Horrific Small Cessna Plane Crash

[TheSeandelgatto2001]

Not sure why straight tail pilot considers Runway pilots easy? The more congested the airport the more of a pain in the arse it is to get in the air and back on the ground, especially fling into PDX and SFO is such a pain we mostly just stick to the no towered airports to avoid the hassle. Hell if I had a bush plane I'd rather land in a field lol

[manteaca]

Density altitude, the three H´s, high, hot and humid. We usually forget that density altitude is not only calculated for take off but has to be taken into account for the three phases of flight.

[ScientificExploits]

If he would have just lowered the nose a bit in that turn, could have prevented the stall.

[gvt2u]

I have to wonder if they died right away or died because they were injured and stranded.

[ThunderMax58]

I wanted to learn more about this crash and noticed no one else seemed to post any strong info so here is what I learned... (P.S. This info spans 4 posts.)

On August 10, 1984, a Cessna L-19 Bird Dog (registration number N4584A) crashed in a forest near Tabernash.

[ThunderMax58]

The wreck was found by a pair of backpackers more than three years later on August 23, 1987. A 61⁄2 minute video shot from a VHScamcorder mounted on the instrument panel was found at the site. The heavily damaged tape, some of it hanging from tree branches, was recovered and repaired by Colorado deputy sheriff Dale Wood. Subsequent analysis of the footage revealed that the pilot had not taken into account the density altitude conditions that existed on the day of the flight.

[ThunderMax58]

The aircraft was unable to climb away from steadily rising terrain due to the fact that it was essentially at or above its service ceiling, and in an attempt to remedy the situation, the pilot stalled the airplane three times during a steep bank to the right. The pilot could be heard yelling, "Damn, hang on Ronnie!" to his one backseat passenger moments before impacting the terrain.

[ThunderMax58]

The family of the deceased had put a 20-year moratorium (via the FAA) on the release of the film to the general public with the only stipulation that it (at the FAA's request to the family of the deceased) be shown only to flight instructors at conventions and workshops. The moratorium eventually expired and was not renewed, and thus the footage effectively became "public domain."

[vedder758]

density altitude would of been a factor as well

[AlexPimienta]

Slow, low and in raising terrain is NOT the place to make any steep turns. Clear pilot error.

[jdsnowboy]

Skip to 6:00 for the crash.

[nissanferrari1]

this looks like the 1 on the discovery channel "i shouldn't be alive"

[nissanferrari1]

looks like downdraft frome the mountains caused it

[Blazingspitfire]

@nissanferrari1 This guy clearly ignored the stall warning multiple times.

[hiimbrady]

Am I wrong, or would they have survived if the pilot had just applied power during the turn? You can hear the prop speed up just as the undercarriage was scraping the trees, but that was obviously too late. Perhaps he could have used the extra power to gain some altitude, which would certainly give him a cushion, but at the very least he would have been able to maintain airspeed.

[hiimbrady]

@hiimbrady Not that I'm implying that stalls are completely airspeed dependent.

[gregaperkin]

From NTSB report:

Findings

1. (F) WEATHER CONDITION - HIGH DENSITY ALTITUDE

2. (F) TERRAIN CONDITION - MOUNTAINOUS/HILLY

3. (C) IN-FLIGHT PLANNING/DECISION - IMPROPER - PILOT IN COMMAND

4. (C) AIRSPEED - NOT MAINTAINED - PILOT IN COMMAND

5. STALL - INADVERTENT - PILOT IN COMMAND

[remas14]

Very unfortunate. He shouldve given himself much more altitude in order to recovery from a minor power on stall. This might be a dumb question, but did they have mode C transponders back in the 70's?

[exemptshrimp1]

Poor guys........ :(

[exemptshrimp1]

Thats raw.......

[jpm4444]

this video is intimidating. I'm just learning to fly and it's amazing how low he was during the entire flight. He also had several chances to turn around or at least follow a flatter terrain. When he banked right, it seemed he should have just kept his course veering to the left. I'm taught take nothing for granted and take no chances. It's amazing how a simple mistake in a plane can cause a disaster

[Pyrotrons]

Mistake #1: Flying into an area of rising terrain that you can't safely turn out of

Mistake #2: Panicking and hauling back on the stick trying to turn away from terrain

Mistake #3: Doing this while at high bank angle and high altitude.

= Death

[straighttailpilot]

they were found 4 years later by some mountain hikers

[straighttailpilot]

from what I understand this was an L19 birdog made by cessna. I could be wrong but I think it is.

[CFITOMAHAWK]

@straighttailpilot It was a 230hp L-19, not a C-172. He turned right pulled hard at 45 degrees of bank and stalled. Also he put power too late. The video was found 3 years later in the airplane along with the bodies.

Stalled in the 180 necessary but too late turnback. Bad judment and piloting from an "experienced pilot". His friend died in the crash also.

[straighttailpilot]

@CFITOMAHAWK yessir. I know the information of the crash. I am a bushpilot and we were shown this video in one of our online mountain flying sessions. sad. bad call after bad call. Not sure if you knew but L19 was made by cessna. I always leave room for exit in youtube forums lol. that is why I said I could be wrong hehe.

[CFITOMAHAWK]

@straighttailpilot I'm a Bush Pilot Instructor for many years now. Some " easy runway pilots" here don't believe that we do usually use flaps to turn faster and avoid stalls, just the way we dump some flaps at Vr to leave the runway faster too. They know we use Vx with flaps but they think you cannot use them to turn faster and safer. I learned that at Bush Pilot Training in 1979. it was used by Fighters Pilots since WW2 and Spray pilots to avoid steep turn stalling. Can you tell these guys?

[dpcnull]

Action starts at 6:05 .

[JobalineInc1]

most likely density altitude. he is flying over mountains, so although AGL is low his MSL is most likely close to 10,000 feet (see the glacier in the video)

if it was a hot day, density altitude put him close or above ceiling, he probably lost airspeed, but by the time he realized it, it was too late. As soon as he banks, he lost so much air speed you can hear the stall horn. he has no room to recover because of trees.

RIP

[gregaperkin]

@JobalineInc1 Correct. Pressure altitude about 10,200', density altitude 13,000' (from NTSB report). The L-19 theoretically has a higher service ceiling than this but the obvious low initial speed in the climb, 60 degree bank angle and associated load factor (increasing his stall speed by approx 20kts in an aeroplane like that), poor planning and lack of escape route led to one result. Something we can all learn from! Three years before they were found.

[cooldaddyy]

brain dead

[TheIronCowboy123]

This guy couldnt have been more than 3,00ft off the ground. this sorta makes me nervous cause im a new student trainning to get my liscense.

[jojacool]

Why is he flying so low ?

Why didn't he just walk ?

[SpeedOfDark186Kmps]

It could be from the poor video but I thought that I could see a lenticular cloud above that set of steep peaks.

[harmgb1]

I 'liked' this because it could be instructive. I've been in a situation similar

to this, but turned around earlier. When you bank to turn around, your stall

speed rises, and if you are on the edge of a stall, you might not have the ability

to reverse course. It's always better to turn around sooner rather than later,

the mistake this guy made had been made many times before.....R.I.P.

[mithat87]

Excessive bank angle coupled with low IAS is always a recipe for disaster.