Mooney Down Freeway, Wash DC. 3 Survivors

[John Pleisse]

This is local for several of us. I don't recognize the paint scheme. Anyone with details, please post.

 

John

 

http://www.myfoxdc.com/story/23318872/small-plane-crashes-along-route-50-in-bowie#axzz2dlwjspUO

 

[aviatoreb]

Is it me or does it seem like a rash of incidents lately. Thankfully no one is killed in this one but sounds like serious injury with two flown to the hospital.

 

I do not recognize the paint either.

[Bob_Belville]

tail # 78951

 

FlightAware shows it as 1962 M20 serial # 2140 registered to Tivay Alireza, Washington DC

[Bob_Belville]

http://e1.photos.flightcdn.com/photos/retriever/bb26ed696ec19094d060d9ad2087c91bb8d5ff44

[triple8s]

Never understood why the Feds have to investigate every GA plane crash. Seems like the state would have their own aviation investigation team.

[John Pleisse]

My wife just drove past it. She says Rte 50 (major artery from beaches to DC -Labpr Day Monday, no less) was down to one lane and a second just opened. She said the wreckage is visable from the highway, hence the bad rubber necking. View of westbound lane. Wreckage visable on the right.

[John Pleisse]

http://e1.photos.flightcdn.com/photos/retriever/bb26ed696ec19094d060d9ad2087c91bb8d5ff44

 

 

I am sorry, I couldn't help noticing a fire engine near this a/c in the file photo. Bizarre. 

[Cabanaboy]

In the photos it looks like they may have cut the top of the cabin off the get the passengers out.

 

http://www.myfoxdc.com/story/23318872/small-plane-crashes-along-route-50-in-bowie#axzz2dlwjspUO

[Shadrach]

Didn't freeway just have another incident last week?  From the flightAware pic, it looks like Freeway was his home base. The photo was taken from a parking pad on the West side of the runway.

 

I wonder if the 62 M20 that crashed today had shoulder harnesses... A lot of the older birds don't. Mine did not until recently. Looking at that crash scene makes them feel all the more worth it!  I hope all involved recover quickly and fully. I am very interested to know what happened. 

[Seth]

I used to be based at Freeway and dropped of my airplane there today for service.

Yes - Freeway had an accident 10 days ago - A rented 172 crashed on landing. There were three or four on board. He was landing Runway 36 departed the runway to the left side (a few bounces according to witnesses) and then ended up near the few hangers on that side. They all walked away.

As for the Mooney crash:

I landed today at W00 about 30-45 minutes after the crash not knowing about the crash (my phone lit up big time with texts and calls as a few family members and my fiance knew I was trasnfering the plane over to Freeway for some work). On final I noticed the emergency equipment in the highway and figured another car had crashed watching the planes takeoff or land. I taxied off, parked at the maintenance hanger, and walked over to the group of people to find out it was a Mooney that had failed to takeoff.

According to the pilots on the field who watched this unfold, it was a density altitude issue and improper technique. Obviously we won't know the official cause until later after the NTSB investigation as there could have been other contributing factors, but from a pilot on the field who has owend over a dozen airplanes and is a tailwheel intructor who watched it happen, this is the picture he put togther:

3 people were on board (pilot plus two passengers). I agree that it was a hot and humid day, and high density altitude was in effect. He said during the takeoff the pilot pulled back out of ground effect and was pulling back to get altitude as opposed to flying in ground effect, getting speed, up, and then pulling back. Freeway has trees and powerlines on the North Side (along with route 50). Many pilots try to climb quickly to get altitude. As soon as you cross route 50 while taking off on 36 (to the North) you immediatly bank right about 25-35 degrees to avoid the power lines as you climb. Evidently the Mooney climbed through ground effect and started hanging on it's prop in a high angle of attack attitude while "mushing along" just cleared the traffice and ended up on the other side (North side) of Route 50 hitting trees. Who knows if it was developing full power or if the engine had an issue, or what the fuel load was, but with three adults, and with potentially a full fuel load (speculation), that's a lot for a 2400 food strip if this was a 180 HP Mooney on a hot day. It is doable with proper technique, and a strong engine, but evidently, technique was off accroding to the instructor who watched the whole thing. He told me just before he left that you have to remember in that situation to push forward, get your airspeed up in ground effect, then allow the plane willl climb vs pulling back on the wrong side of the power curve.

Some passengers were medivaced, some by ambulance. Two were in critidcal condition, one serious.

I also spoke with the owner of the airport. If you know Freeway, you know the owners and tailwheel instructor I'm talking about. PM me and I'll give you names.

The top of the plane was cut off to get the people out (kind of like some cars after a bad car accident). The impact speed was probably between 55 and 70 MPH but that's still a heck of an impact. The cabin was intact and should the three individuals pull through, we can chalk up another three lives saved by the strength of the Mooney.

The media really angered me, as did the public. I had just tied my plane down at the hanger as two vehicles pulled throught the gate to get a "closer look." I asked them what they were doing on private property and if they had an airplane on the field - they did not so I told them they could not be in this area unauthrized and made them turn around until we got some staff keeping people out. A local pilot parked his truck in front of the gate (you could get around it but it was obivous to people who didn't read signs to stay out. The ABC crew was already there and after I landed walked out onto the ACTIVE RUNWAY for pictures and video - we had a pilot yell at them to get off the runway as it was active (with airplanes taxing). I thought it was under control but on the news tonight I saw a "live report" literally 10 feet from my airplane and I'm going to conduct an even more thourough pre-flight check upon pickup to ensure the tail was not dented by a news truck or an idiot who is not used to being around airplanes and was "curious." I'm sure it's okay but I don't like the news people being that close to my aircraft. On second thought, I should have started the plane back up and flown away as now there are NTSB, FAA, and non-airplane people around my airplane. It's probably fine, just my mind stirring.

Most importantly, thoughts are with our fellow Mooney pilot and his passengers.

-Seth

[John Pleisse]

Ross, I am unaware of a recent Freeway incident, however a 201 (3 serial numbers from mine) crashed in a corn field in St. Mary's County (my hometown) on 7/28. Seth, the 172 crash some years back was the metro traffic plane. The sole survivor, Rob Edgar, is doing well, living in Ft. Payne, AL these days. You'll recall he was thrown from the Skyhawk, still strapped in his seat, coming to rest against a fence post some 70 feet away. His father was the Honorable Robert Edgar, Congressional Rep for NY from the 1970's who just passed away. He was the Exec/Pres of the liberal .org, "Common Cause". A great man.

 

I drove by the crash site on the way home from the beach tonight. To excavate the a/c, several wreckers and a crane hoisted the a/c from the westbound lanes to the eastbound lanes. Stopped east bound traffic with the plane sitting in the middle of the road, then repeated the process to get it to the eastbound shoulder. I am not sure, but I think they are trying to get it back up the hill to Freeway. Seth, I am sure you will get a more accurate account from either Stan or Tom and post.

 

Good night and fly safe.

[jetdriven]

Didn't freeway just have another incident last week?  From the flightAware pic, it looks like Freeway was his home base. The photo was taken from a parking pad on the West side of the runway.

 

I wonder if the 62 M20 that crashed today had shoulder harnesses... A lot of the older birds don't. Mine did not until recently. Looking at that crash scene makes them feel all the more worth it!  I hope all involved recover quickly and fully. I am very interested to know what happened. 

The very first mod we did to our machine was install shoulder harnesses. It was expensive, around 700$ laid in, but the peace of mind was worth it.

[Seth]

John-

Thank you for the update on the downed Mooney. It was hoisted up and set in the grassy spot between the main maintenance hanger at Freewat and the taxiway. My Mooney was actually on the news as its in front of the hanger waiting for maintenance tomorrow. Not thrilled having it on TV and next to where the NTSB/FAA will be tomorrow. I did not like non aviation people being so close to my plane.

John-

Thanks for the info on the long ago crash at Freeway. I was not aware of those details.

The other crash at Freeway was a rented 172 as indicated in my previous post 10 (now 11) days ago. I spoke with someone at Freeway (again, PM me for name and I'll give it to you). That's how I got the information on that crash.

Two diffierent probable probable causes in 10 days. And yes, I said probable twice as RLOX is the Cessna probable probable cause and Density Altitude will be a contributing factor along with failure to maintain sufficient airspeed for flight in the probable probable cause for the Mooney accident.

-Seth

[aaronk25]

Sounds like your right Seth he hit behind the efficiency curve of the wing.

A while ago I did some maneuvers where I simulated the differences between low angle of attack with take off flaps and high angle of attack with no flaps and its amazing how draggy the wing gets if pulling back hard.

Try a climb for a short period of time at 90mpg with take of flaps the flip flap w

Switch up and pull back add another 5 degrees of angle and it was noticeable how much drag it takes.

Takes some training and skill to push forward.

Thoughts and prayers with the folks on board for a speedy recovery.

[Marauder]

Seth -- saw the news video. I agree, not very comforting having your plane sitting there on the newscast and right next to the wreck. This crash has me re-thinking the air bag value. The cockpit remained intact and it looks like the injuries were caused by contact with the interior hardware and deceleration.

[Bob_Belville]

Seth -- saw the news video. I agree, not very comforting having your plane sitting there on the newscast and right next to the wreck. This crash has me re-thinking the air bag value. The cockpit remained intact and it looks like the injuries were caused by contact with the interior hardware and deceleration.

The female passenger - in the back seat? - was apparently less severely injured supporting your comment as well as the shoulder strap question/comment for front seats. 

[Marauder]

Seth -- saw the news video. I agree, not very comforting having your plane sitting there on the newscast and right next to the wreck. This crash has me re-thinking the air bag value. The cockpit remained intact and it looks like the injuries were caused by contact with the interior hardware and deceleration. The female passenger - in the back seat? - was apparently less severely injured supporting your comment as well as the shoulder strap question/comment for front seats.

According to the news report and witnesses, one of the men was in the back seat. The first responders said he was complaining that both of his knees/legs were broken.

[Bob_Belville]

According to the news report and witnesses, one of the men was in the back seat. The first responders said he was complaining that both of his knees/legs were broken.

Don't you just hate it when inconvenient facts mess with your perfectly sound theories?!

[Seth]

Evidently female was in co-pilot seat. Big deep gash in the head. Backseat passenger was In shock during the rescue and kept talking about his knees being broken/crushed. It was a short body.

I do not know if there were shoulder straps but it is an inexpensive safety addition to the older fleet. I would have added it if my former 1967 didn't already have them.

I was thinking, it may have been better that the Mooney mushed over the traffic before not clearing the trees. For those that don't know freeway, the airport is at a 90 degree angle and had he rolled through traffic, there would have likely been multiple auto collisions with the Mooney.

Despite the lack of speed for proper flight, the pilot did a good job getting over the highway. Had he cleared the trees, he would have had a short filed to belly in.

[Oscar Avalle]

I used to be based at Freeway and dropped of my airplane there today for service.

Yes - Freeway had an accident 10 days ago - A rented 172 crashed on landing. There were three or four on board. He was landing Runway 36 departed the runway to the left side (a few bounces according to witnesses) and then ended up near the few hangers on that side. They all walked away.

As for the Mooney crash:

I landed today at W00 about 30-45 minutes after the crash not knowing about the crash (my phone lit up big time with texts and calls as a few family members and my fiance knew I was trasnfering the plane over to Freeway for some work). On final I noticed the emergency equipment in the highway and figured another car had crashed watching the planes takeoff or land. I taxied off, parked at the maintenance hanger, and walked over to the group of people to find out it was a Mooney that had failed to takeoff.

According to the pilots on the field who watched this unfold, it was a density altitude issue and improper technique. Obviously we won't know the official cause until later after the NTSB investigation as there could have been other contributing factors, but from a pilot on the field who has owend over a dozen airplanes and is a tailwheel intructor who watched it happen, this is the picture he put togther:

3 people were on board (pilot plus two passengers). I agree that it was a hot and humid day, and high density altitude was in effect. He said during the takeoff the pilot pulled back out of ground effect and was pulling back to get altitude as opposed to flying in ground effect, getting speed, up, and then pulling back. Freeway has trees and powerlines on the North Side (along with route 50). Many pilots try to climb quickly to get altitude. As soon as you cross route 50 while taking off on 36 (to the North) you immediatly bank right about 25-35 degrees to avoid the power lines as you climb. Evidently the Mooney climbed through ground effect and started hanging on it's prop in a high angle of attack attitude while "mushing along" just cleared the traffice and ended up on the other side (North side) of Route 50 hitting trees. Who knows if it was developing full power or if the engine had an issue, or what the fuel load was, but with three adults, and with potentially a full fuel load (speculation), that's a lot for a 2400 food strip if this was a 180 HP Mooney on a hot day. It is doable with proper technique, and a strong engine, but evidently, technique was off accroding to the instructor who watched the whole thing. He told me just before he left that you have to remember in that situation to push forward, get your airspeed up in ground effect, then allow the plane willl climb vs pulling back on the wrong side of the power curve.

Some passengers were medivaced, some by ambulance. Two were in critidcal condition, one serious.

I also spoke with the owner of the airport. If you know Freeway, you know the owners and tailwheel instructor I'm talking about. PM me and I'll give you names.

The top of the plane was cut off to get the people out (kind of like some cars after a bad car accident). The impact speed was probably between 55 and 70 MPH but that's still a heck of an impact. The cabin was intact and should the three individuals pull through, we can chalk up another three lives saved by the strength of the Mooney.

The media really angered me, as did the public. I had just tied my plane down at the hanger as two vehicles pulled throught the gate to get a "closer look." I asked them what they were doing on private property and if they had an airplane on the field - they did not so I told them they could not be in this area unauthrized and made them turn around until we got some staff keeping people out. A local pilot parked his truck in front of the gate (you could get around it but it was obivous to people who didn't read signs to stay out. The ABC crew was already there and after I landed walked out onto the ACTIVE RUNWAY for pictures and video - we had a pilot yell at them to get off the runway as it was active (with airplanes taxing). I thought it was under control but on the news tonight I saw a "live report" literally 10 feet from my airplane and I'm going to conduct an even more thourough pre-flight check upon pickup to ensure the tail was not dented by a news truck or an idiot who is not used to being around airplanes and was "curious." I'm sure it's okay but I don't like the news people being that close to my aircraft. On second thought, I should have started the plane back up and flown away as now there are NTSB, FAA, and non-airplane people around my airplane. It's probably fine, just my mind stirring.

Most importantly, thoughts are with our fellow Mooney pilot and his passengers.

-Seth

Seth

 

Thank you for sharing this. Indeed, DA is a very serious issue that we have to keep in mind when we operate our airplanes out of high field elevations and/or on hot and humid days. I sometimes see the impact of DA during my take offs from MGGT. The field is at 5000 feet and temp gets up in the 90s. But the runway is about 9k feet long, so there is plenty of space. But when I fly down to the beach and land on the grass runway the situation changes dramatically. The runway is only 3.5 k long and when it gets really hot >100 and humid and I try to take off with full tanks and two passengers... It does get interesting.

 

Thanks God our fellow aviators were flying a Mooney... My thoughts are with them and their families.

 

Oscar

[Seth]

Seth -- saw the news video. I agree, not very comforting having your plane sitting there on the newscast and right next to the wreck. This crash has me re-thinking the air bag value. The cockpit remained intact and it looks like the injuries were caused by contact with the interior hardware and deceleration.

I agree. Though expensive, I'm curious what airbag seat belts would have done to help with injuries.

[Seth]

Seth -- saw the news video. I agree, not very comforting having your plane sitting there on the newscast and right next to the wreck. This crash has me re-thinking the air bag value. The cockpit remained intact and it looks like the injuries were caused by contact with the interior hardware and deceleration.

I agree. Though expensive, I'm curious what airbag seat belts would have done to help with injuries.

[Seth]

Seth -- saw the news video. I agree, not very comforting having your plane sitting there on the newscast and right next to the wreck. This crash has me re-thinking the air bag value. The cockpit remained intact and it looks like the injuries were caused by contact with the interior hardware and deceleration.

I agree. Though expensive, I'm curious what airbag seat belts would have done to help with injuries.

[201er]

I agree. Though expensive, I'm curious what airbag seat belts would have done to help with injuries.

[Seth]

Funny Mike - just working on my post total

Actually the multiple posting bug has never hit me before.

UPDATE: Just spoke to the guys at Freeway and the shoulder straps in the front seat were cut to get the occupants out. Thus they were wearing shoulder straps and still were injured badly. My bet is without the shoulder straps it may very well be the rear seat occupant would have been the lone survivor.

So yes - shoulder straps were installed and they were indeed strapped in (how tight who knows). They are all still alive as of now but the pilot was in surgery this morning.

-Seth