A close shave...

[rottydaddy]

One walked away, other broke a leg, according to what I heard at the airport today. Local scuttlebutt so far (I repeat, scuttlebutt) hints at an intentional single-engine go-around gone awry (with resulting cartwheel). More scuttlebutt indicates low fuel in one tank and none in the other (again, just what I heard). That would explain why the wreck didn't burn... anyway, it's all hearsay at this point.
Whatever the case, they are two very lucky guys. It also basically stopped just short of the northwest tie-down area... I know some pilots who are probably very thankful for that.


http://www.nj.com/somerset/index.ssf/2012/09/twin-engine_plane_overturns_at.html

 

[gprellwitz]

That'll buff right out.


Except that the insurance company will total it first!

 

[timwinters]

Looks like they were two very lucky boys.

 

[NoHeat]

I'm just wondering -- if a twin runs out of fuel, does one engine usually quit before the other, or at the same time?

 

[Captain]

I'm just wondering -- if a twin runs out of fuel, does one engine usually quit before the other, or at the same time?

Not that it's happened to me but I hear its usually one then the other..often separated by a minute or two.

 

[Skip Miller]

I'm just wondering -- if a twin runs out of fuel, does one engine usually quit before the other, or at the same time?

Normal operation on a twin is: each engine feeds off its own tank. So the engines will probably not quit exactly at the same time. However, it is possible to feed an engine from the tanks on the other side. If you are cross feeding one engine (because, say, one tank has already been run dry), then it is likely that both engines will lose fuel more or less at the same time.

-Skip

 

[LDJones]

Looks like another used Garmin 430 will be available shortly. They're lucky men. SE go arounds in a Seminole don't have a high probability for success.

 

[NoHeat]

Normal operation on a twin is: each engine feeds off its own tank. So the engines will probably not quit exactly at the same time.

So a go-around would be a really bad time to run out of gas in a twin? I'm asking because I don't know much about twins, other than the problem of the plane flipping over if you have one engine and you're too slow.

 

[flyingmoose]

So a go-around would be a really bad time to run out of gas in a twin? I'm asking because I don't know much about twins, other than the problem of the plane flipping over if you have one engine and you're too slow.

I would think a go-around is a bad time to run out of fuel in any aircraft.
It does appear to me that the prop that is still attached is feathered. Hard to tell but anyway still not really an excuse to cartwheel. Glad to see that they are going to be ok.

 

[John Baker]

In the comments right below the article, the very first one was this:


"RedBarronTrader57


The pilot is responsible for the plane being flown to be up to date and legal in all FAA requirements
The pilot is responsible to have all FAA checkride requirements up to date.
AS a multi-millionaire commodities trader-pilot- I 'll bet anyone- anything- that all of these legal requirements were not met."

That raised my eyebrows a whole lot more than the story did.

-John

 

[rottydaddy]

In the comments right below the article, the very first one was this:


"RedBarronTrader57


The pilot is responsible for the plane being flown to be up to date and legal in all FAA requirements
The pilot is responsible to have all FAA checkride requirements up to date.
AS a multi-millionaire commodities trader-pilot- I 'll bet anyone- anything- that all of these legal requirements were not met."

That raised my eyebrows a whole lot more than the story did.

-John

If it's the "Barron" I think it is, I would take that with a grain of salt... and throw some over your shoulder.
But he may not be far off... but we'll just have to see where the scuttlebutt intersects with the NTSB report.

 

[N801BH]

Looks like another used Garmin 430 will be available shortly. They're lucky men. SE go arounds in a Seminole don't have a high probability for success.

It looks like a " owner installed" cigarette lighter plug to power accessories, bolted to the bottom on the panel in pic#2.. I be there ain't STC /337 paperwork for that device.

 

[John Baker]

If it's the "Barron" I think it is, I would take that with a grain of salt... and throw some over your shoulder.

Yup, did that all right. Not too many multi millionaires like to talk about it, much less use it as a tool to confirm their veracity.

-John

 

[Dr. O]

Why isn't he in prison?

 

[bobmrg]

The late, great FAA test-pilot/engineer Les Berven, father of zero-sideslip, told me that he would not do a single-engine go-around in anything smaller than a KingAir. There is no training- or checkride-related justification for trying one in a light twin. Land it on the grass, land it on a taxiway, land it in a parking lot, but don't go around on one.

Bob Gardner

 

[airguy]

The late, great FAA test-pilot/engineer Les Berven, father of zero-sideslip, told me that he would not do a single-engine go-around in anything smaller than a KingAir. There is no training- or checkride-related justification for trying one in a light twin. Land it on the grass, land it on a taxiway, land it in a parking lot, but don't go around on one.

Bob Gardner

A very experienced, very technical pilot friend of mine that I respect greatly (recently retired) told me basically the same thing, while we were flying MU-2's. His approach was always to fly the single engine approach and when on relatively short final with the runway made, reduce power on the good engine to flight idle and it stayed there - you were committed to Mother Earth at that point no matter what.