Utah couple crashes while diverting from Shelter Cove

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SEB

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I can't post a link because I'm new but you can google.... "...Vaughn Porter, 54, and his girlfriend, Jaime Rust, 51, were on Porter’s single-engine plane when it suddenly went down on Friday night near Shelter Cove where they were heading. According to the Porter family, the couple took off from the Heber Valley Airport on Friday afternoon. They landed at the Round Valley Airport which is roughly 100 miles away from Shelter Cove to wait out the fog. They then crashed shortly after take-off as they were heading to the Shelter Cove Airport.

. . .

Vaughn Porter was an experienced pilot with over 30 years of flying — more than 15 years of those as a pilot with JetBlue."
 
SEB said:
I can't post a link because I'm new but you can google.... "...Vaughn Porter, 54, and his girlfriend, Jaime Rust, 51, were on Porter’s single-engine plane when it suddenly went down on Friday night near Shelter Cove where they were heading. According to the Porter family, the couple took off from the Heber Valley Airport on Friday afternoon. They landed at the Round Valley Airport which is roughly 100 miles away from Shelter Cove to wait out the fog. They then crashed shortly after take-off as they were heading to the Shelter Cove Airport.

. . .

Vaughn Porter was an experienced pilot with over 30 years of flying — more than 15 years of those as a pilot with JetBlue."
Click to expand...

JetBlue Pilot killed in GA Accident - Airline Pilot Central Forums

JetBlue - JetBlue Pilot killed in GA Accident - Vaughn Porter, age 54, was flying a Beechcraft A-36 with his girlfriend Jamie Redford Rust, 52, near Covelo, California on 20 October when the plane crashed, killing them both. Here's a YouTube video covering the accident: https://youtu.be/SQMtgPz3PJE
www.airlinepilotforums.com
 
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I jumped in the (somewhat dated) simulator. Here is the view down runway 28.
RoundValley.png
 
Those mountains are several thousand feet higher than the valley floor and the airport sits in the very west end of the valley. And the wind in the Covelo valley generally blows from the west, straight over and down that range.

On a local news website, one anonymous comment said they observed it and heard the engine sputtering. Take that anonymous account for what it is.
 
Preliminary report complete. Doesn't seem to add much more to the dialogue.
 

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  • Report_WPR24FA018_193276_11_11_2023 2_41_40 PM.pdf
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The left turnout may have sealed their fate. Terrain is much steeper that way vs. turning right.
 
This one hit a little too close to home; never flew with him but heard only nice things about him.
 
First off the bank angle appears to be a guess from a witness. I'm sure that's totally accurate.

Secondly, the plane was said to be at ~60 feet. I really don't think a stall due to bank angle was the root problem here.
 
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