A Sad Accident

On 2007-10-09 09:52:32 -0700, RL Anderson said:

Greetings All,

Thought I'd pass on that there has been a horrific crash this past
Sunday (7 Oct). There was a Caravan used for skydiving, with 10 people
aboard, traveling between Star Idaho and Shelton Washington. The
airplane went down in the general vicinity of White Pass, a 4500 foot
mountain pass on US 12, located on the boundary of Yakima and Lewis
Counties, in the South Central Washington Cascade Mountains. According
to local news, no survivors have been found. I am acquainted with
several skydivers and some of the other folks at the aircraft owner,
Skydive Kapowsin. I hope that none of the folks I know are involved.

Here are some links to the story.

http://www.herald-republic.com/page/dis/290013970261411

http://www.herald-republic.com/page/dis/290013901892319

Pass on as you see fit.

Rick

This is a well-known airplane. I know people who have considerable time
in this very plane. It has boots, but it is not certified for known
ice. IIRC, this particular plane does not have prop deice. The boots
are good for about three shots at getting rid of ice. The pilot was
flying VFR just above the freezing level in rainy weather. He was
squawking 1200 and not talking to anyone at the time.

It is probable he was on autopilot. If the plane was icing up, he might
not have noticed the spinning trim wheel attempting to maintain
altitude. By the time he did notice it, it might well have been too
late. Other Caravans have been lost in just this manner.

The icing conditions in these mountains are some of the worst in the
world. The FAA calls it the Great North Cascades Ice Machine. It is
well named. The weather is unpredictable and in passes like White Pass
can change very suddenly. You think you are just motoring along in the
dark at a safe altitude and it is very easy to become complacent. In
fact, I don't know a pilot in the world who, tired, flying on
autopilot, listening to the drone of the engine, etc., is not likely to
lose focus. At night you can fly into a weather system and never know
it. I know several pilots who were surprised to learn that they had
been in clouds for a long time, perhaps hours.

Weather conditions at the time appear to have been nearly perfect for
an icing accident. Of course, that is how the weather is most of the
time there. It is a rotten place to fly single pilot at night.

--
Waddling Eagle
World Famous Flight Instructor

On 2007-10-09 09:52:32 -0700, RL Anderson said:

Greetings All,

Thought I'd pass on that there has been a horrific crash this past
Sunday (7 Oct). There was a Caravan used for skydiving, with 10 people
aboard, traveling between Star Idaho and Shelton Washington. The
airplane went down in the general vicinity of White Pass, a 4500 foot
mountain pass on US 12, located on the boundary of Yakima and Lewis
Counties, in the South Central Washington Cascade Mountains. According
to local news, no survivors have been found. I am acquainted with
several skydivers and some of the other folks at the aircraft owner,
Skydive Kapowsin. I hope that none of the folks I know are involved.

Here are some links to the story.

http://www.herald-republic.com/page/dis/290013970261411

http://www.herald-republic.com/page/dis/290013901892319

Pass on as you see fit.

Rick

Latest reports from NW Cable News a

"The Cessna Caravan was flying to Shelton from Boise, Idaho under
Visual Flight Rules at night.

Radar shows the plane was flying at 13,000 feet.* Everything appeared
fine as the Cessna was about to cross the Cascade crest into western
Washington.
Then, the plane turned north for about a minute.* It made a tight 360
degree turn, and then dropped 1,400 feet in just 12 seconds.* It
recovered to its original altitude and held it for 10 to 20 seconds.*
About a minute later, it hit the ground.
But then the plane turns to the north for about a minute.*
Two witnesses in the valley said they heard the plane's engine rev as
it apparently tried to maintain altitude.
Weather recorded at White Pass Sunday night was listed as in the 30s,
with light precipitation, raising the possibility of icing -- something
the plane was equipped to handle.
"It has de-icing boots on the wings," said Mike Robertson, FAA safety
investigator.* "It also has de-ice boots on the prop blades, as well as
de-icing capability on the engine itself. *At this point, we see that
the boots are there.""
Odd. The plane hits the ground, but then it turns to the north for
about a minute. Or maybe it was just bad editing.
--
Waddling Eagle
World Famous Flight Instructor

wrote:


I was thinking that if it had been an engine failure at altitude, the
passenges would have bailed out with their chutes, given that they
were experienced skydivers.


They weren't planning on jumping from that plane. They were enroute
from an event. The chutes were probably stowed.

Even if they had them on, the record of skydivers managing to get out of
a failing jump plane in an emergency isn't too good.

In article ,
Ron Natalie wrote:


Even if they had them on, the record of skydivers managing to get out of
a failing jump plane in an emergency isn't too good.

That's probably because the record mostly contains only those incidents
that ended badly.

Been there, done that...lived to tell the tale...from both perspectives.

But as you pointed out in this instance with it being a night ferry
flight most probably didn't have their rigs on.

Preliminary report indicates VFR into IFR and disorientation:

http://www.ktvb.com/news/regional/st...1830b1608.html

On 2007-10-18 15:48:15 -0700, said:

Preliminary report indicates VFR into IFR and disorientation:

http://www.ktvb.com/news/regional/st...1830b1608.html

Maybe.

But usually these things are flown on autopilot and autopilots do not
become disoriented that way. I will stick with the icing scenario: it
iced up and the autopilot kept spinning the trim to compensate until it
could not compensate any more. Then they stalled, spun and crashed.
--
Waddling Eagle
World Famous Flight Instructor

wrote:
Preliminary report indicates VFR into IFR and disorientation:

http://www.ktvb.com/news/regional/st...1830b1608.html


Thanks for the link. here's the NTSB link:

http://www.ntsb.gov/ntsb/brief.asp?e...17X01609&key=1

Rick

RL Anderson wrote:
Preliminary report indicates VFR into IFR and disorientation:

Thanks for the link. here's the NTSB link:

http://www.ntsb.gov/ntsb/brief.asp?e...17X01609&key=1

Rick

debris field 60' x 100'. O_o

Bless 'em.

--
Message posted via AviationKB.com
http://www.aviationkb.com/Uwe/Forums...ation/200710/1

On Oct 18, 8:41 pm, C J Campbell
wrote:
On 2007-10-18 15:48:15 -0700, said:

Preliminary report indicates VFR into IFR and disorientation:

http://www.ktvb.com/news/regional/st...-skydiver_plan...

Maybe.

But usually these things are flown on autopilot and autopilots do not
become disoriented that way. I will stick with the icing scenario: it
iced up and the autopilot kept spinning the trim to compensate until it
could not compensate any more. Then they stalled, spun and crashed.
--
Waddling Eagle
World Famous Flight Instructor

CJ,

I tend to agree with you, but this will probably be one of those cases
that isn't ever conclusively resolved.

I wonder why he didn't convert to IFR or fly through the gorge if he
wanted to stay VFR... flying into clouds in the Cascades this time of
year is a bad idea unless you have really good anti-ice systems. He
should have either gone over the weather and then descended through
the layer IFR on the West side of the Cascades, or gone under it via
the big green tunnel that is the Columbia River gorge.

Dean

Why would someone from that area, presumably familiar with local
weather and mountain conditions, fly at night if weather was not
perfect?

Ron Lee