Jump Plane down

brien23

brien23

Cleared for Takeoff
Joined
May 31, 2005
Messages
1,445
Location
Oak Harbor
Display Name
Display name:
Brien
Kokh Jump plane engine out landing hits Madrona tree about 20'up tore left wing off and front of C-182. Pilot and jumper were ejected, pilot suffered a broken collar bone jumper ok .
 
12629swhidbeywebPlaneCrash-Ed-Wallace.jpg
 
Ouch, bummer, but I'm wondering why a jumper was landing with the plane? :dunno:
 
The jumper decided not to jump with the others and opted to return to the airport. Probably thought it was safer. Some irony there.
 
Engine failure at low level?

Jump pilot didn't want the additional drag and weight change low level?

Jumper wasn't comfy with spot (over water or trees)?


I'd like to hear what the pilot has to say
 
James331 said:
Engine failure at low level?
Click to expand...

Must have been doing a "stabilized approach." If he'd been on a high, power off, approach he could have kicked it into a slip and still made the runway!

:goofy:

:rofl:

(only joke worthy because no serious injuries)
 
Clark1961 said:
I can imagine a flightpath where hitting the tree was necessary....but....there appears to be a lot of open space around that tree.
Click to expand...

10:1 he never learned the rule, "Always look where you want to go, not at what you want to miss." If you are looking at what you want to avoid, sure as **** you'll hit it. Where your eyes point, your body will go.
 
Henning said:
10:1 he never learned the rule, "Always look where you want to go, not at what you want to miss." If you are looking at what you want to avoid, sure as **** you'll hit it. Where your eyes point, your body will go.
Click to expand...

Very true.
I have seen a video of an RV that lost power. Open fields all around and the guy puts it into a tree. He was ok and the plane was stuck there in the canopy.

Some peoples kids.....
 
Yeah, it'd be interesting to see what his options were, but target fixation seems to be fairly plausible.

Question: was the jump area that far away from the airport so that gliding distance was impossible? I figured most jump planes just circled back down to the airport to pick up the next load. :dunno:
 
Surprised he was that far away,that he didn't spiral down to the airport. Want to see the report on this accident,glad no serious injuries.
 
One of the early lessons in Ag flying school is "Once you see sky under the wires, never look at the wires again, look at the deck and focus on maintaining you height over the crop, you WILL clear." It's even part of the Aussie written exam for Ag quals.
 
Where I jump our 'racetrack' takes us 20 miles north. No gliding back from there. Its not like we do a 3 mile circle right over the DZ
 
kgruber said:
Should have ditched, near the shore.
Click to expand...
The Shore?? is the bluff east of the 25 end of OKH.

He got caught in the rotor curl off the bluff, and the first person to the scene told me there was no smell of fuel leaking, or any in the gascolator. FAA inspector found no fuel in the carb.

location of the wreckage is at the end of lori lane just short of the OKH runway and a bit south of the glide path.

rumor is he was dead sticking it back to the airport and got caught in the sink hole we all know and dread on the east end over the cliff.

wreckage shows a lack of forward speed. it hit the tree near the fuselage and didn't tear it off or break the tree.
 
Henning said:
10:1 he never learned the rule, "Always look where you want to go, not at what you want to miss." If you are looking at what you want to avoid, sure as **** you'll hit it. Where your eyes point, your body will go.
Click to expand...

I understand that's especially true with motorcycles.
 
Tom-D said:
The Shore?? is the bluff east of the 25 end of OKH.

He got caught in the rotor curl off the bluff, and the first person to the scene told me there was no smell of fuel leaking, or any in the gascolator. FAA inspector found no fuel in the carb.

location of the wreckage is at the end of lori lane just short of the OKH runway and a bit south of the glide path.

rumor is he was dead sticking it back to the airport and got caught in the sink hole we all know and dread on the east end over the cliff.

wreckage shows a lack of forward speed. it hit the tree near the fuselage and didn't tear it off or break the tree.
Click to expand...

Gas is weight and they only put in what they are going to use and not much more. Less weight faster climb to altitude and more jumpers inside the plane. They might have cut this a little too close. Normally since they are directly over the airport it is not a big deal.
 
brien23 said:
Gas is weight and they only put in what they are going to use and not much more. Less weight faster climb to altitude and more jumpers inside the plane. They might have cut this a little too close. Normally since they are directly over the airport it is not a big deal.
Click to expand...

That, and,,, a steep nose down decent will unport the fuel pick up ports in the fuel tanks since they are at the rear of the tanks....:redface:
 
brien23 said:
Gas is weight and they only put in what they are going to use and not much more. Less weight faster climb to altitude and more jumpers inside the plane. They might have cut this a little too close. Normally since they are directly over the airport it is not a big deal.
Click to expand...

The higher end DZs will still carry extra "stuff happens" fuel
 
N801BH said:
That, and,,, a steep nose down decent will unport the fuel pick up ports in the fuel tanks since they are at the rear of the tanks....:redface:
Click to expand...

They are also on the inboard end of the tank. Remember he was circling to the left, and maybe his only fuel was in the right tank. Then gets caught in the rotor curl over the bluff. Tries to power out with a dead engine because all the fuel is at the outer end of the tank.
 
Accident scene if you'd like to know where this occurred follow this link from Google maps.

750 lori
Oak Harbor Wa. 98277

48.250457 / 122.656038
 
James331 said:
The higher end DZs will still carry extra "stuff happens" fuel
Click to expand...
Most pilots would agree the only time you have too much fuel is when your on fire. How much extra is a fine line, too little and your a glider too much and you have to leave something behind like a jumper.
 
brien23 said:
Most pilots would agree the only time you have too much fuel is when your on fire. How much extra is a fine line, too little and your a glider too much and you have to leave something behind like a jumper.
Click to expand...


Better to leave a jumper than destroy your DZ between the death, destruction of a jump ship and bad press.

I've never had to leave a jumper due to how much fuel I took on, I also never came close to running out of fuel.
 
James331 said:
Better to leave a jumper than destroy your DZ between the death, destruction of a jump ship and bad press.

I've never had to leave a jumper due to how much fuel I took on, I also never came close to running out of fuel.
Click to expand...

Yeah, it's really not that tough to fill the plane and haul enough fuel to still have some to spare.
 
Henning said:
Yeah, it's really not that tough to fill the plane and haul enough fuel to still have some to spare.
Click to expand...

But jump planes sure seem to run out often. I've known two DZs over about 5-6 years (one shut down for a while, then moved then split and went two different directions). One of them ran out of fuel returning to the field, got low and clipped an obstruction, flipping the 182. Pilot had minor injuries. When I saw it a week or so later, the plane was in two pieces.

So I guess not all jump pilots and drop zones have the same awesome skill set as jump pilots here on POA.
 
Hank S said:
But jump planes sure seem to run out often. I've known two DZs over about 5-6 years (one shut down for a while, then moved then split and went two different directions). One of them ran out of fuel returning to the field, got low and clipped an obstruction, flipping the 182. Pilot had minor injuries. When I saw it a week or so later, the plane was in two pieces.

So I guess not all jump pilots and drop zones have the same awesome skill set as jump pilots here on POA.
Click to expand...

Yep, but in a year and a half of hauling them in a 205, neither I nor any of the other pilots at that DZ managed to run out of fuel, so it is most definitely possible not to.
 
Hank S said:
But jump planes sure seem to run out often. I've known two DZs over about 5-6 years (one shut down for a while, then moved then split and went two different directions). One of them ran out of fuel returning to the field, got low and clipped an obstruction, flipping the 182. Pilot had minor injuries. When I saw it a week or so later, the plane was in two pieces.

So I guess not all jump pilots and drop zones have the same awesome skill set as jump pilots here on POA.
Click to expand...


When was the last time you heard about that happening at Skydive San Diego, Spaceland, Elisnore, Etc?

It's the little DZ, often run by jumpers not pilots or AP or the like. You look at the bigger ops the guys running the show know and can preform in most any position on the flight line, be it as a TI or a pilot, rigger, some even AP IAs.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top