Plane crash kills 2 near Frisco (Texas)

The Dallas Morning News ^ | July 8, 2003 | By JENNIFER EMILY and TIM WYATT / The Dallas Morning News

[MeekOneGOP]

Plane crash kills 2 near Frisco

07/08/2003

By JENNIFER EMILY and TIM WYATT / The Dallas Morning News

An instructor pilot and a student died Tuesday after a single-engine Cessna crashed Tuesday near Frisco, officials said.

A Federal Aviation Administration official said air traffic controllers received a mayday from the pilot shortly before the small plane crashed around 11:45 a.m.

Vernon Bryant / DMN

National Transportation Safety Board officials investigate the crash Tuesday of a single-engine Cessna in Frisco. The crash killed the two people on board.

The pilot told air traffic controllers the plane hit a bird, said John Clabes, FAA spokesman .

"Mayday. Mayday. We're going down," Mr. Clabes said the pilot told controllers. The pilot also told them the plane's location.

The identities of the deceased were not immediately known Tuesday.

The accident occurred a quarter mile south of U.S. 380 between Preston and Custer roads in unincorporated Collin County, Frisco Fire Chief Mack Borchardt said.

Mr. Clabes said birds are a common hazard for small airplanes.

"With smaller airplanes, they're a real danger," he said. "They can be deadly."

The flight originated from Addison Airport and was linked to Monarch Air, a flight training facility, said Collin County Sheriff's Sgt. Mike Davis.

The plane is registered to a Carrollton company, Flight Procedure Inc., according to the FAA.

The left wing of the aircraft was nearly sheared off by the impact and responders placed a sheet over the cockpit. The front of the plane crumpled upon impact in a field.

"I would expect that the plane was destroyed in the crash," said Chief Borchardt , who saw the plane.

There were no bounce marks and the crash did not cause a fire, Sgt. Davis said.

Officials say they believe no one witnessed the accident.

The FAA and National Transportation Safety Board are investigating the crash.

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Online at: http://www.dallasnews.com/latestnews/stories/070803dnmetplanecrash.6be879b6.html

[MeekOneGOP]

Rest in peace.

The pilot told air traffic controllers the plane hit a bird, said John Clabes, FAA spokesman .

"Mayday. Mayday. We're going down," Mr. Clabes said the pilot told controllers. The pilot also told them the plane's location.

Another picture from the lead-in on the DMN:

WFAA-TV
The single-engine Cessna crashed
today in a field north of Frisco.

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[JRandomFreeper]

Please ping me when they identify the victims. I pray for their families.

/john

[MeekOneGOP]

Thanks. Will do. There was something on local Channel 5,
but the phone rang when the story was on, so I missed it.

[blackdog]

I've never seen a bird strike do much damage to single engine plane. That prop protects the cockpit and the wings impacting a bird at 100mph on the leading edge just dents it a few inches back.

It sounds to me like they hit a bird and panicked. Even if it takes out your pitot tube, just throttle to 2300 rpm, keep your nose on the horizon and attitude. To come down, throttle back to 1700 rpm, nose 20 degrees below the horizon and you've got a standard rate of decent. 1500~1200rpm on short final. Forget the flaps with any wing damage, you might get uneven deployment and then jammed.

Never-ever panic in a plane. Managed properly there is not much you can't walk away from other than a mid-air collision or an on board fire you can't put out.

Poor buggers.

[justlurking]

That prop protects the cockpit and the wings impacting a bird at 100mph on the leading edge just dents it a few inches back.

The strike may have been on the empennage, putting the elevator out of commission.

However, the horizontal stabilizer looks intact in the second picture.

[blackdog]

I've done training in 172's, 152's and Great Lakes using throttle only for pitch control.

I've never seen a bird strike hit the tail only in a high wing plane(which is more possible than a low wing). The prop diameter would shred anything in it's path until about 18" on the outermost edges of the surface.

That's the one advantage about going to a school that actually owns the planes. When they are leased, it's the leasing company that dictates training. No off airport landings, no actual engine outs(just pulled throttle), no grass fields, no nightime solo's, and so on......The only thing the pilot is proeficient at is landing on 5000' paved runways in good weather and in daylight. Don't skimp on flight training. Only do it right. If you are not training in school owned airplanes, it ain't gonna happen.

[justlurking]

I've done training in 172's, 152's and Great Lakes using throttle only for pitch control.

That's a good point, but it presumes that the failure occurs in something close to a neutral position.

When they are leased, it's the leasing company that dictates training. No off airport landings, no actual engine outs(just pulled throttle), no grass fields, no nightime solo's, and so on......

My primary training included soft field landings: we made a trip to a grass field. But, the only off-airport landing I ever did was during my glider checkride, and even that was in a small unplanted (but overgrown) area in the cornfield right next to the airport.

But, I have about 50 actual engine-out landings in my log book. :-)

[blackdog]

A runaway electric trim is pretty close. You need balls to save your life by killing thrust or slammin thrust. The toughest thing to get used to is being behind minimum controlable airspeed in a light twin, low to the ground, and have to kill power on a single engine. You cannot cheat physics. A controlled off airport landing and surviving sure beats rolling over or flat spinning into an NTSB newsletter as a casualty.

I've never understood the psychology of trying to stay aloft to make it to an airport. If you are in trouble and have some control, a friggin patch that's green in the summer or brown in the winter suits my pride just fine. Too many urges to get the plane home or to something paved gets the best of many..

[JRandomFreeper]

But, I have about 50 actual engine-out landings in my log book

Glider pilots are right up there with people that jump out of perfectly good airplanes in my book. I'm sure they enjoy it, but I don't understand it.

But then again I'm a big believer in terra firma... the more firma, the less terra... 8>)

This from a guy that worked on aircraft from 1980 through the mid-90's and actually refused my CO's suggestion that I sign up for a "incentive" flight.

Yeah right. Like I want to blast through the atmosphere in a pressurized explosive device. No thanks.

/john

[justlurking]

Glider pilots are right up there with people that jump out of perfectly good airplanes in my book. I'm sure they enjoy it, but I don't understand it.

I'm not willing to jump out of an airplane, either.

But despite my joke, the reality is that flying a glider is a lot different than flying a power plane without power.

For starters, even the worst glider has about 3 times the glide ratio of the typical general aviation airplane. It's been a while, but I think a C-172 is about 8 to 1, while I added on my glider rating in a training glider that was about 25 to 1. I subsequently flew a high performance glider that was 36 to 1, and 50 to 1 isn't unusual for custom competitive gliders.

One also has a lot of control over the sink rate of a glider, without changing the attitude. Opening the spoilers would double or triple the sink rate, making it very easy to land on the spot of your choice. Once I started my landing approach, I'd control the airspeed with the stick (raising or lowering the nose) and control my descent rate with the spoilers.

[MeekOneGOP]

Follow-up/update from The Dallas Morning News:

Plane crashes near Frisco, killing 2 people

Pilot's mayday said single-engine Cessna struck bird, officials say

07/09/2003

By JENNIFER EMILY and TIM WYATT / The Dallas Morning News

A flight instructor and a student died Tuesday after their single-engine Cessna hit a bird and crashed near Frisco, officials said.

A Federal Aviation Administration official said air traffic controllers at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport received three maydays from the pilot shortly before the small plane crashed about 11:45 a.m.

The Collin County Sheriff's Office identified the victims as Andrew Kyle Monroe, 28, and Michael Thomas Braden, 48, both of Dallas. It was unknown which was the pilot. No one else was aboard the four-seater.

The pilot told air traffic controllers that the plane hit a bird, FAA spokesman John Clabes said.

"Mayday. Mayday. We're going down," Mr. Clabes said the pilot told controllers. The pilot also gave the plane's location.

When controllers asked whether the pilot needed help, he responded, "Send somebody to pick us up," said Aaron Sauer, a National Transportation Safety Board investigator in the Arlington office.

Vernon Bryant / DMN

National Transportation Safety Board officials inspect a single-engine Cessna that crashed near Preston Road and U.S. Highway 380 near Frisco. A flight instructor and student died.

Mr. Clabes said birds are a common hazard for small airplanes.

"With smaller airplanes, they're a real danger," he said. "They can be deadly."

The FAA and NTSB are investigating.

The accident occurred a quarter-mile south of U.S. Highway 380 between Preston and Custer roads in unincorporated Collin County, Frisco Fire Chief Mack Borchardt said.

The plane was based at Addison Airport and linked to Monarch Air, a flight training facility, Collin County sheriff's Sgt. Mike Davis said. The plane is registered to a Carrollton company, Flight Procedure Inc., according to the FAA.

"We are mourning the loss of a fellow employee and student," Monarch Air said in a statement Tuesday. "Our prayers and thoughts go out to the families."

Investigators had not determined where the flight began or was heading, Mr. Sauer said.

The aircraft's left wing was torn off when it hit the ground, and responders placed a sheet over the cockpit. The front of the plane crumpled upon impact.

There were no bounce marks, and the crash did not cause a fire, Sgt. Davis said.

Officials say they believe no one witnessed the accident.

The plane will be taken to an airplane salvage yard in Lancaster for examination, Mr. Sauer said. The investigation could take six months to a year.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

E-mail jemily@dallasnews.com and twyatt@dallasnews.com

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Online at: http://www.dallasnews.com/latestnews/stories/070903dnmetcrash.28c3b.html

[MeekOneGOP]

Update with victims identified posted in #12:

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/942551/posts?page=12#12