Friday, February 25, 2022

Beechcraft 35-C33 Debonair, N6129V: Fatal accident occurred February 24, 2022 in Hilltown Township, Bucks County, Pennsylvania

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. 

The National Transportation Safety Board traveled to the scene of this accident. 

Additional Participating Entities: 
Federal Aviation Administration / Flight Standards District Office; Allentown, Pennsylvania
Textron; Wichita, Kansas


Location: Hilltown Township, Pennsylvania 
Accident Number: ERA22FA137
Date and Time: February 24, 2022, 16:56 Local
Registration: N6129V
Aircraft: Beech 35-C33 
Injuries: 2 Fatal
Flight Conducted
Under: Part 91: General aviation - Instructional

On February 24, 2022, about 1656 eastern standard time, a Beech 35-C33, N6129V, was destroyed when it was involved in an accident near Hilltown Township, Pennsylvania. The private pilot and flight instructor were fatally injured. The airplane was operated as a Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 instructional flight.

The pilot owned the airplane and had successfully completed the commercial pilot written examination. The purpose of the accident flight was to prepare for the commercial pilot practical examination. Review of Automatic Dependent Surveillance - Broadcast (ADS-B) data revealed that the airplane departed Doylestown Airport (DYL), Doylestown, Pennsylvania about 1626. The airplane was performing maneuvers about 2,000 ft mean sea level when it entered a left spin and descended into a residential street. During the impact, a propeller blade separated and entered a residence. The wreckage came to rest upright, oriented about 125° magnetic and no debris path was observed. A postcrash fire consumed a majority of the wreckage.

The cockpit and cabin were mostly consumed by fire. Both wings separated from the airplane, but their respective flaps and ailerons remained attached. The empennage remained intact with the rudder and elevator still attached. The flaps and landing gear were retracted. Flight control continuity was confirmed from all flight control surfaces to the cockpit area. Measurement of the two elevator trim actuators corresponded to a 5° trim tab down (nose-up) position.

The engine came to rest upright, separated from the airframe. The three propeller blades separated from the hub. One blade was consumed by fire about 12 inches outboard of the root. Another blade exhibited fire damage, s-bending, chordwise scratching and leading-edge gouging. The third propeller blade exhibited s-bending, chordwise scratching and leading-edge gouging A copy of doorbell video footage was forwarded to the National Transportation Safety Board Vehicle Recorders Laboratory, Washington, DC.

Aircraft and Owner/Operator Information

Aircraft Make: Beech 
Registration: N6129V
Model/Series: 35-C33 
Aircraft Category: Airplane
Amateur Built:
Operator: On file
Operating Certificate(s) Held: None
Operator Designator Code:

Meteorological Information and Flight Plan

Conditions at Accident Site: VMC 
Condition of Light: Day
Observation Facility, Elevation: KDYL,393 ft msl 
Observation Time: 16:54 Local
Distance from Accident Site: 7 Nautical Miles 
Temperature/Dew Point: 1°C /-9°C
Lowest Cloud Condition: Wind
Speed/Gusts, Direction: / ,
Lowest Ceiling: Overcast / 3900 ft AGL 
Visibility: 10 miles
Altimeter Setting: 30.39 inches Hg
Type of Flight Plan Filed: None
Departure Point: Doylestown, PA (DYL)
Destination: Hilltown Township, PA

Wreckage and Impact Information

Crew Injuries: 2 Fatal 
Aircraft Damage: Destroyed
Passenger Injuries: 
Aircraft Fire: On-ground
Ground Injuries: 
Aircraft Explosion: None
Total Injuries: 2 Fatal 
Latitude, Longitude: 40.347778,-75.278889

Those who may have information that might be relevant to the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) investigation may contact them by email witness@ntsb.gov, and any friends and family who want to contact investigators about the accident should email assistance@ntsb.gov. You can also call the NTSB Response Operations Center at 844-373-9922 or 202-314-6290.

Alfred G. Piranian
May 27, 1947 - February 24, 2022
~


Alfred G. Piranian of Chalfont, Pennsylvania passed away at age 74 on February 24, 2022 in a plane crash.

Born Alfred George Piranian on May 27, 1947 in Lugano, Switzerland, he was the oldest of Alfred and Magdalena’s seven children. He graduated high school from Germantown Academy, going on to earn both his B.S.E. and Master’s degrees in Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering from Princeton University.

In June 1971, Al married Inger Jeannette de Haas. Their union would continue for over 50 years and produce five children: Edward, Heidi, Karen, Lori, and Lisa. Al was a devoted husband, son, father, and grandfather, and he took great delight in spending time with his immediate and large extended family. Later in life he was beyond thrilled to welcome 15 grandchildren, ranging today from college-aged to newborn. He cherished his grandchildren, showering them with love and attention in the time he was able to spend with them.

Al devoted most of his professional life to serving his country, in dual capacities both as a Navy civil service employee and as a Naval Reservist. Al began his career as an aerospace engineer for the U.S. Navy by working at the Naval Air Development Center (NADC) Warminster in Johnsville, Pennsylvania in 1967. When NADC closed in 1993 as a part of the federal government's base realignment initiatives, Al continued his work at Naval Air Station Patuxent River until his retirement in 2015. Over his 48-year service as an aerospace engineer working for the Navy, Al worked as a senior aerodynamicist on the design of the F-14, F-18, and the F-35. He was responsible for the airworthiness certification of all stores/weapons carried by the F-14 Tomcat, the Joint Standoff Weapon (JSOW) and the Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM) on the F/A-18 Hornet, and also finally on the F-35 (Joint Strike Fighter). He was a member of the NATO Air Armament Working Party and presented internationally. Al also served in the Naval Reserves, drilling at Naval Air Station Willow Grove and achieving the rank of Commander. He also flight instructed in the Willow Grove flying club, and in the last seven years of his life Al continued to pursue his interest in aviation by flight instructing at Doylestown Airport. He logged over 11,000 flight hours with his favorite airplane by far being the T-34B Mentor and was loved by numerous students.

Al was generous with his time and resources as he pursued an eclectic range of outside interests over the years. He rowed on the Princeton men’s varsity lightweight crew team for all four years of college. While completing work on his master’s degree at Princeton, Al served as a crew coach in the earliest years of Princeton's women’s varsity crew team. His lifelong dedication to Princeton rowing continued, as he served for decades as Treasurer of the Princeton University Rowing Association. Other pursuits of Al’s included a love of classical and choral music, coaching his children's sports teams, serving as a Boy Scouts leader for his son’s troop, teaching Sunday school, playing his violin in worship services, and singing in the church choir for many years. He had a great love of history, was a voracious reader, traveled as widely as possible, and enjoyed German cuisine wherever he could find it.

Above all, Al’s deep and abiding Christian faith shaped his life’s work and purpose on Earth and now he is with his Savior. Al was a long-time member of Hilltown Baptist Church and worshiped most recently at Covenant Presbyterian Church in Harleysville.

Al is survived by his mother Magdalena Piranian of Ambler, Pennsylvania; his wife Jeannette of Chalfont, Pennsylvania; son Ed Piranian and his wife Jennifer of Wasilla, Alaska; daughter Heidi Bauer and her husband Steve of Bethesda, Maryland; daughter Karen Burgman and her husband Michael of Fountainville, Pennsylvania; daughter Lori Mulcare and her husband Bobby of Greenwich, Connecticut; daughter Lisa Ferguson and her husband John of Lansdale, Pennsylvania; six siblings; and 15 grandchildren.

Donations in Al’s memory may be made to Mission Projects Fellowship, P.O. Box 209, Telford, Pennsylvania 18969. A memorial service celebrating Al’s life will be held at Hilltown Baptist Church in Hilltown, Pennsylvania on Sunday, March 13th at 2 pm, with a musical tribute beginning at 1:30 pm.


Brian Carlos Filippini
March 25, 1966 - February 24, 2022
~


Brian Carlos Filippini of the Chestnut Hill section of Philadelphia, passed away suddenly on February 24, 2022, age 55. He is survived by his wife of 28 years, Jennifer Leigh Filippini, his 3 children Remi (24), Carlo (20), Sante (20), sister, Alicia Filippini (Peter Gissing) and his niece Izabella Gissing and nephews Cooper Gissing and Nick Piner. Brian was preceded in death by his parents Charles and Norma Filippini.
 
Brian’s love of flying was a gift from his father Charlie who was an aeronautical flight surgeon with the Air National Guard. Brian’s passion for aviation blossomed in January 1988 when he took his first solo flight. Brian was a 4-year scholar athlete at The Ohio State University on a four year Track and Field scholarship. He received his degree in 1989 in Business Management, Logistics and Aviation. Brian met Leigh in Philadelphia at the Dickens Inn in 1990 after recognizing her as the girl he saw playing field hockey in the Ohio Stadium while he was running track. It was meant to be. They were married four years later in November in Cape May, NJ.  In 1997 Concord Management Group, a retained Executive Search firm was born as a result of Brian’s entrepreneurial spirit and love of life sciences and technology. The company has thrived under their joint leadership for the past 25 years and is the regional leader in the life science business. 
 
Brian and Leigh were so proud when their twin boys, Carlo and Sante, chose to attend their alma mater and are now studying at the Fisher School of Business. As proud parents, they had the pleasure and honor of attending Remi’s business school graduation this past December in Edinburgh, Scotland. Remi shares Brian’s love of life sciences and will be working as a Commercial Operations Analyst in the industry.  
 
In 2005, the dream of Chango Villa was completed in Cozumel Mexico. Chango Villa has been the epicenter of countless family, social and business gatherings, and was truly where Brian was happiest, especially surrounded by tequila, cigars, scuba, and mariachi music. Loving Mexico so much, Brian wanted to learn the native language to communicate respectfully, so within a year, Brian was speaking fluent Spanish.  Brian’s love of the outdoors began with his family in the Sierra Nevadas where he spent his childhood hiking, camping and skeet shooting. Brian carried his love of a rugged lifestyle and adventure to the East Coast where he incorporated it into the Filippini way of life.  Brian was known for his love of family and friends, his integrity, his commitment to his business and his passion for flying, a good cigar, a glass of Remy Martin, and a good conversation. 
 
 Family and friends are invited to attend a Celebration of Life on Saturday March 5, at 1:00pm at Wings Field Airport (Hangar # 2), 1501 Narcissa Rd, Blue Bell, PA 19422. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made to an organization near to Brian’s heart- Angel Flight East - a non-profit dedicated to providing free air transportation for those needing medical treatment far from home. www.angelflighteast.org.




The single-engine plane that crashed in a Hilltown neighborhood Thursday evening, killing two aboard — including the plane's owner — was an instructional flight, according to National Transportation Safety Board investigators.

At least one of the people onboard had a private pilot's license and was training for a commercial license, the NTSB said.

NTSB investigators were in the neighborhood at Brittany and Victoria lanes Friday collecting information and examining what is left of the aircraft, agency spokesman Keith Holloway said.

One of the dead was identified as Brian Filippini, 55, of Philadelphia, who is listed in FAA records as the registered owner of the Beechcraft 35-C33 Debonair. 

It is unknown if Filippini was flying the plane at the time of the crash. The Bucks County Coroner's office had not yet confirmed the identities of the dead as of Friday afternoon.

This news organization spoke to a family member while attempting to contact Filippini on Friday. He confirmed the death, but declined further comment.

NTSB investigators will also gather radar data, weather information, aircraft control communications, maintenance records and pilot medical records. They will speak to witnesses and review raw video posted on social media.

This is a photo of the 1965 Beech 35-C33 single engine plane that crashed Feb. 24, 2022 in a Hilltown neighborhood, killing two people aboard
Doorbell video cameras captured the fiery crash, which occurred shortly before 5 p.m. in the development of single family homes located near a Pennridge middle school.

In raw video posted on social media, the sound of an engine sputtering can be heard seconds before the plane dropped out of the sky and exploded, sending thick black smoke cloud over the neighborhood. 

The plane took off from Wings Field Airport, a general aviation airport in Blue Bell, Montgomery County, at 4:13 p.m. Thursday and landed at the Doylestown Airport nine minutes later, according to FlightAware.com, a flight tracking website. 

At 4:26 p.m. the plane departed Doylestown headed to Gunden Airport, a privately owned airport outside of Sellersville, according to the website. The FAA confirmed in a statement the plane took off from Doylestown headed to Gunden.

The plane crashed just yards from a home. No injuries were reported on the ground and no homes were involved in the crash, but the plane struck an unoccupied vehicle, Bucks County spokesman James O'Malley said. There was also some damage from debris to nearby homes, said Hilltown police Chief Chris Engelhart.

On Friday morning, the scorched remains of the plane remained on the corner, underneath a charred street sign and surrounded by caution tape and a barrier meant to contain any fuel spill.



54 comments:

  1. Pretty odd ADS-B tracks on this. It looks like they were either practicing maneuvers or just joyriding. Last segment of flight shows very low groundspeed and 500fpm climb followed by rapid (8000fpm) descent. This appears to be a stall/spin from only 2000ft to me.

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    1. I agree. A witness said the aircraft was doing "one of those death spirals."

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    2. Track:
      https://globe.adsbexchange.com/?icao=a7f9d3&lat=40.262&lon=-75.334&zoom=10.9&showTrace=2022-02-24&trackLabels

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    3. That slight vear to the left in the initial climb prior to LOC suggests maybe a power on stall with not enough right rudder, the indication of an eventual break with a spin to the left makes sense of this too

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    4. Practicing commercial maneuvers according to NTSB

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    5. Why would someone want this blog closed? I learn a lot by reading about the mistakes of others. I've even made some of these mistakes, just not as unfortunate or as serious of consequences. Hardly a flight goes by where I do not think about being safer due to this blog. I'm very appreciative of KR.

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    6. Gaffster stated: "What a strange place to be practicing 'commercial maneuvers.'" What do you mean? Please explain.

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  2. Commercial Training according to NTSB statement

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  3. If they were doing commercial training, why were they doing manuevers over a built-up area?

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    1. Frankly, there is no reg against it. Looking at their track overlaid on the sectional chart, the area they were doing maneuvers over was not solidly a yellow tinted area indicating populated places and was much less "built-up" than the vicinity of the airport they departed from.

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    2. Yellow on a sectional is what you would see lit up at night.

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  4. Could airframe ice have been involved? The weather was not terrible, but it was deteriorating.

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  5. Video and news commentary on the event at https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/2-killed-in-penn-neighborhood-plane-crash-residents-believe-pilot-tried-to-ensure-no-one-else-got-hurt/ar-AAUjwYd?cvid=d1636243b78e4e7aa70ce4b797a9a01b&ocid=winp1taskbar

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    1. The pilot didn't try to avoid houses. He was in a stall/spin.

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  6. Winds were nearly calm at the time, but the ADSB data shows extreme slow flight. Doylestown reported 32 degrees and winds variable at 3mph. Pitot issue, or were they trying to nurse a dying engine back home?

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  7. Have you heard the video from 6ABC news? Look it up - about 0:50 you can hear the engine. Tough to say if it was functioning 100% nomrally, but it certainly sounds as if it had no problem producing RPM.

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    1. Indeed. In fact the prop was spinning with such speed that on impact one of the blade missiled across the street, through a house wall and into a bedroom. It seem the engine is not the likely issue. Loss of control into a stall spin to ground. The video shows a very steep impact angle. Maybe an unrecoverable practice maneuver or airframe ice??

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    2. Perhaps Pitot ice. Temp at the surface in the vicinity was 0 degrees C. Ceilings dropping at the time and any moisture could've done it iced up the tube. That would also support the thought that they were unaware of their slow airspeed. At points in the flight track it is reported they were doing just 40kts over the ground!

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    3. Unlikely to be pitot ice. The METARs from the nearest airport to the crash were:
      KCKZ 241835Z AUTO 04005KT 10SM BKN046 M01/M09 A3044
      KCKZ 241855Z AUTO 05006KT 10SM FEW044 00/M09 A3044
      KCKZ 241915Z AUTO 03005KT 10SM SCT075 00/M09 A3043

      To get icing, you need both temperatures near freezing AND visible moisture. The flight stayed under the overcast at 4600 (as legally required for a VFR flight) and also no precipitation was reported.

      In any case, even with an iced up pitot tube, you still have a stall warning horn to make you aware of your slow airspeed. There's also the stall buffet, mushy control feel, and other clues that would indicate you are going too slow.

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  8. If you listen to the video closely you can hear the sound of the engine getting louder and quieter as it would do if the plane was spinning.

    No idea what triggered the spin but based on the rate of descent mentioned above and the engine sound in the video my armchair guess is stall/spin for unknown reasons.

    Prayers to family and friends.

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  9. There have been flight training accidents where the student panics and locks onto the control wheel and instructor can't break them loose, esp. if it is a female instructor. And was it a single yoke airplane??? Appears airplane was in a stall spin, no way it was under any control to avoid houses, those in the houses were the lucky ones that day.

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    1. It was not single-yoke. I have flown in it.

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    2. Interesting that the propeller blades appear to be almost perfectly straight. Would we not expect bent and twisted blades had the engine been producing power at the time of the crash?
      Caveat: if this was a spin recovery drill gone wrong, the engine should, in all recovery procedures, be cut to idle. So even straight propeller blades don't necessarily prove power plant trouble.

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    3. Not to say that any power interpretation can be made from it, but the high-res zoomable image of the thrown blade linked below shows scratches consistent with momentary rotational contact made flat across the face from tip to the McCauley logo:

      https://www.gannett-cdn.com/presto/2022/02/25/NBCC/3614367e-54b0-4296-8330-546591433801-IMG_3768.jpg

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    4. It seems that there are many recent plane crashes that are hard to explain, like the Baron west of STL, there was a Cessna 172 crashed hard into a flat desert area in AZ last week, Crash has not been on KR yet, plane is a ball of shrapnel.. medical my guess, older guy.

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    5. That Baron went down the exact same angle as this Bonanza, caught on doorbell camera.

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    6. The little "esp. if it is a female instructor" comment is totally unnecessary and flat out wrong.

      But yes, crashes on clear good weather days during cruise with an instructor on board are very hard to explain. These three with experienced CFIs onboard come to mind: N90559 N4765N N6449M Stay safe out there!

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    7. Well it did happen not too long ago that a smaller female CFI was killed when a stronger male student locked up on the controls. Take the genders out if you want, but if you are a 110 lb. CFI you should make sure your student isn't going to panic and kill you.

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    8. well, as a female instructor, I knew that I had an automatic disconnect button attached to every male pilot. Believe me, I would have had zero issues punching a guy there if he was locked on the controls.

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    9. "Well it did happen not too long ago that a smaller female CFI was killed when a stronger male student locked up on the controls."

      Negative. Saying that was the "cause" of the accident is 100% conjecture on the part of the usual wannabe accident investigators on youtube. There were no onboard cameras or any other means to prove the accident was caused by anyone locking up on the controls. Also, the assumption that the student was stronger than the teacher was pure supposition from their gender and looking at their photos rather than from anyone that actually knew them. There are plenty of slender people who are stronger than bulkier people that look strong.

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    10. Strength is strength....95% of the time, the male is stronger. Simple fact. It's not sexist to make that comment. If you don't want to believe it, fine. But don't be stupid about it.

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  10. That pulsating propeller sound was almost definitely the sound from a spinning airplane, a sound we've all probably heard at airshows from a spinning aerobatic airplane. Plus the fact that the wreckage from the violent impact apparently remained in one spot. Can't imagine how they got into a spin at low altitude. RIP to these two, sad.

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  11. Mayday call to a controller is likely, since the FAA reportedly stated that Gunden Airport was the destination.

    Gunden is turf, 1800 feet length. Was landing/taking off from that turf field likely to be a pre-planned activity for commercial ticket training that day? They passed it by, as if a decision was made to try instead for Pennridge Airport, three miles further on.

    "According to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), the plane departed from Doylestown Airport and was en route to Gunden Airport in Perkasie."

    https://abc7chicago.com/plane-crash-pa-hilltown-township-bucks-county-gunden-airport/11599747/

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  12. They were not planning on landing there. It was just a practice area to the flight.
    Mr. Filipini was working on his commercial ticket with his instructor and it is possible they were working on stall/spin recovery maneuvers in the vicinity. Maybe they were kept lower than prudent by the ceiling, which was trending lower at the time.

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    1. Just speculation, but I agree that it is highly unlikely that they were planning on landing at Gunden. Additionally, I knew the instructor personally (saw him just hours prior) and it's hard to believe he would have initiated stall/spin practice at or under 3,000'. Very perplexing. Such a shame.

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    2. Looking back at two prior training flight tracks, the slow flight portion was done at 5000' MSL. Perhaps there was some confidence built up from those flights that led to acceptance of lower margin AGL to practice under the overcast on the accident day.

      Here are those two tracks, zoomed in to the slow flight portion:

      https://globe.adsbexchange.com/?icao=a7f9d3&lat=40.924&lon=-75.619&zoom=14.7&showTrace=2022-02-09&trackLabels&timestamp=1644442237

      https://globe.adsbexchange.com/?icao=a7f9d3&lat=40.903&lon=-75.600&zoom=15.5&showTrace=2022-02-20&trackLabels&timestamp=1645373004

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  13. To add to this, I live in the area near the incident and was home at the time. My home camera didn't pick up video but it did pick up audio for the flights last minute or so, which I did turn over to the authorities. Plane sounded somewhat normal (although low and loud) until 4:56:11 when the engine went quiet. It started again at 4:56:20 (you could almost hear something like a car starter engage), 4:56:22 sounded quiet again briefly, then it got SUPER loud like the earlier described airshow stunt plane and impact at 4:56:34. Hopefully that audio can help them shed some light on this tragedy. Prayers to all involved.

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    1. When doing practice maneuvers, recovery procedures often necessitate engine idle or full throttle. So such variation MIGHT be expected. Also, engine trouble resulting in a stall spin is unlikely with 2 experienced pilots, but not impossible, admittedly. I wonder if there are any recorded radio distress calls. I suspect not.

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  14. From the sound of the video and the angle of the nose on impact makes me think a stall into a flat spin.

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  15. In the 6abc video, the plane can be seen in a few frames before impact. It was at a fairly steep nose-down angle.

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  16. Both pilots are now identified:

    https://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/news/local/2-killed-in-bucks-county-plane-crash-identified/3159708/

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  17. That prop blade through the bedroom where the granddaughter's baby crib sits just makes one seriously ponder life and why some are in the right place in the right time and others are not so fortunate. The not so fortunate like the UPS driver last year killed when a Cessna 340 twin crashed into him and a house when making a delivery there.

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    1. Philosophically, it's "timing is everything." Right place, right time. Wrong place, wrong time. Right place, wrong time. And so on. Fact of the matter, death awaits us all - it may be sudden, you may live to be 90+, you may become a smoking hole, you may suffer painfully from cancer. I used to attend a Wednesday morning prayer breakfast in grad school, and something a guy stated has stuck with me ever since: "Be ready to preach, pray, or die at a moment's notice." That is demonstrably true. Prayers for the victims' families and friends. I know they will be missed. I am an aero engineer, I was an F-14 driver and I appreciate the comments IRT Mr. Piranian

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  18. They are calling the pilot a "hero" for "putting that plane down" where he did. I am sure that will make a lot of people feel better about the pilot, but there was no control of that plane at that point, it was out of control. Those saying it was in a flat spin are incorrect; it might have looked that way, but the lower wing was stalled.

    They were attempting spins or spiral-downs and the pilot spun the plane with insufficient altitude to recover. I knew Al Piranian and I am quite certain that a pitot tube that was frozen would have been cause for him to halt the training for one, and he would not have been unaware of airspeed issues.

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    1. Was this Beechcraft 35-C33 Debonair a single yoke?

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    2. Not single yoke, according to an earlier comment:

      http://www.kathrynsreport.com/2022/02/beechcraft-35-c33-debonair-n6129v-fatal.html?showComment=1645875484834#c168561201294522406

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    3. Why would someone want this blog closed? I learn a lot by reading about the mistakes of others. I've even made some of these mistakes, just not as unfortunate or as serious of consequences. Hardly a flight goes by where I do not think about being safer due to this blog. I'm very appreciative of KR.

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    4. Did I miss something? What's the issue with Gaffster and his "vicious" e-mails? Is he a lurker prankster of ill will?

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    5. I don't see any recent reports on KR like in the past, so I thought that the site was already closed. Another good place for accident investigations is "Aviation Accidents/This Day in History" on Facebook.

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  19. Preliminary report is out.

    https://data.ntsb.gov/carol-repgen/api/Aviation/ReportMain/GenerateNewestReport/104702/pdf

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    1. This line from the accident report says it all; "The airplane was performing maneuvers about 2,000 ft mean sea level when it entered a left spin and descended into a residential street"

      The terrain in the area was 400-500 feet MSL with nearby obstacles as high as 880' MSL, so they were essentially at 1200-1500' AGL.

      Per the AIM: "Unless the aircraft manufacturer recommends a higher altitude, establish an entry altitude that will allow the recovery to be completed above 1,500′ AGL. It generally takes 1,200′ to recover from a one-turn spin. The minimum recommended altitude is 3,500′ AGL."

      They were at least 2000 feet below the recommended altitude for the maneuvers they were performing.

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    2. In the Navy and Air Force, when we did simulated ACM / BFM (dogfighting) training, we used a hard deck of 10,000 AGL. In some special training cases, we used that as a soft deck and a lower altitude as briefed for the hard deck. In exercises such as Red Flag and other intense, dynamic low-altitude training, we were often restricted to 90 to 180 degrees of max turn for defensive or offensive moves. Make the turns level to nose high, never slicing nose-low turns. The occasional pilot who violated that got called out in debriefs and warned. Or he became a black spot on the ground. When it comes to flying low, you can only tie the record. IRT this accident, has it been confirmed that the mishap pilots were conducting stall recovery maneuvering?

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    3. If you look at the ADS-B track, the ground speeds over the last 5 minutes of the flight ranged from 46 to 60 knots, with a pressure altitude varying from 2500 to 1700 MSL. Definitely a slow flight exercise and also possibly power-off stalls.

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    4. There is speculation they were practicing stalls ? There are comments about 1500' is safe to do stalls SINCE it is not in Aircraft Flight Manual and you only need 1200' for a 1 turn spin? No. I am a CFI and I would never do stalls under 3000' AGL. The self assured it takes 1200' to recover from a 1 turn spin is dependent on many factors. I also contest the News reports it was sputtering. It sounds like the engine was at high RPM, prop tips going supersonic (engine at high RPM + Dive Speed). I heard no sputter, at least from the video audio. Famously eye witnesses minds try to justify the crash by adding there were flames, or engine sounded funny, which is false. Last it was in a heap at the street corner. It was going down. So my speculation as others have said was a stall spin Or the drove straight in. Now my mind can't wrap around going in near vertical but it does happen with spatial disorientation. Reports state they filed to some rarely used Pvt grass strip. It is possible they just filed that airport as a landmark with no intention to land. If they filed to that strip and planned on landing it shows some serious lack of pilot skill, experience, knowledge and planning. The strip requires prior notice and not really suitable for a Beech Debonair.

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