Wednesday, September 23, 2015

Cessna 195, N3484V: Accident occurred September 23, 2015 at Merritt Island Airport (KCOI), Florida

http://registry.faa.gov/N3484V

NTSB Identification: GAA15CA289
14 CFR Part 91: General Aviation
Accident occurred Wednesday, September 23, 2015 in Merritt Island, FL
Aircraft: CESSNA 195, registration: N3484V
Injuries: 1 Minor, 1 Uninjured.

NTSB investigators used data provided by various entities, including, but not limited to, the Federal Aviation Administration and/or the operator and did not travel in support of this investigation to prepare this aircraft accident report.

According to the pilot of the tailwheel-equipped airplane, he performed a wheel landing on the asphalt runway. The pilot stated that he landed at a speed of 70 miles per hour, and that he allowed the tailwheel to touch down on the runway at approximately 45 miles per hour. He stated that when the tailwheel touched down, the airplane rapidly veered to the left and he attempted to correct the left movement by applying right rudder as well as the brakes. Excessive braking resulted in a nose over. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the fuselage, wings and empennage.

Photographs provided by the FAA showed the airplane veering about 30 degrees toward the left edge of the runway. The left tire mark showed in excess of 30 feet of full tread width, dark black, rubber skid, while the right tire mark showed continual skidding of the inside (right) edge and intermittent full tread width skids. About 30 feet from where the airplane came to rest inverted, the left skid mark lightened up showing continual tread edge skidding and intermittent full tread width skids, and the airplane had turned to the right paralleling to the runway edge. No tailwheel marks were visible in the photographs. The airplane came to rest inverted about 75 feet short of the B4 intersection.

FAA Flight Standards District Office: FAA Orlando FSDO-15


A husband and wife received minor injuries after a landing mishap in their vintage airplane at Merritt Island Airport on Wednesday afternoon. 

The husband, who was piloting the plane, and his wife were the only ones on board the 1948 Cessna 195. It's likely the plane flipped over after the pilot hit the brakes too hard, according to Brevard County Fire Rescue spokesperson Don Walker.

The aircraft is a so-called tail-dragger, with two main landing gear under the wing and a small, swivel wheel at the tail. Many modern light airplanes are built with a tricycle-style gear, with three wheels grouped near the nose.

The couple was transported to Cape Canaveral Hospital. Walker says they had flown to Winter Haven for lunch and were returning from that trip.The airplanes tail number indicates it is owned by a Satellite Beach man. Fire officials did not identify the man and woman injured in the mishap.

"We're pretty fortunate that minor injuries were all that resulted," said Walker.

The airport was closed until the crash scene was cleared by around 3:30 p.m. Walker noted that some fuel was also spilled on the runway.

The National Transportation Safety Board will investigate.


Story and video: http://www.floridatoday.com








Robertson Field Airport (4B8) Now On AM Radio

PLAINVILLE — An AM radio system that broadcasts the chatter of pilots using the town-owned Robertson Airport is now on the air.

The low-voltage transmitter system installed this summer by Boy Scout Colin Stamm for his Eagle Scout community service project has a short range of under 200 feet from the equipment on an airport apron shed.

So people who want to listen to pilot talk must be at the facility, which makes the system a perfect addition for people who come daily, park and watch small private planes and the occasional helicopter take off and land.

“I can only imagine how much interest this will create,” town airport commission chairman Byron Treado said Wednesday. “A lot of people bring children to look at the planes. I used to when my children were younger. This radio will make a trip to the airport even more exciting.”

The broadcast system is so new, no sign is up yet to tell people to tune to AM 1710. That sign will soon be in place, according to Neal Witkin, a pilot who files out of Robertson and who assisted Stamm with the project.

Witkin, a New Britain resident, said last week that this system is the first of its kind in a Connecticut airport.

The broadcast is one-way so people can hear pilots but not respond. Witkin said the transmitter that converts pilot radio to AM band is low in power so it will not interfere with aviation operations, nor did the project require special federal aviation and communications permits.

Although the talk might be a little dry for kids, if the transmissions Wednesday afternoon are any indication. Each fragment of talk began with a sharp crack that will startle listeners if the volume is high.

And the chatter is mostly some combination of letters and numbers and single words, like ” SW. 63. 055,” ” “base” and “Robertson.”

“I haven’t heard it yet. I hope to stop by this weekend,” Treado said of the system the town gave Stamm permission to install.

Stamm, who lives in Newington and became interested in aviation because his father flies as a hobby, decided on the pilot broadcast system as a project after learning about similar setups in other general aviation airports out of state.

Source:  http://www.courant.com

Search has been suspended for reported downed aircraft in Hindman, Knott County, Kentucky



HINDMAN, Ky. (WYMT) - UPDATE: 6 p.m. 

 
First responders in Knott County have called off their search that started when someone reported a plane crash.

Law enforcement officers and firefighters searched for several hours by ground and air this afternoon near the Mallie community, but found no wreckage or debris.

They told WYMT they now have evidence that a plane never went down.

Witnesses reported the crash about 11:00 Wednesday morning after seeing a plane flying uncharacteristically low, but authorities believe that plane never crashed and even though they spent most of the day on what was basically a wild goose chase, they were happy to end the search knowing that nobody was hurt.

The mountain ridge near Highway 8-99 is the area search crews combed by ground and by air, as a DEA helicopter that happened to be in the area on marijuana eradication joined the hunt.

Authorities say they can usually locate a plane by tracking the signal from its Electronic Location Transmitter, but no such signal was picked up here.

Hindman Volunteer Fire Department Chief Preston Hays said, "What that’s saying is there’s no evidence, there’s nothing being reported electronically that any aircraft in the area went down or is missing".

Knott County Sheriff Dale Richardson interviewed the two people who reported the crash and neither of them actually saw the plane hit the ground.

Richardson said, "They said the plane was flying very low and it didn’t appear it was flying correctly. It might have been weaving and wobbling a little bit and it was down below the tree tops".

The sheriff said the folks who called the crash in won’t face charges related to falsely reporting an incident. He does not believe they were trying to pull off a hoax.

Power was out in area, but it was unrelated. A tree had damaged power lines.

Original Story:

First responders in Knott County are trying to figure out what led to reports of a plane crash Wednesday.

Knott County Sheriff Dale Richardson tells WYMT someone reported an aircraft going down around 11:00 a.m. this morning near Highway 899 in the Mallie community, but an extensive search of the area turned up no wreckage or debris. The search has officially been suspended.

Local law enforcement officers, firefighters and EMS responded when the call came in of a possible plane crash, but they looked for several hours and could not find any evidence of that.

Officials enlisted the help of a nearby DEA helicopter that was in the area in marijuana eradication, but the search from the air came up empty. Witnesses told the sheriff they saw a white plane with red wings flying really low and close to the mountain, but didn't actually see it crash.

The sheriff says no charges will be filed for falsely reporting an incident. He also says no emergency transmissions are being emitted that would indicate a plane has crashed.

There were a couple power outages in the area around the same time but those were unrelated.

Story and video: http://www.wkyt.com

Boeing in Deal to Sell 300 Jets to China: Plane maker to establish a plant to finish work on single-aisle planes destined for China

The Wall Street Journal
By DOUG CAMERON

Updated Sept. 23, 2015 5:41 p.m. ET


Boeing Co. has agreed on terms to sell 300 planes to China and plans to open a facility there to finish work on its 737 jetliner that would allow it to boost production of the best-selling jet in the U.S.

The announcements Wednesday, which followed a visit by China’s President Xi Jinping to a Boeing plant near Seattle, prompted a backlash from unions and some lawmakers concerned that the company’s plan to shift more work overseas could affect jobs at Boeing’s main aircraft facilities in Washington state.

Boeing said it plans to team with state-controlled Commercial Aircraft Corp. of China, or Comac, in building an aircraft-completion center in China for 737 jets. The timing of first deliveries and the location of the factory, where workers will paint the fuselage and install seats and in-flight entertainment systems on the 737, have yet to be finalized, Boeing said.

The company said it wouldn’t reduce employment on the 737 program in Washington, but union members protested outside the factory during Mr. Xi’s visit.

“I am disappointed that once again, Boeing is moving more operations out of Washington state,” said Democratic state Rep. June Robinson in a statement, adding it should be easy for Boeing to show net job creation in the state from the China plan.

Rival Airbus Group SE, which already assembles some A320 jets in China, is also establishing a similar facility to finish work on its A330 twin-aisle jets.

The new plant would be Boeing’s first big manufacturing facility overseas and would mark a milestone for its presence in China, which is fast becoming its most important market.

The plane maker didn’t immediately detail how many of the 300 jets in Wednesday’s announcement, which have a sticker price of $38 billion before discounts, were already in its backlog. Boeing’s shares ended 4 p.m. trading down 1.7% at $131.67.

Boeing listed orders as of Aug. 31 for 157 jets designated for Chinese customers, although analysts said numerous other existing orders from China are included among “unidentified” customers in its total backlog of 5,710 planes.

China’s air-travel market has continued to grow despite the cooling of the broader economy, with analysts forecasting it needs several hundred additional planes a year to keep up with demand. Boeing has projected that about 20% of demand for large passenger jets over the next 20 years will come from China.

Boeing said China Aviation Supplies Holding Co., which orders planes on behalf of a number of airlines, agreed to commitments for 190 of its single-aisle 737s and 50 widebody planes. The aircraft leasing arms of Industrial & Commercial Bank of China Ltd. and China Development Bank each agreed to buy 30 more 737s.

Boeing last month upgraded its forecast for China’s plane demand to 6,330 new jets with a sticker price of $950 billion over the next 20 years. About 70% of those planes would be directed at growth rather than replacing older aircraft, the company said.

Boeing and Airbus Group SE have a roughly 50/50 split of the Chinese market and are deepening their ties with the country’s aerospace industry.

Scott Kennedy, a deputy director at the Center for Strategic & International Studies, said the planned Boeing deals were likely to be one of the few substantive announcements for U.S. business from the state visit.

“Expectations are appropriately low,” he said, adding that some U.S. companies have been frustrated with the pace of economic reform in China.

“They are not going to get in the face [of the president], but they are passing notes behind the scenes,” Mr. Kennedy said.

While U.S. heavy-machinery makers have been forced to curtail production as demand from China slipped, the commercial-jet sector is more robust.

China is now investing heavily to develop its own passenger-jet industry, and Comac is developing the C919 plane to compete with the Boeing 737 and Airbus A320. It includes engines from a joint venture between General Electric and France’s Safran SA and parts from other Western suppliers. While years behind schedule, it has secured commitments for more than 500 jets, orders that might otherwise flowed to Airbus or Boeing.

China accounted for roughly a quarter of Boeing’s single-aisle jet deliveries this year and is expected to claim a large share of future orders. But the company has lost ground in recent years to Airbus, which delivered the first of its rival A320 jets from an assembly plant in Tianjin in 2009.

—Carlos Tejada and Jon Ostrower contributed to this article.

Original article can be found here: http://www.wsj.com