A Very BAD Day for Aviation!

***n4gix*** · March 22nd, 2009, 16:57

I've been listening to the news about not one crash, but TWO crashes this afternoon.

1. A PC12 crashes 500' short of the runway at Butte, Montana with seventeen fatalities? Even considering that some of those were children, that's was a very overloaded aircraft...

2. A Fedex MD-11 bounced several times while landing at Tokyo International, with the final bounce on the nose gear and left main. Gear collapses, right wing scrapes, entire aircraft disintegrates... Two fatalities.

Eternal rest grant unto them, Lord...

**GT182** · March 22nd, 2009, 17:04

Not good..... not good at all.

**Lionheart** · March 22nd, 2009, 17:06

Goodness.. Thats horrible..

Hard to imagine it was that loaded down in a PC12. I am figuring he stalled it on approach being overweight.

Horrible to lose just a single person, let alone many, especially precious children...

May they rest in peace and may their families and friends endure this trajedy.

Bill

***N2056*** · March 22nd, 2009, 17:13

**ckissling** · March 22nd, 2009, 17:38

A bad week for Montana. In 2007 an expert mountain pilot crashed in the
mountains he was hurt, but the passenger was hurt much worse.
Last week the same pilot took his cessna 172 up to fly over the old crash site, crashed and died in the mountains. ???????? ckissling

**EasyEd** · March 22nd, 2009, 19:20

Hey All,

Really tragic! An MD-11 - cargo I bet - in Tokyo, Sparky Imeson in a 180 near Townsend at Canyon Ferry Lake and now this - a PC-12 with children aboard at Butte.

That PC-12 was headed for Bozeman but diverted - I'm guessing due to weather. Butte is farther than Bozeman from Oroville CA where the flight originated. I seriously doubt that the PC-12 was overloaded. No doubt more people than seats but likely not weightwise. I'm wondering what happened - both Bozeman and Butte are at or above 5000 ft (Butte 5500ft) could the pilot just have got slow and stalled due to airport elevation and perhaps more weight than he/she was used to? Very tragic! My heart goes out to those who suffered these losses.

-Ed-

PS As a side note These 3 are 3 of my very favorite aircraft in FS. The Flight1 PC-12, Abacus 185 (not a 180 I know but close) and the MD-11 from Overland. I'll not stop flying them tho.

***n4gix*** · March 22nd, 2009, 20:28

Reports are that the winds at Narita were severe gusting from 30 to 50 knots... There is incredible footage from a security camera that caught the entire disaster live.

**cheezyflier** · March 22nd, 2009, 20:34

Originally Posted by n4gix

Reports are that the winds at Narita were severe gusting from 30 to 50 knots... There is incredible footage from a security camera that caught the entire disaster live.

how about a link?

as for the pilatus, they seat 9, right? so how is it legal to take off with double the people?

**EasyEd** · March 22nd, 2009, 21:32

Hey All,

I saw the film on the MD-11 on the news - awesome and terrible at the same time.

As for the Pilatus - what if 4 young couples with two very small children each and a pilot and you still have 2 seats left over. I'm just praying the authorities have their numbers wrong and the death toll is lower.

-Ed-

**Lionheart** · March 22nd, 2009, 21:36

A report from a couple driving by the crash, said they saw it suddenly nose down and slam into the ground. They were close and drove there to see if there was anyone to help. It was bad....

On BBC, they show some post wreckage footage. That huge bird was on its back when it came to a stop! How on Earth???

Bill

**azflyboy** · March 22nd, 2009, 21:54

Originally Posted by Lionheart

On BBC, they show some post wreckage footage. That huge bird was on its back when it came to a stop! How on Earth???

Bill

From the security camera footage, it looks like the aircraft bounced hard on landing, bounced again (possibly landing on the nose gear), and rolled over the third time it touched down.

I'd guess that either one of the bounces collapsed the left main gear or the wind caught the raised right wing (or some combination of the two), and the left wing just collapsed or broke off when it hit the ground.

**EasyEd** · March 23rd, 2009, 17:55

Hey All,

So I been following up on this PC-12 crash in Montana.

The victims were apparently mostly extended family of the owner of the plane including 2 of his daughters and 5 of his grandchildren. Relatives said the victims were headed to an exclusive resort (probably Big Sky - a great place) on a ski vacation, and gave the children's ages as 1, 3, 5, 7 and 9, plus two 4-year-olds. In addition to the children two of the victims were Doctors and one a Dental Hygenist - professionals all. We don't need these kinds of losses.

Right now icing more than overloading is suspect - given the number of children and their ages. Possibly the same situation as the crash in Buffalo. Icing at 1500 ft AGL and problems with the flaps. Although pilot error is probably involved as well.

This is far more tragic than a FEDEX cargo plane with two onboard in Tokyo and yet what do people want to talk about - just because of video. Says a lot about humankind.

Lord these people came to you too soon - take care of them.

-Ed-