Posted on 04/02/2012 6:34:38 PM PDT by MindBender26
A small single engine airplane departing the Deland, Florida airport lost engine power and crashed into the roof of the local Publix Supermarket tonight
Deland, the home of Stetson University, is primarilly a bedroom community for the Greater Orlando area.
The aircraft tookoff normally, but upon reaching about 1000 feet altitide, the engine began sputtering loundly. The pilot apparently tried to turn back to the airport but stalled and spun in to the roof of the Publix. Both occupants were burned in the post-crash fire, and three shoppers in the store were also imjured. The extent of the customers' injuries is not known. The airplane occupants were rushed to the hospital, but their condition has not been reported.
According to descriptions from local TV here, it sounds like a Lake Amphibian.
Stall, spin, crash, burn.
1000 feet AGL power loss: Total failure at first power reduction, birds or water in the gas.
If you lose engine power at <1200 AGL, land straight ahead!!!
I bet the pilot would say the same thing when it wasn’t him and his plane.
Experienced that gear-up in a Cessna 210. The pilot and I both walked away and there was no fire.
A great safe place to land an airplane after loss of engine power is the top of a tree.
It will go in about 50, and the tree is very cushioning.
Every smart pilot knows, DO NOT try to turn back to the airport!
Bet that 210 slid a long way!
I was told over and over again not to try to turn back in such a situation, and I'm sure that goes for anyone in training, yet it happens again and again.
We train for an eventuality that hopefully never arrives.
How many of us would be so disciplined to follow our training and not our instincts?
Most of us will finish our flying careers without ever knowing into which camp we fall.
I was in the Sun Valley mall in Concord Ca in 1985 when a twin engine crashed into it. Saw things i never forgot. Very Scary and such helplessness. Being 15 at the time was even harder. Wanting to help but being to scared. Pray for the people in the Market.
Train to land straight ahead! Hope I never have to test it.
Ferried too many wrecks back to the shop. Only one ever really scared me.
Slide a belly job in on concrete, easier to fix than on grass.
Yup, but it was grassland. My then father-in-law was the owner-pilot, I was right-seat. It was over in a surprisingly short time period.
Yep. Biggest takeaway from all of these accidents is “Don’t stall”
Light aircraft can usually slow to about 60kts with full flaps and flare. A survivable crash, especially if into trees, etc.
But a falling to the ground is always a killer.
Lost power in my Bonanza at 600 AGL over Goodland Kansas and I was turning into a 20 knot headwind. 1.5 seconds Switched tanks, hit boost, at 2.5 second control wheel fully forward left 160 degree turn to corn field touched down no flaps at 20 seconds, with a 20 knot tailwind. Slid about 300 yards minor damage to fusulage, none to control surfaces.
Turns out a the mechanical fuel pump failed.
A very quick turn too.
Zimmerman’s fault.
Isn’t that drilled into pilots over and over and over? Yet they still attempt to turn back with the same disastrous consequences.
Of course.
Only about 10 miles north of Sanford. Had to be Zimmerman’s fault.
I’m thinking this has to be the new “Bush’s fault” standard response to ANY violence ANYWHERE.
It’s always Zimmerman’s fault.
This one, due to the proximity, was a no-brainer.
I used to fly ultralights. Two cycle engines quit for the hell of it. Unexpected dead stick landings were common. Though I never had formal training, I had read that when the engine stops, you chose your landing spot and don’t change your mind. I only did that once and was lucky. I lost my drive belt at about 1300 ft AGL and chose a nice flat field straight ahead to land in. As I got closer, I noticed two disturbing features. There was a power pole in the middle of the field and I couldn’t see which way the wires ran. Also, there was no road adjacent to the field, so accessibility to the plane was questionable. I quickly chose another field next to a road. It worked out OK but I scared the manure out of some cows.
After loss of power the very first thing you do is get the nose over and establish the best glide.Then start swannecking it looking for a good place to put the bird down.I have only had to do that twice.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.