Engine Failure on Takeoff

MultiMediaWill

Pre-takeoff checklist
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Will
Just found this recent video on youtube about a Bonanza losing it's engine on takeoff. What do you guys think...? Pretty scary, though glad no one was hurt.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=94IURXCoY5A

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"Three high definition cameras were mounted to my Beechcraft Bonanza when the engine quit on takeoff from Fairbanks Alaska on July 26th 2012, One was pointed forward, one to the right side, and one to the rear. All three cameras caught the crash as it happened in HD. Both people on board survived with only minor injuries, but the airplane didn't.

The airplane was beautiful and well maintained with a brand new engine that suddenly quit about 200 feet above the ground. There was 22 seconds from the time of engine failure to impact. NTSB has not yet determined the cause of the crash and the engine has been successfully ran on a test stand. The engine quit without warning, no power surge, no hesitation, no advance sign of trouble at all. I had not previously had any signs of any issues with my airframe or engine.

If you watch closely you'll notice that after the engine failure I initially began a slight left turn thinking the road would be a good place to land because of obstructions elsewhere. Within a second or so I saw power lines beside the road and turned right to avoid a pistol range and a derelict DC-6 that was straight ahead.

From the last annual I knew the landing gear extension time was 12 seconds so I decided to leave it retracted since I didn't want to touch down with the gear in transition. I touched down as slowly as possible, just above a stall with the nose just slightly high. Any higher and the fuselage could have slapped down hard causing greater injuries to the spine and any lower the speed would have been higher and cause more frontal damage which could have shoved the yoke back into my chest more than it did."
 
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Just found this recent video on youtube about a Bonanza losing it's engine on takeoff. What do you guys think...? Pretty scary, though glad no one was hurt.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=94IURXCoY5A

Wow. I think the moral of this story is: when you mount three HD GoPros on your Bonanza you're tempting Murphy!

Glad all ended well. Seems like he had enough time for the gear, but then he may have been in the drink. Good job flying the plane.
 
Wow. I think the moral of this story is: when you mount three HD GoPros on your Bonanza you're tempting Murphy!

Glad all ended well. Seems like he had enough time for the gear, but then he may have been in the drink. Good job flying the plane.

I think in that situation, I'm only dropping the gear for any aerodynamic benefits it might offer.
 
Yeesh... when he started turning left, I said aloud "Where are you...nooo!!!! Turn right! there's a nice field over there!!!" :eek:
He eventually made the right call, and just cleared the water. I give him major props for not trying to turn back. :nono:
 
Yeesh... when he started turning left, I said aloud "Where are you...nooo!!!! Turn right! there's a nice field over there!!!" :eek:
He eventually made the right call, and just cleared the water. I give him major props for not trying to turn back. :nono:

May have swung left to avoid the baron he was in formation with
 
Wow. I think the moral of this story is: when you mount three HD GoPros on your Bonanza you're tempting Murphy!

Glad all ended well. Seems like he had enough time for the gear, but then he may have been in the drink. Good job flying the plane.

He said from the last annual he knew the landing gear extension time was 12 seconds so he decided to leave it retracted since he didn't want to touch down with the gear in transition.
 
Good job on not touching the gear. Great job overall. Didn't freeze and kept flying it til the end. Also concur on not attempting the turn back to the runway. It could be done in his scenario, but the opportunity cost is high. Good call. The insurance check will arrive and still live to fly again. Great job!
 
Wow. I think the moral of this story is: when you mount three HD GoPros on your Bonanza you're tempting Murphy!

Glad all ended well. Seems like he had enough time for the gear, but then he may have been in the drink. Good job flying the plane.
This first appeared on BeechTalk, posted by the pilot/owner. There was a high berm on the water channel and he barely made over that. Dropping the gear would likely have put him in the water or smashing into the berm. Also the gear in 14 volt Bonanzas requires 12-14 seconds to deploy and he only had 22 seconds from the time the engine quit until he came to earth. Coming down with a partially extended gear could easily make things worse.
 
This first appeared on BeechTalk, posted by the pilot/owner. There was a high berm on the water channel and he barely made over that. Dropping the gear would likely have put him in the water or smashing into the berm. Also the gear in 14 volt Bonanzas requires 12-14 seconds to deploy and he only had 22 seconds from the time the engine quit until he came to earth. Coming down with a partially extended gear could easily make things worse.

Agree....he did well.

That first camera hit was scary, before I realized it took the first hit and the plane DIDN'T stop that short!
 
What I don't understand is that it looked like the plane was really unstable when it hit the ground. I would have expected a smoother glide... Could this be because the plane was too slow?
 
Good piloting, crap situation.
 
Engine ran well on a test stand afterwards, I'd venture to guess the fuel selector was off.

You could be right but I am not sure about that. At full throtte for takeoff, the Bo will be drinking close to 30GPH and I think it would have quit starved for fuel much sooner than it did.

My 100% speculation is that there was a slug of water in the tank, set loose by the takeoff acceleration and climb attitude.

Anyhow I agree good job by the pilot!

-Skip
 
Hypothetically speaking, would it have been wise to put in flaps as he was descending? What is more precious, the airspeed or the extra lift?
 
Hypothetically speaking, would it have been wise to put in flaps as he was descending? What is more precious, the airspeed or the extra lift?

You use flaps to make a steeper descent. He needed glide distance to clear the water, not a steeper splash into the water.
 
What I don't understand is that it looked like the plane was really unstable when it hit the ground. I would have expected a smoother glide... Could this be because the plane was too slow?

Perhaps his hands were shaking. Mine would have been.
 
Looked like a slight buffet from being close to a stall. I am sure he was doing all he could to milk it over that embankment, I know I would have.
 
What I don't understand is that it looked like the plane was really unstable when it hit the ground. I would have expected a smoother glide... Could this be because the plane was too slow?

I know the pilot, and spoke with him recently (He emailed me the video and NTSB preliminary report).

He said he intentionally applied right aileron just before contacting the ground to hit wing first to dissipate some energy prior to the cabin hitting the ground. This is why the airplane slid somewhat sideways.
 
Hypothetically speaking, would it have been wise to put in flaps as he was descending? What is more precious, the airspeed or the extra lift?
Max glide in a Bonanza is 105 kts with gear and flaps up.

He did good....... Real good.
 
Miss is as good as mile, hitting the berm would have been bad news. The best part, I gotta give major kudos, is the edit. Short, with just what we clicked for. Most of these videos start with the guy brushing his teeth in the morning.
 
My view, he did as well as could possibly be done.

---

David, if the fuel selector is off, you don't even get enough fuel to prime, much less start and take off. It is a real mystery, that's for sure!
 
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