. It blew up on impact. It's just black, mangled metal. There's nothing left whatsoever, you wouldn't think it was an aircraft.

"It looks as if it was one big explosion when it hit the ground, and that's the end of it.''

Feilding was also the site of a fatal collision between two Cessnas flown by students on July 26, 2010.

Flying student Patricia Smallman, 64, and flight instructor Jess Neeson, 27, were killed in the accident while a 21-year-old international student at the controls of a second plane managed to land safely at Feilding Aerodrome despite a dead engine and a missing wheel.