17 Dead including "Numerous Children" in MT Crash

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CrashAxe

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http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090322/ap_on_re_us/plane_crash_montana

BUTTE, Mont. – A Federal Aviation Administration spokesman says 17 people are dead in a plane crash in Montana.
Spokesman Mike Fergus says the single engine turboprop plane departed from Orville, Calif., and that the pilot had filed a flight plan showing a final destination of Bozeman.
Fergus says the pilot canceled his flight plan at some point and headed for Butte. The plane crashed about 500 feet from the airport while attempting to land and caught fire.
Fergus says preliminary reports indicate the dead include numerous children.
Fergus says the plane was registered to Eagle Cap Leasing Inc. in Enterprise, Ore., but he doesn't know who was operating the plane.
Calls to local authorities were not immediately returned.
 
They're thinking a ski trip for kids. It just nuts not to have each and every in a crashworthy situation.....
 
Still, it is unlikely there were actually 17 people on that plane.

If there were, the operator needs to hang, figuratively.
 
Looks like he made mid-field if the aircraft did arrive in Holy Cross cemetary. If he had made it to the other cemetary then he'd be in my former bosses lots! No I didn't work at the cemetary, he just owned it (and lived on the grounds).

From looking at the wunderground.com weather the wind looks like it was out of the NW or maybe WNW at about 10 mph. Overcast to mostly cloudy reported.

BTM is most definitely not a friendly place with high terrain on basically all four sides. There is a little more lowland to the south (but then the hills get serious) than any other direction.

At least the aircraft didn't arrive in the mine...if you don't know about the mine, well, it's one big hole in the ground. BIG hole - more than a mile deep open pit - of course it's mostly full of water these days.

All the instrument approaches are for 15...so maybe he was circling for 33.
 
"It was the worst plane crash in America since a commuter plane last month fell on a house in a suburb of Buffalo, N.Y., killing all 49 passengers and a man in the home."

Stellar journalism there, boy. Do they just have an article template that you fill in like a Mad-Lib? (It was the worst plane crash in America since <insert last big crash> last <insert period of time since last crash>.)

:mad2:
 
Does anyone know if the cg moves aft in a Pilatus as the fuel burns off?
 
Reports are now there were 14 on board. Very sad. It does sound like a stall. I saw the NTSB preliminary report and they indicated he called final and that was the last ATC heard.
 
Called final? Wow, he had to be going around then to end up in Holy Cross.
 
Speculation on the news on the radio this morning was ice. I'll wait for the official report.
 
************************************************************
NTSB PRESS RELEASE
************************************************************

National Transportation Safety Board
Washington, DC 20594

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: July 12, 2011

************************************************************

SERIES OF OPERATIONAL ERRORS BY PILOT LED TO 2009 AIRPLANE
CRASH IN MONTANA



************************************************************


WASHINGTON - The National Transportation Safety Board
determined today that the cause of the March 2009 deadly crash
of a Pilatus airplane was a series of operational errors made
by the pilot. The pilot failed to ensure that a fuel system
icing inhibitor (FSII), commonly referenced by the brand name
"Prist", was added to the fuel prior to the accident flight.
The pilot also failed to take appropriate remedial actions,
including diverting to a suitable airport, after the airplane
warning systems indicated a low fuel pressure state that
ultimately resulted in a significant lateral fuel imbalance.
And, the pilot lost control while maneuvering the left-wing-
heavy airplane near the approach end of the runway.

"The pilot's pattern of poor decision making set in motion a
series of events that culminated in the deadly crash," said
NTSB Chairman Deborah A. P. Hersman. "Humans will make
mistakes, but that is why following procedures, using
checklists and always ensuring that a safety margin exists are
so essential - aviation is not forgiving when it comes to
errors."

On March 22, 2009, at about 2:32 pm (MDT), a Pilatus PC-12/45,
N128CM, crashed about 2,100 feet west of runway 33 at Bert
Mooney Airport (BTM) in Butte, Montana. The flight departed
Oroville Municipal Airport in Oroville, California, en route
to Gallatin Field in Bozeman, Montana but the pilot diverted
to Butte for unknown reasons. The pilot and the 13 passengers
were fatally injured and the aircraft was substantially
damaged by impact forces and a post-crash fire. The airplane
was owned by Eagle Cap Leasing of Enterprise, Oregon, and was
operating as a personal flight under the provisions of 14 Code
of Federal Regulations Part 91. Visual meteorological
conditions prevailed at the time of the accident.


During the investigation, the NTSB determined that the pilot
did not add a fuel system icing inhibitor when the airplane
was fueled on the day of the accident. The Pilatus flight
manual states that a fuel system icing inhibitor must be used
for all flight operations in ambient temperatures below 0
degrees Celsius to prevent ice formation in the fuel system.
The NTSB concluded that the airplane experienced icing in the
fuel system which resulted in a left-wing-heavy fuel
imbalance. The increasing fuel level in the left tank and the
depletion of the fuel from the right tank should have been
apparent to the pilot because that information was presented
on the fuel quantity indicator. This should have prompted the
pilot to divert the airplane to an airport earlier in the
flight as specified by the airplane manufacturer.

The NTSB issued recommendations to the Federal Aviation
Administration and the European Aviation Safety Agency, to
require fuel filler placards and guidance on fuel system icing
prevention.

A synopsis of the NTSB report, including the probable cause,
findings, and safety recommendations, is available at: http://go.usa.gov/ZSj

The full report will be available on the website in several
weeks.

Media Contact:
Keith Holloway
202-314-6100
hollowk@ntsb.gov
 
Someone knowledgeable help me out here; how does fuel icing cause an imbalance in the wing tanks? Did one tank's fuel line freeze so he ran the other tank empty resulting in the gross imbalance?
 
Baron2PG said:
Someone knowledgeable help me out here; how does fuel icing cause an imbalance in the wing tanks? Did one tank's fuel line freeze so he ran the other tank empty resulting in the gross imbalance?
Click to expand...

Bottom line is "Yes".

What I don't understand fully is this:

The increasing fuel level in the left tank and the
depletion of the fuel from the right tank should have been
apparent to the pilot
Click to expand...

That would indicate to me that the fuel return line to the right tank was blocked.

On second thought, what that indicates to me is the feed line out of the left fuel tank was blocked and the return line wasn't. That makes sense to me because I can see where the Prist mixture in one tank may be different than the Prist mixture in the other tank. Just depends on the relative fuel levels in each tank the last time fuel was added.
 
Greg Bockelman said:
Bottom line is "Yes".

What I don't understand fully is this:



That would indicate to me that the fuel return line to the right tank was blocked.

On second thought, what that indicates to me is the feed line out of the left fuel tank was blocked and the return line wasn't. That makes sense to me because I can see where the Prist mixture in one tank may be different than the Prist mixture in the other tank. Just depends on the relative fuel levels in each tank the last time fuel was added.
Click to expand...

Or vent blocked?

Now I have absolutely zero experience in flying anything that was designed to fly in the flight levels, but in some airplanes, if the vent system gets blocked, you can actually get an effect that siphons fuel from one tank to another. The Cessna Cardinal is notorious for this along with some models of 182.
 
I find it incredible that NTSB was able to solve this riddle working only with scraps of metal left from this plane. I tip my hat to them. :aureola:
 
I find it incredible that NTSB was able to solve this riddle working only with scraps of metal left from this plane. I tip my hat to them. :aureola:
Click to expand...

They do great work and, except for the sadness (and dealing with the remains of the deceased) I have occasionally yearned for that forensic occupation.

I think however that after 100 years of accidents, they are able to more easily narrow down possible causes. I believe they use checklists and flowcharts for each accident to allow focus on the more likely causes and.....past experience is undoubtedly invaluable.
 
olasek said:
I find it incredible that NTSB was able to solve this riddle working only with scraps of metal left from this plane. I tip my hat to them. :aureola:
Click to expand...

The key find was a chipset from the box that makes the blinkylights with warnings about stall, fuel pressure, fuel quantity etc go off. The data from that flight and prior flight together with the fuel records allowed them to narrow it to the fuel icing issue.

The report on the data extraction and the report provided by NTSB staff about the data itself are appended below:
 

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  • CACU_report.pdf
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  • CACU_report_to_chairman.pdf
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Aaa.. thanks. Amazing that this piece survived the inferno.
 
I truly think some of the stuff I've read about the detail orientation and care the NTSB folks usually use in these investigations makes the fictional TV show "CSI" look pale by comparison.

In this case, the real world is far more "interesting" than the fiction. Not trying to remove the emotion or sadness from the accident or offend anyone involved personally -- but, it truly is fascinating work that they do.

It wasn't really the NTSB, but in a similar vein I was completely amazed when vast amounts of the Shuttle Columbia were found across multiple states with mostly volunteer searchers, and they managed to puzzle piece it back together in a hangar... that just floored me later on, reading the CAIB reports and others on that accident/oversight.
 
Reading through the source documents on the docket managemenmt system on some of these crashes is really interesting and illustrates how much of a detective process this actually is.

In this case, what struck me was how everyone who flew with the pilot described him as a good and safety conscious pilot. His omissions and actions on that day just seem out of character for the person described in the interviews with his former chief pilot, DO, insurance trainer pilot etc. Really puzzling.
 
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