Surveillance video catches plane crash in Plainville

He was really hanging on the prop. It's fortunate the aircraft didn't perform an abrupt wing drop and spin. The pilot definitely hit the tree at the most favorable moment.
 
Lucky here in the way he hit an isolated tree but it's a good example of why 'landing' in the tree tops of a stand of trees isn't a bad way to total a light plane. Fly it in and the trees will tend to absorb the energy. Getting dropped to the ground upright is a bonus.


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Pretty good landing if he was able to walk away from it
 
If you gotta crash the plane, this was a pretty good way to do it. Even missed the parked cars.

I just noticed the car pulling into the picture in the lower right. I bet they we really surprised....
 
Bill Watson said:
Lucky here in the way he hit an isolated tree but it's a good example of why 'landing' in the tree tops of a stand of trees isn't a bad way to total a light plane. Fly it in and the trees will tend to absorb the energy. Getting dropped to the ground upright is a bonus.


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Not so hot getting a significant vertical drop - your bod ain't built for it - it's a bit better getting a comparable horizontal acceleration, like landing in a driveway with minimum sink rate, and having the garage stop you against your harness.
 
Sundancer said:
Not so hot getting a significant vertical drop - your bod ain't built for it - it's a bit better getting a comparable horizontal acceleration, like landing in a driveway with minimum sink rate, and having the garage stop you against your harness.
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Agreed on the vertical drop generally being bad for the bod.

I was careful to say he was "lucky" with the isolated tree but that it's a good example why crashing into a "stand of trees" can be walked away from.

I would advise planning any crash landing that end with the nose impacting anything, certainly not a garage. The old 'land between 2 tree s and let the wings take the impact' makes more sense to me, especially because of the likelihood that the fuel tanks are empty.

A thread was just started elsewhere where someone saw this as a lesson of sorts for crashing in an urban environment. I would disagree.... crashing into an isolated tree like that is probably more likely to result in rotation to the ground nose first. Whether you would call that vertical or horizontal, that's not good.


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"It's better to be lucky than good!"

And this fellow was VERY lucky, no argument there.

But this does emphasize at least two rules...

1) FLY the plane as far into the crash as you can, and,

2) Crash with the absolute minimum speed/energy.

This pilot appeared to be right on the edge of a stall when he hit the tree, which is pretty much ideal. It may have been intentional or instinctive, but being just a bit faster or slower could have had far more serious results.

Whatever preceded this, at least it culminated in a good outcome that deserves accolades.
 
FastEddieB said:
"It's better to be lucky than good!"

And this fellow was VERY lucky, no argument there.

But this does emphasize at least two rules...

1) FLY the plane as far into the crash as you can, and,

2) Crash with the absolute minimum speed/energy.

This pilot appeared to be right on the edge of a stall when he hit the tree, which is pretty much ideal. It may have been intentional or instinctive, but being just a bit faster or slower could have had far more serious results.

Whatever preceded this, at least it culminated in a good outcome that deserves accolades.
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It looked to me like he was stalled.
 
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