Bonanza down in SE Georgia

Papa Foxtrot

Papa Foxtrot

Pre-takeoff checklist
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Jul 10, 2012
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Atlanta
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Papa Foxtrot
I looked around, but didn't see any discussion of this accident near Alma in SE Georgia. The FAA Preliminary report pretty much sums up everything that I could find online about this crash:
AIRCRAFT CRASHED UNDER UNKNOWN CIRCUMSTANCES, THE 2 PERSONS ON BOARD WERE FATALLY INJURED, SUBJECT OF AN ALERT NOTICE WRECKAGE LOCATED 5 MILES FROM ALMA, GA
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Middle of the day; I guess that part of Georgia during August, T-storms could be an issue. Other than a doctor flying a Bonanza, I see no clues about the cause.

Flightaware is not much help either.

Curiosity is getting the better of me....:dunno:
 
I haven't heard anything, either. A few towering cumulus clouds in central GA, but no storms near me.
 
The flightaware track log looks a bit goofy. At 11:57, it shows a course change from 320deg to 220deg, but the position waypoints agree with the flight tracker.

With any sort of incapacitation, it seems there would be some divergence from the track unless the autopilot was engaged. Fuel exhaustion should produce a slow descent and a mayday call. This bird just disappears from 5,000ft at 1:15 if flightaware can be believed. Terrain in that area is around 250ft and flightaware is updating every two minutes, so that's a descent rate of greater than 2,300fpm. Debris field of ~650ft doesn't seem to match that. Fairly flat terrain, so it would seem radar would be effect to low altitudes in that area.

There's definitely a couple pieces of this puzzle missing. FAA says crash was 5 miles from Alma and last flightaware track point was 20 miles NW. No word whether ATC was talking to him on the way down or not.

Just curious about this one as it was big news in ATL, and the local TV news anchorette saying, "Local couple dies in small plane crash" gave Mrs. Foxtrot a case of the jitters. I guess I'll wait for the NTSB....

RV10flyer said:
http://www.kathrynsreport.com/2013/08/bacon-county-georgia.html

Little change in heading from cruise down through the pine trees on a 304 deg hdg. Not what I would consider a steep descent angle. No fire. Medical condition? Fuel starvation?
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Papa Foxtrot said:
The flightaware track log looks a bit goofy. At 11:57, it shows a course change from 320deg to 220deg, but the position waypoints agree with the flight tracker. ... FAA says crash was 5 miles from Alma and last flightaware track point was 20 miles NW.
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Gaps / errors in FA tracks should be taken with a grain of salt and not as incontrovertible evidence. I have seen plenty of my own flights with gaps / drops in FA coverage, even when I was on an IFR plan and in radar coverage the whole route.
 
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