Posted on 04/11/2018 10:35:10 PM PDT by BenLurkin
FULL HEADLINE: "PICTURED: Instagram stars and models on their private plane to Las Vegas moments before it crashed onto golf course killing all six on board"
Four of the six people who died when their private plane crashed during a flight from Arizona to Las Vegas on Monday have been identified as Instagram stars, models and nightclub promoters.
Models Mariah Coogan, 23, and Helena Lagos, 22, nightlife promoter Anand 'Happy' Patel, 26, and nightclub host and aspiring pilot James Pedroza, 28, were all on board the Piper PA-24 Comanche when it crashed into a golf course moments after taking off at around 9pm.
They spent the weekend at the Phoenix Lights Festival and were on their way back to Las Vegas.
Before they took off from Scottsdale Airport, Coogan shared videos from the plane on her Instagram story. She excitedly filmed herself in her seat and spun the camera round to show Patel who she affectionately called by his nickname Happy.
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
Yeah, who knows at this point. It could have it a UFO.
No, you got it right.
On takeoff you’d have to be a hotshot jockey to recover from an engine loss even in a twin
We had Barons.....dad had planes from USAF till his death at 65 in 1997
Flew 84s, 86s 100s, and his favorite the F-104
Mixmasters, Debonairs, bonanzas, barons, Cheyennes and Navajos and King Air 200 and several Dukes....his last bird was a Beech Starship lease
Now that was a plane from FBO Stevens in Nashville...when he was sick they flew him to mayo twice gratis round trip in that bird.....he had over 25K hours and several controlled emergency landings
On the tower recording a guy (the pilot?) says it is a training mission. Maybe they should have done the training in a mock-up like they do when they throw all the various situations at the pilot.
“Okay - you’re going to do your pre-checks, taxi and takeoff - BUT, the entire time you’ll have three other people on board with cameras and acting goofy and asking for you to mug for the camera. Lots of singing and shouting and moving around. And two of them will be beautiful girls.”
My wife was helping an elderly woman check in for a doctor’s appointment the other day. The receptionist that checked them in was the same gal from another office my wife frequents. They started chatting about the different days of where she is, on Wednesdays its nice because then she is at the other place and can pick up her daughter from school and take her to her dance class and....
So, they went back to the doctors area and waited the 10 minutes until the appointment time. 20 minutes after the appointment time my wife is wondering where the doctor is.
“You were gabbing so much the gal forgot to put you down for the schedule.”
“Now let me finish! So I went up to the counter and blah, blah, blah, blah... and she didn’t put us on the schedule!”
Weight and Balance perhaps. Also the PA-24 has had many different engines on the airframe ranging from 180 horse power up to 400 HP with 260 HP being very common. The 260 HP would have got even six passengers in the air even though probably over gross. The 180 HP would not if the aircraft also had a full fuel load. He probably got into the air due to ground effect and then crashed on the golf course at the end of the runway or engine failure.
This crash will wind up being either engine failure or gross pilot error. Very sad either way is this.
The PA-24 is really a very lovely aircraft with amazing performance considering when it was designed and built.
yeah, looking at Google maps it seems like they crashed within less than a mile of the runway (although ofc I am just guesstimating based upon the vague Daily Mail graphic).
So it could have been either engine failure or stall right after take-off....?? Well, 6 lives lost, however it happened, very sad.
Seems more like “expiring pilot” rather than “aspiring pilot” at this point.
Truly sad event.
Must have been Russian bots or Zuckerberg behind it. < /sarc >
The pilot included?
Not a very appropriate comment. Those young ladies had nothing to do with piloting the aircraft.
Unless this airplane had mods the useful load is #1427, that is fuel,pax and baggage. With a fuel burn north of 14gph the fuel cut into the capacity, six adults would be tight. Keeping your airspeed could become an issue, have not researched what the temps were when they took off, but with an airplane that was built in 1970, will be interestingto learn more as it comes available.
Yup, losing an engine, even in a twin, is a big deal on takeoff.
Still, I'd prefer to have that second engine for a better chance.
Of course some runways are really bad, high-altitude, nearby obstructions...etc
Always would be better at sea-level, no nearby obstructions, plenty of nearby choices for an emergency landing, perfect weather...etc
Well, that changes the story a lot if it was 15min after takeoff.
Six and baggage in that single is a heavy load with full fuel...that might have contributed.
My minivan has 290 HP, can carry 6 and has never crashed. Never even got off the ground either.
I would say, not enough horse power to keep the plane up under whatever conditions they were flying re weight, wind, rate of climb.
Cross winds are another factor since light planes are more susceptible. There are a lot of factors—could have been just one or a number of them combined. Whatever it is, I hate it. Sad when it happens.
here’s a very similar craft from Trade-A-Plane.
Just to give everyone an idea of the type...there is a listing of specs as well.
Has a pretty good cruise speed of 185mph given it’s a single and the useful load.
This one has the 260hp engine.
Crashing a mile from the airport sounds like pilot error. Crashing a mile from the airport and 15 minutes into the flight (if both statements are true) sounds like mechanical failure, where the pilot tried for an emergency landing and didn’t make it. Obviously, more information is required to understand what really happened. In any case, it’s a sad loss.
Whoever made such a comment was an consummate ass.
No respect at all for the young lives lost :-(
Prayers up for the grieving families...
First thing I thought.
I flew one of the six-seaters like this one a few times back in the 70s and there is no room for baggage, and you would have a bit of a CG issue if you did try to jam stuff in. They were there for a weekend so I would think they had luggage.
I can only imagine how that person would have felt if it were their daughter on that flight.
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