Beech down and a weird feeling

[Richard]

The weirdest thing this evening. A friend calls me to check in because he saw a plane go down into a vineyard and he thought of me...I say I haven't heard anything yet... After we hung up I turned on the TV to watch for early reports. I tune into Jeopardy just in time to hear the clue, "What agency is it that investigates civil aviation accidents?" Then a 2nd call came in on my cell wanting to know if I was flying today...

Then, one of my nephews called and said he saw the plane go down too, thought the pilot was maybe making for a nearby golf course. Nothing officially yet but it looks like N299X lost power shortly after takeoff at KPRB. Both pilot and the one pax suffered moderate injuries.

Not because this happened close to home, nor because it happened at an aprt I fly out of...Because of the phone calls do I feel really weird about this. It makes it too easy to imagine would it would be like if it were me... God forbide it should be my wife getting the calls...

I pray their families receive the comfort they need right now.

 

[Let'sgoflying!]

Call them tomorrow at 5am, say you just heard about a car crash, you though it was them? Would that be too saucy?

 

[MSmith]

This is exactly how I felt a few weeks back when we had the fatal accident at my flying club.

A few pilots were supportive of my emotions, but I also got a lot of "don't worry about it, get back in the plane".

It's a really weird feeling, isn't it? A combination of "it wasn't me, it could have been me" along with "I wonder what went wrong/what mistake they made".

It fades after a few days, and especially after flying a nice, non-eventful flight. Be sure your emergency contacts are updated, and hang in there.

 

[Earthroamer]

I had a similar story back in 2000. A guy that I know Vmc'd the Duchess in the flight school on a go-around. It's a long story but he made some numerous mistakes that I have taken with me. I had just flown that bird a couple of hours ago and was in our other twin on final when he crashed. I too got tons of phone calls b/c it was on the mainstream news around these parts. I called my wife when I got down and made sure she knew before the media did. She fielded all the calls for me. If you fly planes long enough you will see or know someone that crashed.

Brent

 

[pete177]

After having seen people killed in accidents that shouldn't have even injured them and other people (me included) in situations/accidents that should have been fatal, survive, I'm a firm believer in you go when its your day. I still take care of business when it comes to safety, but I dont dwell on it.

 

[AirBaker]

299X is the Debonair out of my old flying club. It went down??

 

[poadeleted3]

I can't blame people too much. I worry bout my friends when I hear of planes going down where they live, and don't really breath easy until I've seen or spoken with them. Don't call around asking, but I worry anyway. Of course, Cathy says I'm a worry wart.

 

[John J]

299X is the Debonair out of my old flying club. It went down??

It is sad to hear about a plane down with fatalities. These accidents even after 46 years of flying still remind me of how thin that thread is between tomorrow and no tomorrow. It particularly comes home when I fly a Debonair and there were less then 1300 of the Beech (CD-33) manufactured. I just work on being a better pilot and try to keep the risks to the minimum.

John J

 

[Dave Siciliano]

299X is the Debonair out of my old flying club. It went down??

Yes. Some of the guys on the Bonanza board have commented that they knew the plane also and were trying to find out who was flying. Oil on the windshield, then engine failure is what is being reported. Asked for vectors to the airport and didn't make it. They report threre were no shoulder harnesses; if there were, they may not have been hurt as bad.

Dave

 

[Richard]

Plane lands among vines near Paso

A Beechcraft Debonair traveling from Los Angeles to San Jose makes an emergency landing at Arciero Winery off Highway 46 East, deputies say; identities of pilot and passenger not released

[size=-1]Cynthia Neff and Monika Tjia[/size]

[size=-1]The Tribune[/size]

The pilot of a small airplane was forced to land in a vineyard east of Paso Robles on Tuesday evening after the plane had engine trouble, deputies said.

Medics responding to the incident told deputies the male pilot and his passenger appeared to have received only minor or moderate injuries in the landing. However, one of the men was airlifted to a local hospital.

The plane leveled one row of grape vines and stopped in a second row around 6:24 p.m. at the Arciero Winery off Highway 46 East, said Deputy Mark Gunter.

He did not know how fast the aircraft, a Beechcraft Debonair, was traveling but said the pair was flying from Los Angeles to San Jose.

The passenger was airlifted most likely to Twin Cities Community Hospital in Templeton, Gunter said. The pilot was likely taken there by ambulance.

Their identities were not released Tuesday night; deputies said they would wait for the National Transportation Safety Board or the Federal Aviation Administration to arrive and begin an investigation of the incident.

The aircraft is registered to Daniel Weaver of San Jose, according to FAA records. A supervisor at Twin Cities could not be reached to confirm whether they had admitted a patient by that name Tuesday.

Gunter said he was able to talk to the pilot before the man was taken to a hospital and that the man said the plane had engine trouble.

The pilot initially planned to land at the Paso Robles Municipal Airport, but as his craft turned 45 degrees and began to lose altitude, he chose to land in the vineyard.

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The picture that went with this story didn't post but what it shows is the plane resting in the first row of a vineyard perpendicular to the stakes and wires which support the vines in the rows. Can't really tell what kind of bending on the prop blades but they are bent backward. Spinner looks like it is attached to the hub but is lying in the dirt about 8" forward of the cowling. Top cowling is mangled and opened but appears attached. Cabin door is opened almost flat against forward cockpit. Left leading edge is in or very nearly in the dirt. Left flap deployed upward about 20-30 degrees. Cabin glass apears intact. Everything aft of the windscreen appears undamaged. There is no visible earth disturbance leading up to the airplane or debris field although that could be because of the camera angle.

He's only 2.1 sm from the nearest rwy but downwind. We've been having a pretty strong on shore flow everyday for over a week which would have been a good hdwnd from his position. I wonder what was his cruise alt and what maneuvering he was doing.

 

[Richard]

pilot and pax identified

Cockpit filled with smoke prior to crash

[size=-1]Sarah Linn[/size]

[size=-1]The Tribune[/size]

PASO ROBLES - Minutes before his plane crash-landed in a vineyard east of Paso Robles on Tuesday evening, San Jose pilot Yaro Ekshtein lost engine power and saw his cockpit fill with smoke, authorities said Wednesday.

Ekshtein, 32, tried to land his small plane at Paso Robles Municipal Airport but the Beechcraft Debonair turned 45 degrees and began to lose altitude, according to Van McKenny, an aerospace engineer with the National Transportation Safety Board in Gardena who is investigating the crash.

Ekshtein was forced to make an emergency landing around 6:24 p.m. Tuesday at the Aciero Winery off Highway 46 East. The aircraft leveled one row of grapes and stopped in a second row.

Ekshtein remained in guarded condition at Twin Cities Community Hospital in Templeton on Wednesday afternoon, hospital spokeswoman Brenda Gray said.

His passenger, David Michelberg, 44, of San Jose, also was taken to Twin Cities on Tuesday for treatment for minor injuries, but was later released.

The pair had been traveling from Los Angeles to San Jose, a sheriff's deputy said.

The plane's owner, Daniel Weaver of San Jose, hadn't heard about the accident Wednesday morning, but said he regularly rents out the Beechcraft to other people.

A crew worked to clear the plane's wreckage from the Aciero Winery on Wednesday, picking up the 35,000-pound craft with a crane and putting it on a trailer, said vineyard manager Gaspar Covavos.

Covavos said the plane destroyed 20 to 30 grapevines, knocked down a couple of posts and hit a wire. He wasn't sure about the monetary value lost.

Judging from the damage, Covavos said the aircraft appeared to have dropped straight from the sky.

"You would assume it would glide down and just keep going, but it didn't," he said.

More details about the incident, such as the speed of the plane, may emerge in an investigation being led by the National Transportation Safety Board.

The Federal Aviation Administration, the Raytheon Aircraft Co., which manufactures Beechcraft planes, and Teledyne Continental Motors, which made the engine, will assist in the investigation.

A final report is expected in about six months, McKenny said.

 

[poadeleted3]

Smoke in the cockpit would not make me a happy person. Fire is like my third biggest fear, behind controls inop (you wouldn't believe how many times I check free and correct before takeoff) and the irrational fear that my boy will unbuckle, somehow get the door open on the Cessna, and fall out.

I would say, however, that they had the plane a tad overweight, according to the news article. "picking up the 35,000-pound craft with a crane"

 

[gismo]

Smoke in the cockpit would not make me a happy person.

I suspect some inaccurate reporting beyond the error in the plane's weight. I just seems unlikely that a single problem would cause the engine to fail and fill the cockpit with smoke.

 

[AirBaker]

Here is the picture.

 

[poadeleted3]

I suspect some inaccurate reporting beyond the error in the plane's weight. I just seems unlikely that a single problem would cause the engine to fail and fill the cockpit with smoke.

Oil all over the exhaust, maybe? I don't know.

 

[Richard]

Lance is probably very close to the truth. For your consideration; the chain culminating in the accident, and that the human factor factors significantly in a significant percentage of accidents.

And that's all the speculation you'll get out of me...can't rightfully ask the non-av public to wait for the report if I'm unwilling to do the same. I hope those guys pull through and I hope we learn the lesson to be learnt.

 

[Richard]

Here is the picture.

That is a different pic I saw. What I saw was from the 11 o'clock postion off the nose, elevated about 6 feet agl and about 4-6 feet fwd of the nose.

 

[John J]

Here is the picture.

Air Baker;

Thanks for the photo; Interesting it is almost the same year as my plane. It looks like a 65 or 66 C-33 Even the paint job is close. Smoke in the cockpit and oil on the wind screen could be so many things from the breather line on the IO 470 letting go or the cooler springing a leak to who knows. We cannot guess but the best thing that there are survivors.


Thanks again

John J

 

[AirBaker]

They're saying it's a '66 from the club's website. They took it off of the scheduling site, but it is still up under 'aircraft'.

Here was the before picture.
http://www.squadron2.com/aircraft/299x.jpg

 

[AirBaker]

Oh, and by the way... It had an IO-550 installed in it.

 

[John J]

Air Baker;

Thanks for the info. I still have the IO-470K. Next engine; most likely will go for the IO- 470N. Did get to fly one with the 550 and it was fun but that fuel comsumption for the extra knots was an eye opener.

John J

 

[AirBaker]

Air Baker;

Thanks for the info. I still have the IO-470K. Next engine; most likely will go for the IO- 470N. Did get to fly one with the 550 and it was fun but that fuel comsumption for the extra knots was an eye opener.

John J

When these last 300 hours or so run out in our V35, we're hoping to put in the TN 550. I can't imagine what the extra climb rate at altitude is going to be.

 

[gismo]

When these last 300 hours or so run out in our V35, we're hoping to put in the TN 550. I can't imagine what the extra climb rate at altitude is going to be.

And in cruise you have the choice of throttling back (better yet going LOP) to get the same or better fuel economy as the original engine. Plus you can operate at a much higher altitude making the same power as you do now lower down. AFaIK there's not much downside to the IO-550 conversion beyond the cost.

 

[John J]

And in cruise you have the choice of throttling back (better yet going LOP) to get the same or better fuel economy as the original engine. Plus you can operate at a much higher altitude making the same power as you do now lower down. AFaIK there's not much downside to the IO-550 conversion beyond the cost.

We maybe rethinking the engine exchange. I might go to the 550 for I fly between 9,000 and up to 14,000 with O2 . The owner of a 550 converted C-33 flew low and he was running 18 per hour and had to replace all cylinders at 600 hours. Yikes. I have been running LOP for quite some time

I appreciate the comments for I am always learning

John J

 

[Richard]

Update

Accident victims in serious condition

Pilot and passenger suffered more injuries than originally reported

[size=-1]Sarah Linn[/size]

[size=-1]The Tribune[/size]

The pilot and the passenger of the plane downed east of Paso Robles earlier this week suffered far more serious injuries than authorities previously reported.

Sheriff's deputies originally said that Yaron Ekshtein, 33, and his passenger, David Michelberg, 44, both of San Jose, had suffered minor to moderate injuries in the crash.

But family members said the men's injuries were extensive.

Michelberg suffered a possible skull fracture, several facial fractures and two broken vertebrae in his neck and lower back, his wife, Rachel Michelberg, said.

He underwent neurosurgery Wednesday at Sierra Vista Regional Medical Center in San Luis Obispo, she said, after being transferred Tuesday night from Twin Cities Community Hospital in Templeton.

"It's a mess," Rachel Michelberg said. "He'll be there a couple of weeks on an artificial respirator. ... He may lose an eye."

David Michelberg was in critical condition Friday in Sierra Vista's intensive care unit, hospital spokesman Ron Yukelson said.

Ekshtein was flown Wednesday from Twin Cities to Stanford University Hospital. His condition had improved to fair by Friday, a hospital spokeswoman said.

Ekshtein was forced to make an emergency landing Tuesday evening at the Arciero Winery off Highway 46 East after his Beechcraft Debonair lost engine power, according to the National Transportation Safety Board.

The two men had been returning home from a business trip in Los Angeles, Rachel Michelberg said. Both work for Passave Technologies, a Santa Clara startup company that sells microchips for fiberoptic communications in the home.

Ekshtein was an experienced pilot who gave flight lessons, Rachel Michelberg said. David Michelberg also has a pilot's license, but it is not current, she said.

The pilot's wife, Miri Ekshtein, could not be reached for comment Thursday.

 

[Yaron]

Hi all,

I am Yaron Ekshtein and I was the pilot in the 299X....
It is a pity, but accidents do happen, most of them are pilots fault, but sometime it is beyond our controls as pilots and this was one of them...
there are many claims in the thread above, I am not going to tell all the story, I just stumbled across it while browsing here, and wanted to say that after a short beak to recover I am back to the sky, and I wish all happy and safe landings.
it is only is real emergencies when you know how you are going to react, any landing you survived is a good one.
At this time please join my prayers that the Pilot / passenger who was with me, will get better as well from his memory loss.

Bye,
Yaron.

Happy landings
​

 

[Richard]

Yaron, thanks for the come back. It's good you are back at it and I'll pray for your buddy's recovery and for his family.

 

[Henning]

This is exactly how I felt a few weeks back when we had the fatal accident at my flying club.

A few pilots were supportive of my emotions, but I also got a lot of "don't worry about it, get back in the plane".

It's a really weird feeling, isn't it? A combination of "it wasn't me, it could have been me" along with "I wonder what went wrong/what mistake they made".

It fades after a few days, and especially after flying a nice, non-eventful flight. Be sure your emergency contacts are updated, and hang in there.

Yeah, the first couple times it's kinda tough and you have to be completely honest, that could be me. You then have to take a hard pause and think "Is flying worth the risk? Do I get enough benefit back? I've always answered yes, whether for pay or enjoyment. I just take a bit more chance for pay.

 

[Henning]

They report threre were no shoulder harnesses; if there were, they may not have been hurt as bad.

Dave

I don't understand that, really now, the shoulder harness should be there, a four/six point even better. They are available and not excessively expensive to install. These are small planes, your best chance is to stay where you are well restrained. Hopefully they caught on the brow rather than postlights, those could f*** you up.

 

[AirBaker]

Hi all,

I am Yaron Ekshtein and I was the pilot in the 299X....
It is a pity, but accidents do happen, most of them are pilots fault, but sometime it is beyond our controls as pilots and this was one of them...
there are many claims in the thread above, I am not going to tell all the story, I just stumbled across it while browsing here, and wanted to say that after a short beak to recover I am back to the sky, and I wish all happy and safe landings.
it is only is real emergencies when you know how you are going to react, any landing you survived is a good one.
At this time please join my prayers that the Pilot / passenger who was with me, will get better as well from his memory loss.

Bye,
Yaron.

Happy landings

​

Yaron,
I'm glad to hear that you're back and recovering. I also hope your passenger will recover as well. I felt for you two, being a Squadron2 member as well. I've got the shoulder harnesses on order for my V-tail as we speak.

-Chris

 

[Jaime P]

It’s hard! I been flying out of the KPNE for 12 years and have lost pilots friends. Went a plane goes down it spreads like wild fire on the news. And my student always have question after it happen. All can do is to train them hard to try to prevent injuries. And I Pray I never lose a student for something stupid.

 

[gismo]

I've got the shoulder harnesses on order for my V-tail as we speak.

Chris, whose belts did you order? I put B.A.S. double shoulder harnesses in the Baron a couple years ago. I like them pretty well except that they tend to chafe the sides of your neck if you don't have a collared shirt. I definitely like the inertia reels though.

 

[AirBaker]

Chris, whose belts did you order? I put B.A.S. double shoulder harnesses in the Baron a couple years ago. I like them pretty well except that they tend to chafe the sides of your neck if you don't have a collared shirt. I definitely like the inertia reels though.

Same ones. I guess colors other than black are on back order. How hard was the install?

 

[Bob Bement]

I have had this happen to me and my wife several times down thru the years. One time I was flying " The Berlin Candy Bomber" and his wife in the back country of Idaho. We flew past Big Creek airstrip and saw a couple planes circling around that airstrip. Well a cessna 182, like I fly crashed and killed four people. We got a lot of calls as they didn't release any names and a lot of people knew I was making that flight that day in the same area. I think about it a lot.

 

[gismo]

Same ones. I guess colors other than black are on back order. How hard was the install?

Not too bad. I think it took me and the mechanic 5-6 hrs total. The scariest part is cutting the holes in the headliner. I measured one twice and still got it wrong. Fortunately the mistake is easily covered up by the plastic fairing for the reel.

 

[Henning]

Same ones. I guess colors other than black are on back order. How hard was the install?

They're pretty easy really, I've installed them in several different airframes including a couple I was flying. The only particularly tricky part is the placement of the cut in the headliner, and even there you have a bit of fudge room with the plastic moulding.

 

[AirBaker]

Thanks guys. I have a few weekends before I can get them in here...

 

[Richard]

Thanks guys. I have a few weekends before I can get them in here...

Quick question: what do you attach to in the overhead? I mean, what structural element is behind the headliner?

 

[AirBaker]

Quick question: what do you attach to in the overhead? I mean, what structural element is behind the headliner?

I think its just attached with velcro and doublesided sticky tape...

I don't have the article/instructions in front of me, but they've got a bracket that attaches to some of the ribs up in there.

 

[Richard]

I think its just attached with velcro and doublesided sticky tape...

My goodness, I think I just got a dose of what happens when I try to crack a joke but don't use the appropriate emoticon. I just about gagged on that until I realized Chris was making a joke. Chris, it was a joke, right?