Monday, July 07, 2014

Accident occurred July 07, 2014 near Flying H Ranch Airport (WN42), in Buckley, Washington

The pilot was lucky, good, or both. He crashed and walked away with a few scrapes.

The man, 63, flew a small plane out from the Burnett airstrip and the town of Wilkeson, said sheriff’s spokesman Ed Troyer. At about 6:30 p.m. Monday, firefighters from East Pierce Fire and Rescue responded to a report of a possible small plane crash in a forested area between Bonney Lake and Buckley. Initial reports described a plane circling a wooded area, followed by an explosion.

According to Pierce County Sheriff’s spokesman Ed Troyer, a neighbor heard the man’s cries for help and tracked him down in the woods using mobile phone coordinates. The man emerged from the crash unscathed, apart from a few scrapes, Troyer said. The steering brake in the ultralight aircraft malfunctioned, causinhg the pilot to lose control, Troyer added.

Source Article:  http://www.thenewstribune.com


Update: Pilot found by East Pierce firefighters. He was evaluated and was not injured. Airplane located and there was no fire hazard. The crew is now clearing the scene.

East Pierce Fire and Rescue firefighters are responding to multiple reports of a single engine, small plane crash in the area of 21600 block of Connells Prairie Road East between Bonney Lake and Buckley

Multiple witnesses saw a small plane circling followed by an explosion before it disappeared into a wooded area at about 6:30 p.m.

Crews are searching the woods between 224th Av E and Connells Prairie Road East.

Early report is pilot is OK and is making his way out of wooded area. Witnesses are reported to have talked to the man by phone and he stated he was not injured.

Firefighters from East Pierce Fire and Rescue are making their way to the pilot. They will check on the pilot and confirm there is no fire at the crash site.

Pierce County Sheriff's deputies are also on scene.

Source Article:   http://www.blscourierherald.com

Piper PA-46 Malibu: Accident occurred July 07, 2014 at Centennial Airport (KAPA), Denver, Colorado

CENTENNIAL, Colo. - A single-engine airplane had a small fire while taxiing for takeoff, but the pilot escaped without injury on Monday morning, Centennial Airport spokeswoman Deborah Smith said.

South Metro Fire Rescue responded to the fire at Centennial Airport about 10:50 a.m.

The pilot was the only person aboard the Piper PA-46 Malibu turboprop, Smith said.

Story:    http://www.thedenverchannel.com

First of 3 fuselages removed from derailment site

MISSOULA, Mont. (AP) — Boeing is deciding what to do with six new commercial airplane bodies that fell off a train in western Montana, including three that slid down a steep riverbank, a company spokeswoman said Monday.

Experts from Boeing Co. and Spirit AeroSystems, which built the fuselages, are at the site of Thursday's derailment on the Clark Fork River about 50 miles west of Missoula, Boeing spokeswoman Dina Weiss said in a statement.

"Once we have completed our assessment of damages and determined our next course of action, we will decide what to do with the fuselages," she said.

She said other Boeing 777 and 747 airplane parts on some of the 19 cars that went off the tracks appear undamaged and will be shipped to the company's Everett, Washington, assembly plant.

Read more and photo gallery:  http://www.mysanantonio.com


Montana Rail Link crews on Sunday began cleaning up debris from an embankment below the site of last week’s train derailment near Fish Creek, including three aircraft fuselages that went into the Clark Fork River.

MRL had cleared the area around the tracks and reopened the rail line to train traffic Saturday.

Company spokeswoman Lynda Frost said work started about 7 a.m. Sunday to pull the Boeing Co. 737 fuselages and train cars out of the water and up the embankment. MRL is using eight pieces of heavy machinery to pull the fuselages up the hill with cables.

The cleanup, originally expected to be completed by the end of Sunday or early Monday, will likely continue through Tuesday, Frost said.

“It’s taking longer than we had originally anticipated,” she said.


Read more:  Work begins to remove Boeing fuselages from Clark Fork River

Illinois State Police to use aerial speed zone on I-74 bridge

Illinois State Police will begin monitoring traffic speed on the I-74 bridge from the sky.   Tuesday, IDOT crews will begin installing white strips on both sides of the I-74 bridge.

This is how it works; white strips are placed on the road. Police fly above the marked zone in an aircraft, usually a helicopter. Using a stopwatch and a number chart, police time how fast it takes a driver to pass from one line to the next. Using a simple equation, police can calculate the driver’s speed.

“On the bridges, you can’t really have any squad cars sitting up there safely during daylight hours,” said Jason Wilson, a State Trooper with the Illinois State Police. Obviously, we all know there is a problem on the I-74 bridge with people obeying the 50 mph speed limit.”

Story and Video:  http://wqad.com


Air troopers give State Patrol a view from 1,500 feet

At 1,500 feet in the air, Colorado State Patrol pilot Ryan Carlson can spot a lot of dangerous drivers on the state's highways.

Carlson, a sworn trooper, is one of five pilots in the State Patrol's aircraft section, and a big part of his job is speed enforcement - from the air.

He sees a lot of speeders, tailgaters and weavers during his daily traffic operations.

"I look for anything that just shocks my conscience," he said while gliding above Pikes Peak International Raceway in a single-engine Cessna 182.

Story, Video, Photo and Comments:   http://gazette.com

Vintage war plane on display in Airdrie

CALGARY- Airplane enthusiasts are flocking to Airdrie this week, to get a peek at a vintage B-25 bomber.

 Maid in the Shade was used in World War II, serving in Corsica just off the Italian coast.

“It went out in a formation of four one day, and this is the only one that came back,” remembers Bob Taylor from Commemorative Air Force. “There was a possibility that you never came back if you went out on a mission.”

The B-25s—a mid-range bomber—were feared by enemy forces.

“It’s quite fast, almost as fast as a fighter jet, whereas the B-17 was slow,” Spike McLane explains. “It was a very specialized aircraft.”

Less than 50 B-25s are still in operation. Maid in the Shade took 28 years to restore, and is now on display in Airdrie in partnership with the Airdrie Regional Airshow. People are also invited to book a flight, though seating is limited.

Story, Video and Photos:   http://globalnews.ca


C-FNAZ: Safe landing after scare

http://wwwapps2.tc.gc.ca

Six airplane passengers are breathing a sigh of relief after landing safely at Kelowna airport.

At approximately 12:28 p.m. Monday afternoon, a commercial flight on approach to Kelowna International Airport advised the air traffic control tower that their landing gear may not be functioning properly.

Apparently the indicator light for the aircraft’s right side landing gear was not illuminating the green light that indicates the right wheel was fully locked.

Read more and photo:   http://www.castanet.net

U.S. Air Force aircraft abandoned in flight discovered in Lake Ontario

The wreck of a U.S. Air Force C-45 aircraft abandoned during flight by its crew in 1952 has been located in Lake Ontario near Oswego.

On September 11, 1952, the plane, which took off from Bedford Massachusetts to Griffis Air Force Base near Rome, New York, was crippled by an engine failure. Believing the plane would crash, the pilot, crew and passengers parachuted. They all landed safely. The plane managed to continue on a 65 mile pilotless flight until it crashed into Lake Ontario.

Shipwreck explorers Jim Kennard, Roger Pawlowski and Roland Stevens located the aircraft while surveying a section of Lake Ontario for historic ships.


Story and Photos:  http://www.whec.com

Pilots blamed for fatal crashes in aircraft that had mechanical flaws

FREDERICKSBURG --  Aircraft manufacturers have paid out hundreds of millions of dollars in settlements to victims in fatal general aviation crashes, despite the NTSB blaming pilots for these accidents.

The joint investigation between USA Today and the I-Team calls into question whether the NTSB is doing a thorough job of investigating small plane and helicopter crashes.

USA Today: Safety last: Lies and coverups mask roots of small-plane carnage

Among the notable examples of this decades-long trend, a fatal helicopter crash in Fredericksburg on April 13, 2006.

Pilot Craig Nemec and two of his three passengers died after his Robinson R44 helicopter collided with a power line shortly after taking off.

One passenger died at the scene, another passed away a day later after being airlifted to SAMMC's burn unit.  

 A third passenger survived with burns to his face and hands.

Craig suffered burns on more than 50 percent of his body and died after a courageous 15-month fight against complications from those burns.

"He asked to renew our vows, we did, and we talked about, you know, its going to be really hard," said Craig's widow Ellen Nemec.

The NTSB's initial report and final report cited Craig's failure to avoid the power line and his failure to follow recommended departure procedures at the Gillespie County Airport as the primary causes of the crash.

However, the power line was not marked and a lawsuit filed by Ellen Nemec in 2008 revealed the helicopter was destroyed because of a devastating fire caused by fuel leaking from the helicopter's tanks.

"Their determination of probable cause looked at why the helicopter hit the ground. The NTSB didn't bother to examine why everybody got horribly injured," said attorney Michael Slack, who represented the Nemec family in its lawsuit against Robinson Helicopter Company.

Slack described the April 2006 accident as a "hard landing" that turned catastrophic because the R44's fuel tanks ruptured, spilling fuel into the cockpit and causing a devastating fire.

The lawsuit was settled out of court in 2009, for what Slack described as an "undisclosed amount of money."

As part of the settlement, Slack was allowed to visit Robinson's Torrance, California headquarters as the company began to install improved fuel tank systems in its older helicopters and all of its new helicopters.

"We wanted them mandatory and we wanted them worldwide," said Slack about Robinson's safer bladder-type tanks.

While the bladder tanks are now standard, many older Robinson helicopters still have older tanks.

"What they didn't do is make the fix available overseas," said Ellen Nemec, adding that the improvements are paid for by Robinson customers, not the company, and helicopters must be brought to California.

Former NTSB Chairwoman Deborah Hersman, who left the agency in May, acknowledged during a recent interview with USA Today the NTSB needs to do a better job of investigating small aircraft crashes.

Hersman noted the average investigator is tasked with probing 30-40 crashes a year.

"If the investigator says the pilot's responsible, the board doesn't have any other information with which to determine probable cause," added Slack.

Its a common, costly trend.

The I-Team found 21 verdicts totaling close to $1 billion, against aircraft manufacturers the NTSB had not cited in its investigation of these crashes.

"If the helicopter company hadn't just been thinking about their bottom line, if the government agencies had paid attention, Craig would be here, the other families in our accident would be here and a lot of other people around the world," Ellen Nemec said.

Robinson Helicopter president Kurt Robinson spoke with USA Today for this story.

He noted that the FAA had approved all models of Robinson Helicopters, including the R44, but acknowledged the company moved to improve its fu
el tank systems following the Fredericksburg crash.

Story and Video:   http://www.kens5.com


 
NTSB Identification: DFW06FA102. 
The docket is stored in the Docket Management System (DMS). Please contact Records Management Division
Accident occurred Thursday, April 13, 2006 in Fredericksburg, TX
Probable Cause Approval Date: 02/26/2007
Aircraft: Robinson R44 II, registration: N123CK
Injuries: 2 Fatal,2 Serious.

NTSB investigators either traveled in support of this investigation or conducted a significant amount of investigative work without any travel, and used data obtained from various sources to prepare this aircraft accident report.

The 430-hour commercial helicopter pilot collided with unmarked power lines while attempting to depart the uncontrolled airport on an easterly heading from the airport's parking apron. The pilot lost control of the helicopter following the collision with the power lines and the helicopter impacted the ground. A post impact fire consumed most of the helicopter. Several witnesses observed the accident and provided written statements. The uncontrolled airport features a single runway aligned 140/320 degrees, and Unicom services are available. Eye-witnesses reported that the pilot did not hover-taxi the helicopter from the parking apron onto the parallel taxiway to the runway, but instead departed the apron area on an easterly direction between two ramp light fixtures that were 35 feet tall and 150 feet apart. The 32-foot high power lines impacted by the helicopter were located outside the airport perimeter and were 220 feet from the airport parking apron. The wind at the time of the mishap was reported from 190 degrees at 10 knots, with VMC weather conditions; however, the accident occurred during the early evening at 1840. Examination of the wreckage did not reveal any anomalies. Maintenance records for the helicopter that were provided did not reveal any discrepancies. The flight logbook for the pilot was not made available to the NTSB during the course of the investigation.

The National Transportation Safety Board determines the probable cause(s) of this accident to be:
The pilot's failure to maintain clearance with the power lines. Contributing factors were the dusk light condition and the pilot's non-compliance with standard taxi and takeoff procedures.


http://www.ntsb.gov

‘Engine failure caused Chirundu plane crash’: Britten-Norman BN-2A Islander, 9Q-CYA

Preliminary  investigations have revealed that engine failure caused the Britten-Norman BN-2 Islander twin engine aircraft to crash-land between Chikankata and Chirundu districts on Sunday.

The BN-2 Islander is a 1960s British light utility aircraft, regional airliner and cargo aircraft designed and originally manufactured by Britten-Norman of the United Kingdom.

Police deputy spokesperson Rae Hamoonga said the plane, registration number 9Q-CYA, was destined for Lubumbashi in the Democratic Republic of Congo from South Africa.


Read more and photo:   http://www.daily-mail.co.zm

Accident occurred July 07, 2014 in Hancock County, Illinois

Emergency crews responded to an airplane crash Monday afternoon near Carthage, Illinois.

Carthage Fire Chief Eric Shuman says crews were called out to 1945 N County Road 2350 at about 4:15 p.m. Shuman said they found that crop duster airplane had crashed in a corn field.

The pilot, who Shuman said is not local, was transported to a hospital by air ambulance. Shuman says it appeared the pilot had non life-threatening injuries.

Shuman said the single-engine airplane was in pieces, with the engine ripped off.


Read more and photo:  http://www.wgem.com

Pilot's actions heroic - hunter: Schweizer 269C 300C, ZK-HON, Cloudy Bay Helicopters

A heroic Blenheim pilot injured in the Ward helicopter accident made a split second decision to steer the chopper into the side of a hill to save two lives instead of one, according to man who was among the first on the scene.

Pilot Grant McCallum was a hero, says Tim Smit, one of the hunters who had been out on a heli-hunt when the accident happened on Sunday morning.    McCallum and passenger Sam Kersten were injured when the white Hughes 300 helicopter McCallum was piloting crashed into a gully on a farm at Grassmere, near Ward just before 9am.

The helicopter carrying the two Blenheim men crashed on Bonavaree Farm owned by Doug Avery.   McCallum, in his mid-40s, is the owner of Cloudy Bay Helicopters and a father-of-one who lives at Riverlands. 


Read more and photos:   http://www.stuff.co.nz

Airport Commission Legal Bills Soar: Martha's Vineyard Airport (KMVY), Vineyard Haven, Massachusetts

The Martha’s Vineyard Airport expects to spend nearly 11 times as much as it budgeted in legal fees during the fiscal year that closed last week, financial records show.

Unusually high legal spending led to a last-minute scramble to finalize a supplemental budget for the airport, which was approved at a joint meeting of the county advisory board, county commission and airport boards last Thursday, three days after the close of the fiscal year.

Records show that the airport incurred approximately $271,191 in legal expenses during fiscal year 2014. The budget called for spending $25,000 on legal services.

High legal spending at the airport is linked to several ongoing disputes between the airport and its employees and Dukes County.

The airport commission recently filed a lawsuit against the county commission asking a judge to declare its legal autonomy in managing airport affairs. Separately, the airport has also been the subject of a tangled workplace dispute involving a former employee and airport manager Sean Flynn.

The largest legal invoice received so far came from Susan M. Whalen, a Charlestown attorney who has regularly attended meetings of the airport commission and has advised the board on personnel matters. In recent months, she was working to prepare a draft personnel policy for airport employees.

Ms. Whalen billed the airport $87,907.36 for her services this past year, according to a report prepared by county treasurer Noreen Mavro Flanders. Other legal bills anticipated by the airport, which included a June bill from Ms. Whalen and May and June invoices from the firm Anderson and Krieger, were still outstanding and not included in the report.

Airport commission chairman Connie Teixeira did not return calls from the Gazette on Monday seeking comment.

At a meeting of the airport commission last month, concerns were raised about legal spending and the commission voted to create a subcommittee to vet legal services.

“My concern is cost,” said commissioner Richard Michelson at the time. “I think we need a general discussion or we can try to work on keeping those bills down as much as we can.”

Commissioner James Coyne agreed, but was skeptical that money could be saved on legal expenses in the near future.

“It is a big issue and I think certainly the responsibility of the board is to try to reduce legal costs generally, although a lot of the costs that are legal we don’t have control over,” he said.

Acting general manager Deborah Potter said much of the airport’s use of counsel had been advisory in nature. This past year, the airport has worked to revise leases for counter space inside the terminal building. Ms. Potter said the airport often hires off-Island attorneys.

“A lot of the lawyers, we either can’t use because they have a conflict of interest with someone they already represent on the Island, or they don’t have the aviation experience that is necessary to give us the best information for our industry,” she said.

She agreed that the airport should try to keep its expenses to a minimum.

“Sometimes you have to do your due diligence to support the organization,” she said.

Attorney Whalen, who participated in the meeting via conference call, said she felt the legal services were way too high, and that she supported the creation of a committee to look at legal costs.

In a draft $3.89 million budget for fiscal year 2015, the airport has budgeted $75,000 for legal services.

At the end of every fiscal year since at least 2008, the airport has closed its books with a surplus between $126,000 and $894,000. The funds are deposited in a reserve fund, and used toward capital improvements, said county manager Martina Thornton. This year, the budget surplus is listed at zero, but the county treasurer has projected a modest surplus once the books are closed for the month of June.

Ms. Thornton said Thursday’s meeting was the first time she has seen the three major county boards sitting together in one room. She said Arthur Smadbeck, an Edgartown selectman and member of the county advisory board, spoke to the group about working together in the best interest of the people they represent.

- See more at: http://mvgazette.com

N505UP: Dan Gilbert Removes Public Tracking From Private Jet

Fans were able to track Dan Gilbert’s private jet while it traveled all over the country recruiting free agents including LeBron James.

I guess Gilbert didn’t like that, because now his jet is offline.

Read more at http://blacksportsonline.com


http://registry.faa.gov/N505UP

Cessna R172K Hawk XP, N7390K, High Planes Flyers Inc and American Champion 7GCBC, N162CG: Accident occurred July 07, 2014 near Landmark USFS Airport (0U0), Landmark, Idaho

NTSB Identification: WPR14FA283A 
14 CFR Part 91: General Aviation
Accident occurred Monday, July 07, 2014 in Landmark, ID
Aircraft: AMERICAN CHAMPION AIRCRAFT 7GCBC, registration: N162CG
Injuries: 1 Fatal, 1 Minor.

NTSB Identification: WPR14FA283B
14 CFR Part 91: General Aviation
Accident occurred Monday, July 07, 2014 in Landmark, ID
Aircraft: CESSNA R172K, registration: N7390K
Injuries: 1 Fatal, 1 Minor.

This is preliminary information, subject to change, and may contain errors. Any errors in this report will be corrected when the final report has been completed. NTSB investigators either traveled in support of this investigation or conducted a significant amount of investigative work without any travel, and used data obtained from various sources to prepare this aircraft accident report.

On July 7, 2014, at 0733 mountain daylight time, an American Champion 7CGBC, N162CG, and a Cessna R172K, N7390K, collided over Landmark US Forest Service (USFS) airstrip, Landmark, Idaho. The American Champion, registered to the pilot, made a dead stick approach along the edge of an open meadow and struck a tree during the landing, which resulted in substantial damage to the airplane. The Cessna, registered to High Plane Flyers, Inc., impacted terrain and was consumed by a post crash fire. The commercial pilot operating the American Champion received minor injuries and the private pilot operating the Cessna received fatal injuries. Both airplanes were operating under the provisions of 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91. The American Champion departed McCall Airport at 0715, and the Cessna departed Flying A ranch at 0715. The destination for both airplanes was Sulfur Creek Ranch Airport, Idaho.

The pilot of the American Champion stated that she and the Cessna pilot were going to meet at Sulfur Creek Ranch Airport the morning of the accident. After departing McCall she stated that she had a visual on the Cessna as it departed Flying A Ranch. It was below her at the 5 o'clock position. They both were in radio communications with each other. The Cessna pilot stated that his ground speed was 129 knots and she stated that hers was 101 knots. She reported that she was 10 miles west of Sulfur Creek at 7,800 feet, and the Cessna pilot reported that he was 5 miles west of Sulfur Creek, at 6,800 feet. By this time she had lost visual contact with the Cessna and over the radio the Cessna pilot stated that he had passed her. At that point, 10 miles west of Sulfur Creek, the American Champion pilot said that she saw the Cessna appear under her left wing, overtaking her from behind and below. The Cessna appeared to be climbing and she had no time to react before the airplane struck her propeller and then disappeared downward. Her engine stopped, she tested the flight controls, made a mayday radio transmission, then executed a forced landing into an open area.

The wreckage of the Cessna was located about 1 mile south of where the American Champion had made its forced landing. The Cessna had been subjected to a post accident fire, and a small debris field consisting of camping equipment, personal bags, right wing lift strut, and right horizontal stabilizer was distributed to the northwest, extending out approximately 700 feet from the main wreckage.




A 45-year-old Colorado man has been identified at the pilot who died following a plane collision in the skies over Valley County Monday morning.

The victim was Michael A. Bond, Valley County Coroner Nathan Hess said Thursday. Hess said Bond's family has been notified. Hess did not have a hometown for Bond. Hess said Bond had been working with a flight instructor the day of the crash.

Bond had held a pilot's license since at least 2001, according to the Federal Aviation Administration pilot database.

Bond died after an 8 a.m. Monday after his plane collided with another plane about 30 miles east of Cascade. The other pilot, 52-year-old Amy Hoover of Ellensburg, Wash., was able to land her plane.

Hoover has held a pilot's license since 2003, FAA records show. She is a licensed commercial pilot and flight instructor.

Bond's plane crashed about 2.5 miles south of the Landmark Airstrip. Hoover landed in a grassy area about 1.5 miles southeast of the airstrip. She was treated at a local hospital and released.

National Transportation Safety Board and Federal Aviation Administration officials are investigating the cause of the crash.

Read more here: http://www.idahostatesman.com


 N162CG AMERCIAN CHAMPION 7GCBC AIRCRAFT AND N7390K CESSNA 172 AIRCRAFT COLLIDED MIDAIR UNDER UNKNOW CIRCUMSTANCES, THE 1 PERSON ON BOARD N7390K CESSNA 172 WAS FATALLY INJURED AND THE AIRCRAFT CRASHED AND BURNED, THE N162CG LANDED WITH MINOR INJURIES TO THE THE 1 PERSON ON BOARD AND MINOR DAMAGE, LANDMARK AIRSTRIP, 30 MILES FROM CASCADE, ID 


Flight Standards District Office: FAA Boise FSDO-11 


HIGH PLANES FLYERS INC: http://registry.faa.gov/N7390K  

HOOVER AMY LYNN:    http://registry.faa.gov/N162CG

CASCADE, Idaho (KBOI) -- One person has been killed after two small airplanes crashed in mid-air at a remote airstrip east of Cascade.

 The U.S. Forest Service says the crash occurred at the Landmark Airstrip, which is located at about 30 miles east of Cascade. Officials say the surviving pilot, 52-year-old Amy Hoover of Ellensburg, Wash., was able to land her plane and walk away.

She was later treated at a hospital in McCall.

The other aircraft, however, crashed about a two and a half miles south of the airstrip. A small fire started as a result of the crash, which was reported at about 8 a.m. Hoover was treated a hospital in McCall.

The name of deceased has not been released. The Valley County Sheriff's Office will release the name once next of kin is notified.

Story and Photo Gallery:  http://www.komonews.com

Vintage warbirds will soar at Gathering of Eagles Air Show July 19-20: Lost Nation Municipal Airport (KLNN), Willoughby, Ohio

CLEVELAND, Ohio – Warbirds from the past will be featured July 19-20 in the Gathering of Eagles XVIII Air Show at Lost Nation Airport, 38550 Jet Center Place, in Willoughby.

The show is presented by the Cleveland-based United States Aviation Museum which uses a portion of proceeds from the event to support restoration of a vintage World War II Boeing B-29 Superfortress.

Aircraft planned for the show include a B-25 bomber, Corsair fighter, F-86 jet, and cargo planes such as the C-47, C-46 and C-54 – a plane widely used during the Berlin Airlift of 1948-1949.

Military displays and re-enactors, and a classic car show, also will be featured at the event that runs from 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. on July 19, and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on July 20. Planes will be flying both days from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Representatives from the Louis Stokes Cleveland VA Medical Center will be at the show to talk to veterans about VA benefits.

Admission is $13 for adults, $7 for children 4-12 years old, and $25 for couples.
The U.S. Aviation Museum has spent the past 26 years restoring a B-29 that was built for service during World War II. The bomber has the cartoon character "Doc" from the Disney movie "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" painted on its nose.

Details on the restoration, which is underway in Wichita, Kansas, can be found at www.b-29doc.com.

For additional information about the U.S. Aviation Museum or the air show, call (440) 759-4148 or visit www.usam.us.

Source Article:  http://www.cleveland.com

Klemm KL25, D-EFTE: Historic aircraft crashes in Germany, two injured

One of Germany’s oldest planes crashed in a field on Sunday evening, severely injuring the pilot and passenger.

The wooden Klemm KL25, which is almost 90 years old, belonged to a flying club in Großenhain, Saxony, which has a private collection of historical planes.

“It was one of the oldest licensed planes in Germany, but not the oldest," a member of the society said on Monday.

The 27-year-old pilot, who is a club member, and a 16-year-old passenger were taken to hospital with life-threatening injuries, police said.

Read more and photos:  http://www.thelocal.de

Air distress signal heard at Trenton-Mercer Airport (KTTN) was false alarm

EWING -- An aircraft emergency signal that was picked up by air traffic controllers and passing planes at the Trenton-Mercer Airport earlier today was a false alarm, officials said.

Reports of a strong signal from an Emergency Locator Transmitter – a radio device for boats and aircraft that can send a distress signal to nearby monitoring stations. The signals can sometimes indicate that a plane has gone down or is in some kind of trouble.

But today’s alarm, heard by airport officials shortly before 11 a.m. was accidentally set off aboard a helicopter grounded at the Ewing airport, according to Julie Willmot, a Mercer County spokeswoman.


Source Article:  http://www.nj.com

Why Congress Must Reopen the TWA 800 Investigation -by Jack Cashill, American Thinker

On July 2, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) announced that it would not reopen the investigation into the destruction of TWA 800.  This was the Boeing 747 that was blown out of the sky ten miles south of the Long Island coast on July 17, 1996, killing all 230 people on board.

The TWA 800 Project, a team of former aviation investigators and scientists, had petitioned the NTSB to examine evidence that pointed toward a missile strike on the airline.  Not surprisingly, the NTSB, which had invested four years of resources to prove some other theory, any other theory, chose to stick to its original findings that flammable fuel/air vapors somehow caused the explosion.

Books have been written on this subject – I co-authored one of them with James Sanders, First Strike – so readers can access the body of evidence for a missile strike on their own.  An excellent point of entry is the documentary produced last year by the TWA 800 Project, simply called TWA Flight 800 and now available via streaming on Netflix.
 

One of the six whistleblowers profiled in that documentary deserves special attention. His name is Hank Hughes. At the time of the explosion, he was a senior accident investigator for the NTSB and was a member of the “Go-Team” that headed immediately to the crash site.
 

Read more here:  http://www.americanthinker.com

Cessna 337G Super Skymaster, N924LA, Consultresearch Inc: Accident occurred July 07, 2014 off Bimini Island, near Dania Beach

SEACOR Ship Rescues Three From Plane Crash

Written by The Maritime Executive

 
SEACOR Island Lines' Sea Express II cargo ship rescued three plane crash survivors on Monday morning.

A few minutes after takeoff, it appeared fuel had stopped flowing to both of the aircraft’s engines about 25 miles off the coast of Bimini. 


The Cessna 337’s pilot spotted the Sea Express II, and made a soft landing a few miles from the vessel hoping that they had also been spotted.

All three passengers exited the aircraft safely with only minor injuries, just before it sank to the ocean floor. 


The crew of the Sea Express II did spot the plane flying low and acted immediately, arriving on scene 20 minutes after the crash to pluck the survivors from the ocean.

The rescued three were openly appreciative of the ship’s crew and their hospitality; they were fed and hydrated aboard the vessel.

After their arrival in Port Everglades, the survivors were medically evaluated and were taken to the Port Everglades Fire Station.

Mike LaFleur, SEACOR Island Lines' CEO, said: “We are proud of our crew and grateful that the vessel was in the right place at the right time.”


Original article, photo and video:  http://www.maritime-executive.com

AIRCRAFT FORCE LANDED UNDER UNKNOWN CIRCUMSTANCES IN THE WATER OFF BIMINI ISLAND, NEAR DANIA BEACH, THE 3 PERSONS ON BOARD WERE RESCUED BY A PASSING SHIP, THE BAHAMAS 

Flight Standards District Office: http://www.asias.faa.gov/pN924LA
 
CONSULTRESEARCH INC: http://registry.faa.gov/N924LA  


 


DANIA BEACH, Fla. - Three men were rescued after their small plane crashed into the water about 27 miles east of Bimini. 

The U.S. Coast Guard said the men took off from Great Harbour Cay in a Cessna 337 Monday morning that was headed to Opa-locka. They were rescued by good Samaritans on board a cargo ship.

The ship carrying the passengers and pilot is arrived in Dania Beach around 2:45 p.m. Monday. The CEO of Seacor Island Lines, which owns the cargo ship, says eight crew members were on board when they spotted the plane go down about four miles away from them.

Local 10's Andrew Perez spoke with the three victims. Ernie Martin, who is a 15-year-veteran pilot from Miami said he was heading back to South Florida from vacationing in Great Harbour Cay with his two friends, Javier Avino and Daniel Puig.

According to Martin, one of the engines failed so he decided to divert to Bimini. Soon after, the second engine on the plane failed. Martin says he spotted the ship nearby so he decided to make a soft landing a couple of miles from it.

Miraculously, all three of the men on board the plane survived and are doing well.

Story and Video:   http://www.local10.com


 Story and Video:  http://miami.cbslocal.com

Dramatic video shows 'near miss' at Barcelona airport

(CNN) -- An apparent near miss between two aircraft that was captured on video at Barcelona Airport has prompted an investigation by Spanish aviation authorities.

The video shows a Boeing 767 belonging to Russian airline UTair pulling up from its landing approach as an Aerolineas Argentinas Airbus A340 taxis across its path.

No one was injured in the incident and the UTair plane was able to circle round and make a safe landing five minutes later.

Story, Video and Comments:   http://www.cnn.com

Raven, N79ZR: Fatal accident occurred July 06, 2014 in Mattituck, New York

NTSB Identification: ERA14LA330 
 14 CFR Part 91: General Aviation
Accident occurred Sunday, July 06, 2014 in Mattituck, NY
Probable Cause Approval Date: 01/05/2016
Aircraft: ZUBAIR S KHAN RAVEN, registration: N79ZR
Injuries: 1 Fatal.

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

The airplane departed its home airport for a local flight. Radar data indicated that, about 9 minutes after departure, the airplane was at 7,400 ft mean sea level (msl) and had begun a left 270-degree turn. The last radar return, which was recorded about 1 minute later, showed the airplane about 1,100 ft msl, which correlates to an approximate 6,000 ft-per-minute descent. The airplane was found the following day floating on top of the water in a sound and was subsequently recovered. The pilot’s parachute pack was found deployed and partially wrapped around the propeller. The airplane’s canopy was not present; however, it was located several weeks later floating in the water. Postaccident examination of the airplane revealed no evidence of any mechanical failure or anomaly that would have precluded normal operation. 

The airplane’s calculated center of gravity (CG) was about 3 inches beyond the aft CG limit, which likely induced longitudinal instability and led to a subsequent deep, unrecoverable stall. The canopy examination and the as-found condition of the parachute pack indicated that the canopy was likely opened in flight. Therefore, the pilot likely recognized that the stall was unrecoverable and attempted to bail out of the airplane but was unsuccessful.

Although toxicology testing showed that the pilot had used marijuana at some time before the accident, the low levels detected in the pilot’s specimens indicated that he was not likely significantly impaired by its use at the time of the accident.

The National Transportation Safety Board determines the probable cause(s) of this accident as follows:
The pilot's failure to ensure that the airplane was loaded within its calculated center of gravity limits, which resulted in longitudinal instability and a subsequent unrecoverable stall.

HISTORY OF FLIGHT

On July 6, 2014, about 1905 eastern daylight time, an experimental amateur-built Raven, N79ZR, was substantially damaged when it impacted the water in the vicinity of Mattituck, New York. The private pilot was fatally injured. The airplane was registered to and operated by an individual under the provisions of 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 as a personal flight. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed and no flight plan had been filed. The personal flight originated at Brookhaven Airport (HWV), Shirley, New York, about 1855.

The airplane was located floating on top of the water of Long Island Sound, the following morning by a private individual.

According to radar data, the airplane was first observed at 1,200 feet above mean sea level (msl) south of HWV. The airplane turned left towards the north and continued to climb to about 8,500 feet msl as it went over the north shoreline and continued flight over Long Island Sound. The airplane subsequently began to descend. At 1904:18, radar data indicated that the airplane was at 7,400 feet msl and began a left 270° turn towards the east. At 1904:33, radar data indicated that the airplane was traveling in an east direction and was at 5,800 feet msl. The last radar return was recorded at 1905:19, and indicated an altitude of about 1,100 feet msl.

PERSONNEL INFORMATION

The pilot, age 41, held a private pilot certificate for airplane single-engine land issued June 21, 2005, and a third-class airman medical certificate issued June 11, 2013, with no limitations. The pilot's logbook was not recovered for examination. On the pilot's June 11, 2013, Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) medical application, he reported 220 total flight hours. According to a statement provided by a flight instructor, the pilot had satisfactorily completed a flight review on April 6, 2014; however, at the time of the flight review, the pilot's total flight time was not recorded.

AIRCRAFT INFORMATION

The four-seat, composite canard airplane, with retractable landing gear was manufactured in 2014 and issued an airworthiness certificate on February 7, 2014. It was powered by a Lycoming IO-540-C1A engine driving a Catto Glass Carbon Composite 3-Blade propeller. Review of the aircraft maintenance logbook records showed that a condition inspection was completed on February 7, 2014 at a recorded time of 20.1 hours. The Hobbs meter was not located at the accident site and airframe operating time could not be conclusively determined.

The airplane was equipped with a front-hinged canopy which functioned as the front windshield, side windows, and cabin roof. The canopy was the only access to and from the cockpit. A primary latch lever mounted in the cockpit operated four latch pins.

Weight and balance information, computed on January 30, 2013, indicated that the airplane's maximum gross takeoff weight was 2,200 pounds and the designed center of gravity (CG) range was 95 to 99.5 inches aft of datum. Utilizing the computed information, the airplane's weight at the time of takeoff was about 1,818 pounds and the CG was 102.2 inches aft of datum. The investigation was not able to determine if the pilot had performed a weight and balance or why he elected to operate the airplane out of CG.

METEOROLOGICAL INFORMATION

The 1853 recorded weather observation at Westhampton Beach, The Gabreski Airport (KFOK), Westhampton Beach, New York, located about 10 miles to the south of the last recorded radar return, included wind from 220 degrees at 9 knots with gusts of 17 knots, visibility 10 miles, clear skies, temperature 22 degrees C, dew point 17 degrees C, and barometric altimeter 29.98 inches of mercury.

WRECKAGE AND IMPACT INFORMATION

The wreckage was located at 41°3'53.7" N and 072°41.418" W, about 4 miles north of the north shore of Long Island and about 20 miles northeast of the departure airport.
Examination of the airplane by an FAA inspector and a representative from the engine manufacturer revealed damage to fuselage, left wingtip leading edge, and the right canard trailing edge. The damage was consistent with a left wing low attitude when it impacted the water. The pilot had a personal parachute pack, and when recovered, photographic evidence revealed that the parachute had been deployed, remained attached to the pilot, trailing behind the airplane, and wrapped around the propeller. Examination of the canopy brackets attached to the fuselage and both hinges revealed no tearing or shearing of the bolts; however, neither the bolts nor the canopy were present.

Flight control continuity was confirmed to all flight control surfaces from the cockpit control, except for the rudders. Rudder continuity was confirmed from the cable fracture point in the vicinity of the rudder pedals to the rudder control surfaces; however, the rudder pedals were absent.

The left wing and left canard remained attached to the fuselage. The left wing exhibited leading edge damage which extended from the wingtip inward approximately 4 feet.

The nose section exhibited impact damage and was partially fractured on the right side circumferentially around the bottom of the nose but remained partially attached on the left side. The nose wheel remained attached and was partially extended. Examination of the canopy brackets attached to the forward section of the fuselage and both hinges revealed no tearing or shearing of the bolts; however, no bolts nor the canopy were present.

The canopy was subsequently located July 9, 2014, floating on top of the water, about 39 miles northeast of the last recorded radar return. The canopy remained intact and the windscreen was not damaged. A video camera remained attached to the canopy; however, no recording of the accident flight was able to be extracted from the camera memory. The canopy quick release mechanism remained attached to the canopy and was found in the released position. The four locking pins and associated locking pin holes exhibited no distortion and were unremarkable. The four pins were reinstalled into the locking pin holes and appeared to lock into place. The quick release line was pulled by an FAA inspector and all four pins released and operated normally.

The instrument panel exhibited impact damage but remained attached to the forward portion of the cockpit. The throttle lever handle was impact separated; however, the lower portion of the throttle lever arm remained attached and was in the full forward or "OPEN" position. The mixture lever was in the full forward or full "rich" position. The fuel selector valve was in the "BOTH" position. The landing gear position indicator located aft of the fuel selector valve indicated three "UP" positions. Both ignition switches were found guarded and in the "ON" position. The glareshield included circuit breakers and several switches. The following switches were found in the on position: Master, Radio Master, Landing Light, Strobe Lights, Pitot Heat, Spare Circuit, and Fuel Pump. The left side control stick remained attached to the control column.

The left and right cockpit molded seats remained attached and had various fractures located along the back. Both seatbelts and shoulder harnesses remained attached to the associated attach point; however, the right seat belt and should harness had been cut by first responders to facilitate recovery of the occupant.

The right wing and right canard remained attached to the airplane. The right rudder remained attached to the winglet at all hinge points. The right aileron remained attached at all hinge points.

Both fuel caps remained secured and in place. Each fuel tank indicated a 30 gallon capacity.

The aft pusher engine compartment remained attached to the fuselage and the firewall was not damaged. The lower and upper engine cowlings exhibited impact damage but remained attached to the fuselage. The engine assembly remained attached to all engine mounts. The composite three-blade propeller remained attached to the propeller crankshaft flange. The propeller blades were not damaged, and the personal parachute canopy and associated cords were found wrapped around the blades and hub.

Examination of the engine assembly revealed that the left and right engine exhaust pipes exhibited impact crush damage at the Nos. 1 and 2 cylinders. All induction tubes were attached to their respective attached points.

The throttle cable remained attached to the throttle control arm on the fuel injector servo and was at mid-range. The mixture control remained attached to the mixture control arm and was in the full rich position. The fuel injector servo was removed and contained fuel. The fuel injector servo fuel inlet screen was removed and free of contaminants. The fuel injector servo regulator section was disassembled and no anomalies were noted. The fuel flow divider was removed, disassembled and no anomalies were noted. The fuel injector nozzles were removed from all cylinders and no anomalies were noted.

The engine was subsequently partially disassembled. The engine was rotated by hand using the propeller. Suction and compression was obtained on all cylinders. Valve train continuity was observed through all cylinder rocker arms. The accessory drive gears were observed rotating. Crankshaft and valve train continuity was verified. A detailed "Memorandum of Record - Engine Examination Report" with accompanying pictures is contained in the public docket for this investigation.

MEDICAL AND PATHOLOCIAL INFORMATION

An autopsy was performed on the pilot on July 7, 2014, by Suffolk County Medical Examiner's Office, Hauppauge, New York. The autopsy reported the cause of death as "multiple blunt impact injuries," and the report listed the specific injuries.

Forensic toxicology was performed on specimens from the pilot by the FAA Bioaeronautical Sciences Research Laboratory, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. The toxicology report stated no carbon monoxide detected in the blood (Cavity) and no ethanol was detected in the urine. The report listed the following drug being detected:
- Tetrahydrocannabinol (Marihuana) detected in the blood (Heart)
- 0.005 (ug/ml, ug/g) Tetrahydrocannabinol Carboxylic Acid (Marihuana) detected in Urine
- 0.0015 (ug/ml, ug/g) Tetrahydrocannabinol Carboxylic Acid (Marihuana) detected in Blood (Heart)

According to the FAA Aerospace Medical Research website, Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) is the psychoactive compound found in marijuana and has effects at levels as low as 0.001 ug/ml. THC has mood altering effects causing euphoria, relaxed inhibitions, sense of well-being, disorientation, image distortion, and psychosis. The ability to concentrate and maintain attention are decreased during marijuana use. Tetrahydrocannabinol carboxylic acid is the inactive metabolite of tetrahydrocannabinol.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

A fuel receipt was located revealing that the airplane had been fueled at HWV, at 1837 on the day of the accident, with 53 gallons of fuel.

The Airplane Flying Handbook (FAA-H-8083-3A) Chapter 15, which states in part, "…once the stall has developed and a large amount of lift has been lost, the airplane will begin to sink rapidly and this will be accompanied by a corresponding rapid increase in angle of attack. This is the beginning of what is termed a deep stall. As an airplane enters a deep stall, increasing drag reduces forward speed to well below normal stall speed. The sink rate may increase to many thousands of feet per minute. The airplane eventually stabilizes in a vertical descent…it must be emphasized that this situation can occur without an excessively nose-high pitch attitude…Deep stalls are virtually unrecoverable."

Pilot's Handbook of Aeronautical Knowledge (FAA-H-8083-25A)

Section 4 "Aerodynamics of Flight" states "The CG range is very important when it comes to stall recovery characteristics. If an aircraft is allowed to be operated outside of the CG, the pilot may have difficulty recovering from a stall. The most critical CG violation would occur when operating with a CG which exceeds the rear limit. In this situation, a pilot may not be able to generate sufficient force with the elevator to counteract the excess weight aft of the CG. With the ability to decrease the AOA [angle of attack], the aircraft continues in a stalled condition until it contacts the ground."

The section further goes on and states the following: "Longitudinal stability is the quality that makes an aircraft stable about its lateral axis. It involves the pitching motion as the aircraft's nose moves up and down in flight. A longitudinally unstable aircraft has a tendency to dive or climb progressively into a very steep dive or climb, or even a stall. Thus, an aircraft with longitudinal instability becomes difficult and sometimes dangerous to fly.

Static longitudinal stability or instability in an aircraft, is dependent upon three factors:
1. Location of the wing with respect to the CG
2. Location of the horizontal tail surfaces with respect to the CG
3. Area or size of the tail surfaces"

The "Glossary" defines CG as "the point at which an airplane would balance if it were possible to suspend it at that point. It is the mass center of the airplane, or the theoretical point at which the entire weight of the airplane is assume to be concentrated. It may expressed in inches from the reference datum, or in percentage of mean aerodynamic chord (MAC). The location depends on the distribution of weight in the airplane."

Deep Stall

According to a book titled "The Light Airplane Pilot's Guide to Stall/Spin Awareness" a deep stall is "…when the horizontal tail of a conventional airplane becomes buried in the main wing's tail wake and loses its power to push the nose down, or with a canard design when the main wing stalls before the canard does. In both cases, the airplane seeks a higher angle of attack, usually above 40 degrees, and stabilizes there. There may not be enough elevator authority to reduce the angle of attack for recovery."

According to Advisory Circular AC90-109 Section 5c(6) "It's also possible, even for a seemingly carefree handling airplane, to achieve what some have called a deep stall, where there is not sufficient nose-down pitch authority to break the stall, possibly creating an unrecoverable situation. Some airplanes can pitch nose-up before the stall, resulting in a rapid stall entry unless the pilot counters with a conscious forward yoke/stick motion."

Zubair S. Khan, N79ZR: http://registry.faa.gov/N79ZR

NTSB Identification: ERA14LA330 
14 CFR Part 91: General Aviation
Accident occurred Sunday, July 06, 2014 in Mattituck, NY
Aircraft: ZUBAIR S KHAN RAVEN, registration: N79ZR
Injuries: 1 Fatal.

This is preliminary information, subject to change, and may contain errors. Any errors in this report will be corrected when the final report has been completed. NTSB investigators may not have traveled in support of this investigation and used data provided by various sources to prepare this aircraft accident report.

On July 6, 2014, about 1905 eastern daylight time, an experimental-amateur built Raven, N79ZR, impacted the water in the vicinity of Mattituck, New York. The certificated private pilot was fatally injured. The airplane was located the following day floating in the Long Island Sound and sustained substantial damage to fuselage and nose section. The airplane was registered to and operated by an individual under the provisions of Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 as a personal flight. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed and no flight plan had been filed. The flight originated from Brookhaven Airport (HWV), Shirley, New York, about 1855.

According to radar data, the airplane was first observed at 1200 feet above mean sea level (msl) south of HWV. Then, about 1856, the airplane turned north and continued to climb to about 8500 feet msl as it went over the shoreline. About 1904, the airplane was at 7000 feet msl and began a left 270 degree turn to the east and descended during the turn to about 5800 feet msl. The last radar return was recorded about 1905 and indicated an altitude of about 1100 feet msl.

A fuel receipt was located revealing that the airplane had been fueled at HWV, at 1837 on the day of the accident, with 53 gallons of fuel.

Examination of the airplane by a Federal Aviation Administration inspector and a representative from the engine manufacturer revealed damage to fuselage, left wingtip leading edge, and the right canard trailing edge. The pilot had a personal parachute pack, and when recovered, the parachute had been deployed, remained attached, and was found trailing behind the airplane. Examination of the canopy brackets attached to the fuselage and both hinges revealed no tearing or shearing of the bolts; however, no bolts nor the canopy were present. The canopy was subsequently located July 9, 2014, floating in the water, about 39 miles northeast of the last recorded radar return.


AIRCRAFT EXPERIMENTAL RAVEN CRASHED UNDER UNKNOWN CIRCUMSTANCES INTO THE WATER AT LONG ISLAND SOUND, THE 1 PERSON ON BOARD WAS FATALLY INJURED, 4 MILES FROM MATTITUCK, LONG ISLAND, NY 

Flight Standards District Office: FAA Farmingdale FSDO-11 

Investigators: Plane had crashed 14 hours before it was found

An initial federal investigation has revealed the home-built plane that crashed in Long Island Sound last week went down Sunday night, roughly 14 hours before it was first discovered floating off Mattituck.

The cause of the fatal crash that killed 41-year-old pilot Zubair Khan has not yet been determined, investigators said.

The preliminary report issued by the National Transportation Safety Board Tuesday found that Mr. Khan took off in his experimental single-engine aircraft from Brookhaven Callabro Airport about 6:55 p.m. last Sunday.

The plane turned north from the airport and climbed to about 8,500 feet as it flew over the shoreline, according to the report. About 7:04 p.m., radar spotted the plane making a hard left turn and descending to about 5,800 feet.

About a minute later, according to the report, the plane was picked up on radar just 1,100 feet above sea level. That was the last sign of the craft on radar, the report found.

Investigators found that the plane left in good conditions for visual flying and did not file a flight plan.

Mr. Khan’s family said last week that it was concerned the crash was not reported until Monday even though Mr. Khan had departed the airport the day before. His brother-in-law, Umar Niazi, questioned why a search and rescue effort wasn’t conducted Sunday evening. 

 “This all seems very strange,” Mr. Niazi wrote in an email.

A spokesman for the Federal Aviation Administration said Brookhaven’s airport is “non-towered,” meaning there is no control tower coordinating flights.

It’s common for smaller planes to take off and land at these airports without notifying authorities, the spokesman said.

“As long as you can fly and see what’s ahead of you … those flights take place all the time,” he said. “There’s really no way of knowing how many of those aircraft are flying at any one time.”

NTSB investigators said Mr. Khan was fatally injured in the crash and was found inside the plane Monday morning, with a personal parachute pack deployed and still attached.

The plane suffered “substantial damage” to its fuselage and nose, the report states. Edges of the plane’s left wingtip and right canard were also damaged. The canopy was missing from the craft, and investigators found no sign of “tearing or shearing” of the bolts; however, the report notes that the bolts were missing from the craft.

NTSB investigator Shawn Etcher said the canopy was found three days after the crash floating about 39 miles northeast near Westerly, R.I.

Mr. Etcher said a mount for a video camera was found on the recovered canopy, but there was no sign of a camera on the recovered hatch.

On Monday, a boater discovered a video camera which may be related to the crash, he said.

“It is currently being prepared to be sent to our laboratory for examination and possible download to determine if it was part of the airplane,” Mr. Etcher said.

The victim’s brother-in-law had said Mr. Khan recorded “every moment of his flying” with a camera installed in the cockpit of his plane. Mr. Khan had posted videos of some of his initial flights on YouTube.

The full investigation into the cause of the accident is expected to take between three and 12 months to complete, Mr. Etcher said.


Story and Photos:  http://suffolktimes.timesreview.com


  Zubair Khan
Photo: LinkedIn 

A Manhattan pilot known for his daredevil loop-de-loops died when his single-engine, self-built aircraft crashed Monday morning in Long Island Sound, authorities said.

 Zubair Khan, 41, of Leroy Street in the West Village was flying the one-passenger Raven about 8:50 a.m. seven miles northwest of the Mattituck Inlet on the North Fork when he went down, the US Coast Guard said.

A vice president of derivatives trading technology for Barclay’s Capital, Khan built airplanes and was a member of the Experimental Aircraft Association, according to his LinkedIn page.

“Zubair has had his flight license for ages. I’ve flown with him before. I’ve done loop-de-loops with him in stunt planes. He was a pretty experienced pilot. He built that plane himself. It was a crazy, insane, beautiful thing actually,” said Eli Slyder, 38, a business owner and neighbor who came to Khan’s home after hearing the news.

“I can’t believe this. Zubair was one of the most wildly far out, interesting and dynamic people I’ve ever met. This is a horrible thing that’s happened,” said Slyder, adding that Khan had about 40 hours flight time in his homemade craft.

The call came in from another small plane nearby that had spotted a “small, white experimental aircraft,” bobbing on the surface about midway between the New York and Connecticut coasts, the Coast Guard said.

Read more here:  http://nypost.com



 Zubair Khan
 


When Zubair Khan first set out in February 2012 to convert a twin-engine CoZy aircraft into one with a larger single engine, he was met with skepticism from like-minded individuals on an online aviation message board.

 “Zubair, my friend, there is going to be a lot there that is harder than you think,” one man wrote the day after Mr. Khan purchased his plane from a pilot who had abandoned a similar project in Oregon.

Mr. Khan responded with the same enthusiasm he often displayed on the message board while documenting his 25-month journey from purchasing the plane and converting into an amateur-built fixed-wing Raven powered by a Lycoming engine to taking it on its first test flight in March.

“I am glad you brought this up,” the West Village resident wrote. “I did ask a lot of canard builders and experts before jumping into this, and pretty much everyone told me to stay away from it. But I couldn’t.”

He concluded his response by writing: “I am so new to all of this that I am pretty much depending on these comments to save my life.”

Mr. Khan was identified Monday afternoon as the pilot killed when he crashed his experimental aircraft into the Long Island Sound off the Mattituck shoreline during a test flight from Brookhaven Calabro Airport in Shirley. His first test flight with the aircraft was on March 15, according to his message board posts.

Mr. Khan was an unmarried native of Afghanistan who came to New York City along with one of his brothers while the rest of his family stayed behind, according to a fellow pilot who had advised him on his project over the past two years. He was the vice president of a financial software company who had worked on projects for several major international banks in recent years, according to his online resumé on LinkedIn. He earned his master’s degree in computer science from the University of Texas at Arlington in 1999.

Several phone calls to Mr. Khan’s home in New York City went unanswered Monday.

U.S. Coast Guard officials said they received an 8:50 a.m. notification from a seaplane pilot in the vicinity of the crash that a “small, white, experimental aircraft with a parachute deployed” had gone down in the Sound. The Coast Guard soon found the aircraft submerged in water north of Mattituck, an FAA spokesman said.

While a parachute was deployed from the plane, Mr. Khan was found inside the aircraft, according to Southold police Detective Sergeant John Sinning. Southold Police and Mattituck Fire Department divers recovered the body, officials said, and Sea Tow brought the downed airplane back to Mattituck Inlet Marina, where it was hoisted from the water about 4 p.m. Monday.

An FAA spokesperson said the next of kin was identified at 12:30 p.m. Monday.

The National Transportation Safety Board is the lead agency in the investigation into the crash.

Mr. Khan began his project at the Sullivan County Airport in Bethel, N.Y. in February 2012, but airport superintendent Mike Mullen said airport records show he moved his plane to Shirley six months later.

Marc Zeitlin of Tehachapi, Calif., an aircraft engineer who had advised Mr. Khan, said he made the transition to Long Island so he could be at an airport with more aviators working on similar projects.

Mr. Zeitlin, an MIT graduate who consults on projects around the globe, estimates there are fewer than 4,000 CoZy planes flying in the United States today. He said there are probably about 300 to 400 of the type of four-seat CoZy plane Mr. Khan was flying.

NTSB records show there have been only seven other fatal CoZy crashes in the U.S. in the past 20 years. The most recent was recorded two years ago this week in Winslow, Ariz.

Mr. Zeitlin admits he was one of the aviators who was initially skeptical of a man with Mr. Khan’s limited experience taking on an aircraft project of this magnitude. But over the past two years he grew to respect Mr. Khan as someone who was “diligent about [working] safely and doing it right.”

“He did a tremendous amount of work over the past two years,” said Mr. Zeitlin, who visits New York on a regular basis and had inspected Mr. Khan’s plane in its hangar in Shirley. “I gave him a lot of credit.”

Mr. Zeitlin said he spoke with Mr. Khan last month and while he reported several hiccups during his test flights over the past four months, their was nothing unusual about the flights.

“He had some minor issues, nothing big,” he said. “That’s always the case.”


Source:  http://suffolktimes.timesreview.com

Zubair S. Khan, N79ZR: http://registry.faa.gov/N79ZR
 




AirAsia Airbus A320-200, 9M-AQA, Flight AK-278: Incident occurred July 07, 2014 at the Brunei International Airport



PETALING JAYA: An AirAsia airplane veered off the runway upon landing at the Brunei International Airport at 4pm Monday.

All 102 passengers and seven crew on board flight AK278 from Kuala Lumpur, disembarked safely with no reported injuries, said the airline in a statement Monday.

They said the needs of all passengers concerned were being attended to by the low-cost carrier’s ground services personnel, and the AirAsia team was working with the relevant authorities to identify the cause of the incident.

Story:  http://www.thestar.com




Macon-Bibb fighting to halt suit over safety of airport runway: Macon Downtown Airport (KMAC), Macon, Georgia

Macon-Bibb County is fighting to block a lawsuit over the safety of a Macon Downtown Airport runway.

In the suit, filed June 5 in Fulton County, Old Republic Insurance Co. claims the city of Macon and a contractor ignored federal rules that would have prevented water from pooling up on the runway. A jet owned by Dewberry Air hydroplaned in September 2012, sliding off the runway and across Ocmulgee East Boulevard, crashing into trees.

This is the second suit filed by Old Republic, which paid out a $1 million as a result of the crash. The first suit, which had been filed in Bibb County, was dismissed.

Read more here: http://www.macon.com

NTSB Identification: ERA12FA567

14 CFR Part 91: General Aviation
Accident occurred Tuesday, September 18, 2012 in Macon, GA
Probable Cause Approval Date: 06/23/2014
Aircraft: BEECH 400, registration: N428JD
Injuries: 2 Minor,1 Uninjured.

NTSB investigators either traveled in support of this investigation or conducted a significant amount of investigative work without any travel, and used data obtained from various sources to prepare this aircraft accident report.

The pilot was seated in the left seat and was the flying pilot. The pilots reported that prior to departure, there were no known mechanical malfunctions or abnormalities with the airplane, including the brakes, flaps, anti-skid, or thrust reversers. The copilot, who was the pilot monitoring, calculated a Vref speed of 108 knots for the landing weight. Postaccident analysis determined that a more precise Vref based on weight would have been 110 knots. Both pilots reported that they set their airspeed index bugs to 108 knots about 11 miles from the airport.

The pilot reported that the airplane touched down about 1,000 feet from the approach end of the runway. Both crewmembers reported that, although they used maximum thrust reversers, brakes, and ground spoilers, they could feel a “pulsation” in the brake system and that the airplane hydroplaned. The airplane overran the wet runway with standing water and came to rest 283 feet beyond the paved portion of the runway in a treed area off the airport.

Postaccident examination of the airspeed index bugs revealed that the pilot’s was set to 115 knots and that the copilot’s was set to 105 knots, which correlated with their calculated and reported V1 and V2 departure speeds. It is likely that they did not move the airspeed bugs during the approach to landing. Postaccident testing of the brake system components did not reveal any mechanical malfunctions or abnormalities that would have precluded normal operation.
Based on radar data, the airplane was likely 15 to 19 knots above the reference speed of 110 knots when it crossed the runway threshold. The data further revealed that the approach was flown with about a 4-degree glideslope approach angle instead of the recommended 3-degree glideslope angle. The pilots reported that the precision approach path indicator lights, which would have provided an approximate 3-degree approach, became inoperable shortly after activation. Although the touchdown location could not be accurately determined, given the approximate glideslope and the excessive speed, the airplane likely floated before touching down.

It is also likely that the pilots, familiar with landing at their home airport, which is configured with a grooved runway that mitigates wet runway conditions more effectively, relied on their past wet runway experience and failed to calculate their landing distance using the appropriate performance chart for the contaminated runway. Based on the airplane’s performance charts, on a contaminated runway, an airplane with a Vref of 110 knots would need a 4,800-foot runway; at Vref + 10 knots, the airplane would need 6,100 feet to land. The runway was 4,694 feet long. Hence, the lack of a clear understanding of the actual wet runway landing distance necessary to stop and the excessive approach speed resulted in the airplane crossing the approach end of the runway at a speed and flight profile unsuitable for the wet runway condition and without sufficient distance available to stop. Further, the pilots exhibited poor crew resource management by not using the appropriate chart for the contaminated runway, not recognizing the runway was too short based on the conditions, failing to reset their airspeed bugs before the approach, and not recognizing and addressing the excess approach speed.

The National Transportation Safety Board determines the probable cause(s) of this accident to be:
The pilot’s failure to maintain proper airspeed, which resulted in the airplane touching down too fast on the wet runway with inadequate runway remaining to stop and a subsequent runway overrun. Contributing to the landing overrun were the flight crewmembers’ failure to correctly use the appropriate performance chart to calculate the runway required to stop on a contaminated runway and their general lack of proper crew resource management.