King Air "catastrophic engine failure" in Melbourne (2/21/2017)

[BigBadLou]

http://www.avweb.com/avwebflash/news/Four-Americans-Dead-In-Australian-King-Air-Crash-228527-1.html

4 Americans on board, all from Texas, as reported by media. No survivors.

And of course LOTS of made-up BS about something the news monkeys do not understand.
So shhhload of misreported information, including an illegal airplane (because it was "deregistered" and is not legally registered with the FAA).
Since I saw the bad news on Fox (the worst local "news" channel around), I had to listen to an "aircraft expert" who immediately blamed the PT-6A and made absolutely unfounded conclusions based on 0 data. Gotta love TV experts.
The news anchor also mentioned the King Air crash into the Cessna flight training center a few years ago (I forget where it was) to point out how dangerous all airplanes are. *sigh*

No fatalities on the ground.

R.I.P.

Article quote here:

Five occupants of a King Air, including four Americans on a golf holiday, were killed when the aircraft crashed into the roof of a large shopping mall in Melbourne, Australia, Tuesday. No one was hurt on the ground, likely because the accident occurred about 9 a.m., just before the mall opened for the day. Most of the aircraft ended going through the storeroom roof of a store in the mall. Staff of the store were not in that area. The pilot was identified as Max Quatermain, a professional pilot with 38 years of experience, who operated the King Air as a charter business. He reported "catastrophic engine failure" in two radio calls after takeoff. The Americans on board have been identified as Greg De Haven, 70, Russell Munsch, Glenn Garland, and John Washburn, 67, all from Texas.

Assistant Commissioner Stephen Leane, of the Victoria (State) Police, said the charter aircraft had taken off from Essendon Airport, a GA airport next to the mall, about eight miles from Melbourne’s city center. The aircraft was on its way to King Island, which is between Melbourne and Tasmania and is a popular vacation spot in the southern summer. Daniel Andrews, the premier of Victoria, said the mishap was “the worst civil aviation accident that our state has seen for 30 years.” The Australian Transport Safety Bureau is expected to release more details as the investigation continues.

 

[midcap]

both engines went out?

 

[mscard88]

The news anchor also mentioned the King Air crash into the Cessna flight training center a few years ago (I forget where it was) to point out how dangerous all airplanes are. *sigh*
:

Wichita ICT

 

[GRG55]

both engines went out?

I didn't see anything in the posted link article that indicated both engines.
Just "catastrophic" failure...

 

[MAKG1]

Does a turbine powered twin like a King Air have such poor one-engine-inop climb performance? I know it's hot as hell in southern Australia right now, but Melbourne is at sea level....

Or did the "catastrophic" engine failure involve uncontained shrapnel taking out critical systems?

 

[GRG55]

Does a turbine powered twin like a King Air have such poor one-engine-inop climb performance? I know it's hot as hell in southern Australia right now, but Melbourne is at sea level....

Or did the "catastrophic" engine failure involve uncontained shrapnel taking out critical systems?

Melbourne has been experiencing much colder than normal temps in the past few days; didn't even hit 20 C on Sunday. The article says the accident happened before 9 am so I doubt temp or density altitude a factor.

 

[midcap]

I didn't see anything in the posted link article that indicated both engines.
Just "catastrophic" failure...

I just assumed so....maybe the PT-6 caused major control surface problems. Interesting.

 

[GRG55]

I just assumed so....maybe the PT-6 caused major control surface problems. Interesting.

Could be any number of things. Prop didn't feather, shrapnel damaged something critical as you noted, pilot error and caged the good engine, who knows.

 

[Zeldman]

Does a turbine powered twin like a King Air have such poor one-engine-inop climb performance? I know it's hot as hell in southern Australia right now, but Melbourne is at sea level....

Or did the "catastrophic" engine failure involve uncontained shrapnel taking out critical systems?

I did not see what size King Air, but he 90 has ample enough single engine performance, really a no brainer when the engine stops producing power. But I don't know the full story so its hard to even speculate. Maybe the auto feather didn't work or the engine could have fallen off the mounts.