Duchess Down in Rome, GA

K

KennyFlys

Guest
At 4:20 this afternoon, Duchess 184AA crashed in Rome, Georgia after departure. The plane belonged to my old school. Though not close, I knew the instructor well enough to know he was a great guy and competent instructor. I won't say his name at this time. Right now, all other flights are grounded by the school just due to the effect it will have on his fellow instructors.

I had stopped by that school for some paperwork on my way home. The few instructors there were pretty torn. All were MEIs and had received calls from family to verify they were ok. The news had broke in the media before the school could even confirm it was their plane. There are no details on the crash. The plane burned beyond recognition except for the empennage. I'll tell you more as I learn more.

http://www.wsbtv.com/news/15668125/detail.html

I read about the accident reports posted by various board members but finally, this one brings it very, very close to home.
 
The first sad fact about aviation is you get to know a lot of dead people
The second sad fact is that too often you wonder "How could he/she have done/not done that?"

Sorry for your loss. Everybody be careful.
 
Sorry to hear this news Kenny. It's never good to hear of such a loss.
 
Ken,
Commiserations on the sad loss of your friend, I know KRMG well.

Regards,

John
.
 
Transferred from another thread Chuck started today:

Greebo said:
http://weis990am.com/

My deepest condolences go out to the families and friends of those on board.
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I have difficulty with the statement made on that site. When I went by the school yesterday, I spoke with two other MEIs. One had flown 184AA most of yesterday and the other the previous evening. Both stated they had no problems with the plane.

Earlier yesterday, the same instructor flew with a ME student to Alabama for a checkride. They returned with no issues and he went out again with a current student working on their ME rating.

I asked another about engine out procedures practice upon departure. I was told it's not done except for at altitude.

Below is another link with video. As expected, they linked back to the 172RG that landed gear-up last month. The media continues to show ignorance by stating it continued to fly to burn fuel.

Within this piece, they also show a woman from India who doesn't help the cause by her going to the school to locate a student. That could have been done by phone or by having phones to make contact.

http://www.11alive.com/news/article_news.aspx?storyid=113300

In the following piece, they list the names of both. As I said, I knew Ken well enough it's far too close to home. I don't know who the student was by name. I'd probably know his face if I saw a picture. I interacted with many but never by name; mainly because I couldn't pronounce most of them.

http://www.cbs46.com/news/15668578/detail.html

The news traveled fast over PDK today. Three other instructors at my current school knew Ken. Ken had come over a couple months back looking to be hired but didn't pursue it. One suspected his plan was to make a change after he obtained his MEI which was last month.
 
KennyFlys said:
I asked another about engine out procedures practice upon departure. I was told it's not done except for at altitude.
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Is it possible that they maybe had a REAL engine failure on departure? :dunno:

Hopefully the props didn't get melted in the fire, at least that'll tell if the engines were developing any power. I can't believe how much of that plane is just gone. :eek:
 
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Kent, No idea. I'm not ME rated nor come close to learning, yet. But, I understand it's standard practice for the MEI to keep fingers lightly on the backside of the throttle and prop levers to detect any movement upon takeoff and departure. That's also done to insure the student feathers the correct propeller during practice procedures.
 
KennyFlys said:
In the following piece, they list the names of both. As I said, I knew Ken well enough it's far too close to home.
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Ken, I'm sorry for your loss. Is "Ken" Kwang Yi's nickname?

And I heard two different stories in those articles, though I suppose that shouldn't be a surprise. One said that they were practicing engine outs, and the other said that they appeared to have attempted to turn back to the airport. I haven't done any serious ME training, but it seems that turning back to the departure runway usually isn't part of that. As usual, we'll have to wait to see if there's anything we can learn from this tragedy to improve our own flying.
 
gprellwitz said:
Ken, I'm sorry for your loss. Is "Ken" Kwang Yi's nickname?

And I heard two different stories in those articles, though I suppose that shouldn't be a surprise. One said that they were practicing engine outs, and the other said that they appeared to have attempted to turn back to the airport. I haven't done any serious ME training, but it seems that turning back to the departure runway usually isn't part of that. As usual, we'll have to wait to see if there's anything we can learn from this tragedy to improve our own flying.
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Yes, it was his name. I never knew his given name. Ken was on his business cards as well.

Ken was a very experienced instructor and from everything I knew about him, he was a "no nonsense" instructor. A couple months ago, it got around he did a royal chewing on one of his Indian students for some issue. I don't recall what it was for. But, he was respected and often sought out as one of the preferred instructors.

Another source I found states the crash was "behind the lake." The plane reportedly departed from Runway 19. The report of turning back toward the airport could make sense if he had the altitude. The location of the crash site would put him heading toward the closed Runway 32.

Google Map of KRMG

A friend was telling me 14/32 was shut down after 1/19 was built. There had been too many crashes into the hill northwest of departure end of 32.

I got an email earlier from the owner and chief CFI stating the school was closed at least through Monday to do a safety audit and cooperate with the investigators. It's the first serious accident the school has had in its twenty-five years of operation.

As I write this, the story was just on 11Alive News. At least nothing was twisted there.
 
An email from the school:

To The Aviation Atlanta Family,

For those of you that may not know, on Friday March 21, 2008 the aviation community experienced a great loss when Ken Yi, an instructor at Aviation Atlanta and his student, Lokesh Venkat perished in an accident while training in Rome, Ga.

We are asking for donations to contribute to the family members left behind. Ken Yi left behind a wife and a two year old daughter, Lokesh Venkat the only son to his parents. Please, if you feel it in your heart, make a donation. Aviation Atlanta has set up a memorial fund for each of them through CDC Federal Credit Union. You may send donations to Aviation Atlanta in care of Lokesh Venkat or Ken Yi. Our address is 3187 Corsair Drive Suite 250 Chamblee, GA 30341.

If you would like to send flowers or cards, the addresses are below:

Kwang (Ken) Yi
2112 Baltimore Drive
Richardson, Texas 75081

Lokesh Venkat
Sir Chamundeswari Illam
No. 1, Pillaiyar Kovil Street,
Kallikuppam, Ambattur
Chenni, INDIA 600053
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There's no other word on the accident and I suspect there won't be one until the NTSB submits a preliminary report. I'm not sure if the school has returned to flying. They are on the other side of the field from where I'm now located. I did notice Ken's name is still on the schedule.

My school had a few inquiries today from students at the other. While we want the business, none of us wish for this to be the way it takes place. I work with three other instructors who worked with or around Ken.
 
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It'd be interesting to know what happened. That hits home since I'm currently learning twin in a duchess too. Sorry to hear such a sad story.
 
So sorry to hear this Ken. FWIW, I did my initial ME training in a Duchess and it was pretty much incapable of flying away from a total engine failure at low altitude during takeoff with two 170 lb pilots and full fuel unless the temp was very cold.

-lance

KennyFlys said:
Kent, No idea. I'm not ME rated nor come close to learning, yet. But, I understand it's standard practice for the MEI to keep fingers lightly on the backside of the throttle and prop levers to detect any movement upon takeoff and departure. That's also done to insure the student feathers the correct propeller during practice procedures.
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Prior to the Summer of 2007, Kwang Yi had no CFI rating.

His last CFI rating was earned February 2008.
 
TrimTab said:
Prior to the Summer of 2007, Kwang Yi had no CFI rating.

His last CFI rating was earned February 2008.
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What's your point?

Perhaps you should look into how many instructors have earned their ticket in just the last year. Most earn their CFI certificate followed by II and MEI then teach for a year to two years before moving on to regionals.

While issues in some accidents are readily identifiable such as the Kemper crash in Florida, this isn't one of them. I get the impression you're attempting to pass judgment without even an obvious fact. There is no clearly identifiable cause at this time.
 
KennyFlys said:
At 4:20 this afternoon, Duchess 184AA crashed in Rome, Georgia after departure. The plane belonged to my old school. Though not close, I knew the instructor well enough to know he was a great guy and competent instructor. I won't say his name at this time. Right now, all other flights are grounded by the school just due to the effect it will have on his fellow instructors.

I had stopped by that school for some paperwork on my way home. The few instructors there were pretty torn. All were MEIs and had received calls from family to verify they were ok. The news had broke in the media before the school could even confirm it was their plane. There are no details on the crash. The plane burned beyond recognition except for the empennage. I'll tell you more as I learn more.

http://www.wsbtv.com/news/15668125/detail.html

I read about the accident reports posted by various board members but finally, this one brings it very, very close to home.
Click to expand...
Sorry to hear about your friend Kenny. My condolences to you and everyone else who knew the two souls on board. :(
 
The preliminary report is now available.

http://www.ntsb.gov/ntsb/GenPDF.asp?id=NYC08FA143&rpt=p

Last week, I had heard one prop was found fully feathered. That's not quite what was stated in the report but it's subject to change with further investigation.

The other item was another student with the same student was at that airport also doing practice landings. That student witnessed the accident.
 
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