It’s Just Too Close to Home
By Will Rondeau
I was hoping that I would not have to write this News Letter; but the recent accident that occurred in McMinnville Airport (RNC), on September 8, 2020 involved pilots from Lebanon airport (M54), has prompted me to discuss some of the important details of this unfortunate crash. In my NL #4, I discussed the procedures for Engine Failure on Takeoff. Lets take another look at this Very DANGEROUS flight problem.
To start, let’s look at some data for two recent single aircraft (A/C) crashes where all of the occupants received fatal injuries. The data is found in a publication of Aviation Safety Network. Go To:
Aviation-Safety.net: Data Base—ASN Wikibase (Wiki Base)—Year 2020 —Scroll down to page 25—Look for date 08 Sep 2020 (Piper PA-28-181)—Open report....ASN #241076.
Also look at...Kathryn’s Report for personnel details of the pilots and passenger.
According to the ASN report the A/C departed M54, flew to MQY, and on to RNC, landing on runway (R/W) 23. The A/C made a full stop landing and taxied back for another takeoff (T/O). After T/O the engine failed, and then what happened?
What options did the pilots have? 1) Crash land straight ahead (look for a landing site) or 2) attempt to return to the runway. What important information did they have to work with to make a very quick decision? What was the A/C altitude when the engine quit? How much did the A/C weigh? Who was flying? What was the A/C’s best glide airspeed? How skilled and current was the PIC?
These are the Takeoff-PRE-DECISIONS we all must make prior to rolling down the R/W.
I refer you now to this article written by the FAA: FAA P-8740-44... AFS-920-2017, “Impossible Turn”, which discusses all the variables a pilot will face on ANY T/O. Also take a look at Aviation Safety Magazine, V39 Number 10, October 2019, “All or Nothing?” (pages 8-11).
I have noticed for you aviators who use M54 regularly, that there seems to be a good “Crash Way” to the north of RW 36, but not so good to the south, think about it!
Let’s look at another fatal A/C crash and discuss gliding an un-powered aircraft, and what do we need to know? First, let’s go back and look at the Aviation Safety Network website, as we did above.
Year 2020—Page 14—10 Jun 2020—Piper PA-32RT—ASN 236901. The two, very experienced, Navy fighter pilots were cruising at 15,000 ft on an IFR flight plan. Engine failure occurred, they declared an EMERGENCY with Atlanta Center, planned an EMER landing at Selma-Craig Field (SEL).
As I look at the data supplied with the report, their vertical descent rate varied from 514 feet per minute (fpm), to 2,211 fpm to 3,000 fpm prior to impact. Their airspeed was steady at 185 kts. The weather at the time was excellent.
Question? If they had known and flown the VBG “Best Glide” airspeed, could they have made the field? They crashed in a field two miles from the airport. Why?
How do we determine our A/C’s VBG or Lift Over Drag (L/D) Max, A/S. I refer you to the previous FAA P-8740-44 and also FAA ALC-629, “Gliding- For the Airplane Pilot”. Or, of course, the POH and your CFI. However according to this ACL-629, the VBG is somewhere between Vx and Vy, somewhere in the white band on your Air Speed Indicator.
Vx: Best angle of climb a/s, over obstacles on TO Vy: Best rate of climb a/s, most altitude over time
We as aviators need to know these airspeed numbers before trouble strikes, and on T/O we need to determine what to do when the engine quits, right after liftoff!
FLY SAFE. PLAN AHEAD (What If?). FILE FLIGHT PLAN. CHECK WEATHER
Until Next Month....Will Rondeau
References
Aviation Safety Magazine: Turner, Thomas, P. V XXXIX, Number 10,October 2019, (p 8-11).
Aviation-Safety.net: Wikibase. ASN 236901, ASN 241076. FAA: FAA.gov: “Impossible Turn”, FAA-P-8740-44.
FAA: FAA.gov: “Glide-for the Airplane Pilot”. ALC-629.