Posted on 06/24/2019 7:06:11 PM PDT by mdittmar
HONOLULU (AP) — The National Transportation Safety Board on Monday called on the Federal Aviation Administration to tighten its regulations governing parachute operations after a skydiving plane in Hawaii crashed and killed all 11 people on board.
The NTSB recommended to the FAA more than a decade ago that it strengthen its rules on pilot training, aircraft maintenance and inspection, and FAA oversight, board member Jennifer Homendy told a news conference in Honolulu.
She said the FAA hasn’t acted on those recommendations.
(Excerpt) Read more at apnews.com ...
My buddies were all for it,till we got there;) then they just wanted to watch.
My hand locked on to the plane when the Instructor said go.
He gave me a little push,tandem from 18,000 feet.
It was fun,once was enough;)
He was geared up to another at 80, but Old Timers came into play.
“Jumping out of a perfectly good airplane is an unnatural act.”
Gunny Tom Highway
So a plane crashes and we need more parachute regulations. Let’s give Hawaii back their independence. They are lost. We’ll keep one island for a naval base.
All the planes I jumped from were not perfectly good. We only relaxed after we got to an altitude where we could get out, and wish the pilot good luck.
If at first you dont succeed,
Skydiving is not for you.
CC
Homendy said there have been 80 accidents and 19 deaths involving skydiving flights since 2008.
...
Those numbers are tiny when compared to transportation accidents in general.
Bingo! Being the biggest I was always at the door first to go. If the engine started coughing at 500', it was pull the reserve and keep it in the container until I cleared the plane.
They didn’t say what kind of plane it was as far as I could tell. It was the same plane that was involved in an accident in California years ago. It’s over 2 thousand miles to Hawaii but I’m sure that it’s out of range for a plane like that unless they shipped it.
It's also the best view that you'll ever have, and once the canopy opens, it's remarkably peaceful and serene (imagine, looking down and seeing birds flying beneath your boots.)
It was a queen air, cousin of the king air but with reciprocating engines instead of turbines. Loss of an engine with a load of jumpers probably puts the plane beyond a capability of single engine climb out. The only options are unloading the plane but getting the jumpers out, or if there is not enough altitude for that, then keep the airplane speed up as it descends into an off field landing. If the pilot tries to maintain altitude with insufficient power the plane will stall and crash. With a twin engine, the good engine must immediately be pulled back to idle or the airplane yaws around the dead engine, stalls, and crashes. You have seconds to react appropriately or the plane will be in a stall and crash.
That airplane was ferried from California recently. You can make that transit by having fuel bladders temporarily installed in the cabin for the flight across the pond.
—Those numbers are tiny when compared to transportation accidents in general.—
That’s not quite two deaths a year in what is obviously a potentially dangerous activity. I’m not sure a bunch of money spent on routine inspections and log book entries are really worth the effort.
There’s a local skydiving operation at our rural airport. The planes are rough looking, but are servicable. Pilot error is the biggest killer, and might prove to be the cause of the Hawaiian crash.
I hate the modern media outlets. I first read that it was a KING Air. A regular King Air should be safe enough on one engine even with a load. But a Queen Air? Heck, I wouldn’t even get in one with ten other people wearing heavy gear, etc. It was likely overloaded from the get-go.
Ban gravity.
Being ferried makes sense. Maybe that trip stressed the flight systems?
“With a twin engine, the good engine must immediately be pulled back to idle or the airplane yaws around the dead engine, stalls, and crashes.”
Obviously you’re not a pilot because that’s flat untrue. Twin engine aircraft can not only fly with one engine, they can take off and land with one engine, and multi-engine training is done to ensure competence in all ( VMC single-engine minimum safe airspeed training).
Maybe you mis-typed, but in any case, losing an engine is not a particularly hazardous in-flight emergency.
Even with both engines, the queen air with a full load of jumpers has no single engine climbout capability. That may not mean it’s beyond gross weight limit for takeoff, buts it’s something a pilot must consider, since with an engine failure shortly after takeoff, the only options is landing pretty much straight ahead.
The twin bonanza was similar in its limitations as a jump plane. Many years ago in the late 80s, I was jumpmastering a load in a twin bonanza, and we experienced an engine failure at about 2000 ft on climbout. Coordinated with the pilot, I had jumpers calmly and orderly exit the plane and immediately deploy their parachutes. By the time we got all but myself and a tandem master with his passenger out, the plane was at 1300 ft. But once unloaded, the pilot was able to climb again on the good engine and we landed back at the airport safely.
Jumping a variety of aircraft is something most skydivers like to do, but after that I became more particular about the airplanes I would jump from. Today I mostly fly the jump plane, and jump myself much less. In either case, I prefer turbine powered airplanes. They are more reliable, and if a drop zone can afford a turbine, then they are probably doing better maintenance as well.
I am a pilot since 1979 with over 5000 hours. Twin engine, non centerline thrust, aircraft have lots of power and control with both engines running properly. If you lose an engine, depending on the plane and it’s load, you may or may not be able to maintain altitude or climb. You also have a minimum safe single engine controllable speed to maintain or the drag on the dead engine will overcome the yaw authority you have in the rudder. The plane will stall one wing and roll over.
So if you are in a twin that is so loaded that it can’t climb or maintain altitude on a single engine, you must descend to maintain speed. As you say, you can keep power on the good engine, but only if your speed is above single engine safe speed. If you allow yourself to get close or below that minimum single engine control speed, you have to reduce the thrust on the good engine or you yaw into the stall.
Low to the ground after takeoff like the dillingham field crash that happened three days ago, the proper response would be land straight ahead, and reduce power on the good engine while trying to transition to landing speeds, which are below the minimum single engine safe speed. Continuing to climb on the good engine in this particular situation was not an option.
SKYDIVING PLANE CRASHES; ALL 12 ON BOARD KILLED
https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1992-09-08-9203210847-story.html
Not too far from me at the time.
The trip would not stress the airplane. But some aircraft used for jumping, mostly older models, are underpowered for flying with a max load. Take away half the thrust and if you thought it was a slug with two engines....
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