View of Plane crash

[Valigator]

This happened right down the street from me day before yesterday...pilots were geniuses for getting this down where they did.....and walked away.....

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/media/photo/2005-06/18009288.jpg

[captain2k_ca]

Was that the DC-3 crash??

I am curious as to the NTSB findings on that one.......Strange.

[Valigator]

Yes it was

from todays Sun-Sentinel

On Monday, the plane, headed for the Bahamas with 3,200 pounds of granite, started having engine problems almost immediately after takeoff at 3:50 p.m. A minute later, the pilot, Charles Riggs, 62, of Pembroke Pines, landed on Northeast 56th Street near the intersection of Northeast 18th Avenue in Coral Ridge Isles. Riggs, his co-pilot and a passenger escaped before the aircraft exploded into flames.

[Rocky Raab]

Flying GRANITE to the Bahamas?

That's the weirdest part, to me.

I can understand some rich dude importing decorative building material, but for the life of me cannot understand why anybody would need it in such a hurry that they FLY the stuff in! That's why they invented cargo ships - which need the ballast anyway!

As long as nobody was hurt, I'll mourn the loss of a gallant old airplane.

[M.T. Pockets]

Talk about making the best of a bad situation. I'm not a pilot, but I think this crew did a commendable job of keeping everyone alive, in the air and on the ground.

Flying rocks ? ?

[Critch]

I saw a Goony Bird go down at Lambert International many years ago. I think they put JP-4 or something in it instead of AVGAS, sickening sight to see one of them go in.

[TreeDoc]

Screwed up a few lawns and shrubs and bent up a cool ol' bird but way to cheat death! ;) I hadn't heard about this incident till last night and the info was spotty. Something about one engine out. That makes for some interesting flying....nothing like a little asymetric thrust on departure! Without a doubt the most dangerous point of a twin engine flight.

[captain2k_ca]

Interested to know how heavy the bird was.......I think it should have been able to continue on even with only one engine to a suitable landing area, these planes can take a real heavy payload and still fly with one engine......But, if it was OVERloaded.........Well, the NTSB will find out I guess :) I will be interested to see the results anyways. But like all say, I am very glad nobody died.

[jon lynn]

captain2k_ca

Do you think it was one of the old ones with the 13 piston radial engines, or an old USN surplus with a semi modernized turboprop.

When I was in the Army I read an article in the Army Times in 1986 that the Navy reserve was 'upgrading' the DC3's still in service.

Although the words 'still in service' and DC-3 didn't seem just right, considering I had just stepped off a C130 the day before.

And keep in mind some of those DC-3's, being civilian, may be old Soviet productions. Being a former air defender, I learned in one of my many classes that the Soviets built copies of the DC-3 UNTIL 1985!!!
:eek: If it was one of those...wow then the pilot should be put in for sainthood!

[Rocky Raab]

Don't raise eyebrows at those Russian models. In some respects, they improved the old Gooney bird.

The Russky version was specifically adapted for cold weather and rough fields (well, duh!) and was -if anything- even more rugged than the Douglas version.

BTW, the TV pics I saw showed what seemed to be the standard radial engines. The brief look I had also showed that the starboard engine was pulling high power when it hit, and the port one either little or no rotation. (The port prop blades were bent almost straight back and the starboard ones were corkscrewed.)

[TreeDoc]

Originally posted by captain2k_ca
Interested to know how heavy the bird was.......I think it should have been able to continue on even with only one engine to a suitable landing area, these planes can take a real heavy payload and still fly with one engine.......

Don't know much on the flight charactoristics of the Goony with an engine out and heavy load at departure. It might be like our old '58 Piper Apache that we have at the FBO. We use it for "Shark Patrol" which takes us out 60 miles over the ocean looking for commercial fisherman that are trawling on top of the HAL5 phone cables that come off our coast and head to Hawaii and beyond. AT&T foots the bill for that trip every day. I'll never forget my first trip up in the Apache, my instructor made sure I understood that the second engine was only there in case the other went out. It would fly us safely to the scene of the crash! :D