Mooney down, pilot walks away

[orionflt]

glad you walked away with out injuries, as much as you loved your plane it can be replaced

Brian

[Nathan Peterson]

Glad your ok David..... as you said, the plane can be replaced but you can't .  Try to get some rest... things will look better then.

[chrisk]

I am so glad you were able to walk away.  The plane can always be replaced. 

[Piloto]

You did the right thing David because insurance companies do not pay for undamaged planes.

 

José 

[kmyfm20s]

Great work!!

[mike_elliott]

David, I'm so glad you are alright

[mooniac15u]

Good work!!  Any landing you walk away from is a good landing.

 

As several have already said, get back in the air soon.  The anxiety can really creep up on you.  For me it took the better part of a year to shake the feeling that something was going to go wrong on every flight.  I feel your pain on losing your plane.  I love my new plane but it's just not the same.

[flyboy0681]

 To be very honest, and having been on the forum through some of the discussions where the pilot was no longer around, we would rather be talking about the aircraft and what happened to it, than talking about you and what you might or might not have done that would have made it turn out differently.  From the point of view of the rest of us, that makes it a perfect landing.

 

So right you are. Just yesterday I received my issue of MAPA and it contained the complete report of Patrick's crash two years ago. Glad we won't be reading about Dave's incident in any future issue.

[aaronk25]

Dave, thanks for posting this. It for sure is keeping "what if plans" fresh in my mind. Always leave a out.

Today I am taking my first flight on a new motor and I'm rethinking the "what if" plan.

It's a very selfless act and shows great maturity in a pilot when they can put the pilot community first and share the good and also the bad.

I'd fly with you......

Thanks!

Aaron

[Seth]

Dave-

Thrilled to hear you are okay and thank you for sharing. I can only imagine what must have been going through your head. As others have said, you performed beautifully and walked away.

Don't beat yourself up - you made the right moves and landed in the airport environment with a dead stick.

Get back in the saddle soon!!

-Seth

[aviatoreb]

hey Guys it was me

 

I was cruising along at 17000 ft making 232 knots GS perfect TIT when i suddenly lost manifold pressure. I setup for best glide and feathered the prop and glided to Chilton county airport. I landed long and ran out of runway. i kept thinking of Bob Hoovers maxim fly it all the way into the crash.  I walked away unharmed but my plane is probably totaled .

 

I have gone through a wide range of emotions.  Thank God Im unhurt, thank God i was in a Mooney, heartbroken that my plane is in a crumpled heap, embarrassment that i couldnt make a better landing, sadness that it may be a long time before i can fly again. I started looking for other planes but i felt like i was cheating on my plane.  I couldnt imagine being happy flying another plane

 

at the end of the day the plane is replaceable and I am not. 

 

i will post pics later.

 

I am trying to imagine what could have gone wrong to cause loss of power so suddenly and without a thump.  From your pictures it looks like a  well pampered machine.

 

Water freezing at the intake inside the tanks could cause a fuel starvation situation, although it is not that cold this time of year yet, but below freezing at 17k, but not that cold I would guess it.  Anyway that is all I came up with as a guess.

[DaV8or]

Perfect job David! Don't beat yourself up. Had you ever practiced an engine out from 17,000ft to a random airport before? Has anybody here? I have practiced engine out glides from miles from the airport (not from 17,000, more like 6,000) and I can tell you that it is tricky to nail a perfect landing. Two of my attempts resulted in what I estimate to be "survivable" but ugly at my home airport. One was long like yours and one was too short. At a different airport, I might not have considered them survivable.

 

On your first attempt, you aced the check ride. You walked away. Good job.

[DaV8or]

I am trying to imagine what could have gone wrong to cause loss of power so suddenly and without a thump.  From your pictures it looks like a  well pampered machine.

 

Water freezing at the intake inside the tanks could cause a fuel starvation situation, although it is not that cold this time of year yet, but below freezing at 17k, but not that cold I would guess it.  Anyway that is all I came up with as a guess.

 

It's a turbo. Lose the plumbing, or turbo failure and suddenly you have a naturally aspirated engine, leaned at 17,000 ft. That pretty much means the engine will quit. In this scenario, one might be able to get engine power back once the airplane descended down to a much lower altitude. That would mean taking the prop out of feather and playing with the engine controls. I'm not sure if David tried this or not. I also have no experience with a feathering prop. With the engine off and full feather, does the prop stop turning? If it is stopped, can you get the prop turning again without engine power? I don't know.

[flyboy0681]

I am trying to imagine what could have gone wrong to cause loss of power so suddenly and without a thump.  From your pictures it looks like a  well pampered machine.

 

Water freezing at the intake inside the tanks could cause a fuel starvation situation, although it is not that cold this time of year yet, but below freezing at 17k, but not that cold I would guess it.  Anyway that is all I came up with as a guess.

 

Which is exactly what happened to a friend of mine flying over Alaska in his Malibu. He lost power at altitude and glided in, with an instrument approach in actual conditions no less, into Ketchikan. The A&P found a bolt which secures a duct in the turbo system had come off resulting in the duct separating. It was by sheer luck that the heat coming from the dislodged duct didn't melt the engine compartment.

[ryoder]

Great job. Don't beat yourself up. You did better than most people would. Good that you had all that altitude.

[N601RX]

Good job and good interview.

http://www.myfoxal.com/story/26559243/pilot-who-survived-clanton-plane-crash-thankful-to-be-alive

[FloridaMan]

Good job and good interview.

http://www.myfoxal.com/story/26559243/pilot-who-survived-clanton-plane-crash-thankful-to-be-alive

 

We're thankful too. 

[flyboy0681]

Write down as much as you can Dave about the incident. I see NBC knocking on your door for a Dateline segment.

[aviatoreb]

I think you guys may be right that it is more likely a turbo issue than a fuel issue since it was so far south in Alabama this time of year.

 

I will be really interested to hear what is the official ruling.

 

Should one try to restart a turbo engined airplane when passing through 10k if the airport is made?  If it was a fuel blockage problem due to ice, maybe the ice has melted? But if it is a turbo duct problem then that would be tempting a fire to start.  What does the Mooney brain trust say?

[DaV8or]

From this poor photo, it sure looks like your pane could be rebuilt by the insurance company if you want. How many Rockets did they make? Are they easy to find used? I would seriously look into repairing this one given the money put in the panel.

 

[DaV8or]

I think you guys may be right that it is more likely a turbo issue than a fuel issue since it was so far south in Alabama this time of year.

 

I will be really interested to hear what is the official ruling.

 

Should one try to restart a turbo engined airplane when passing through 10k if the airport is made?  If it was a fuel blockage problem due to ice, maybe the ice has melted? But if it is a turbo duct problem then that would be tempting a fire to start.  What does the Mooney brain trust say?

 

If this was a turbo failure are it would likely be safe to run. There is only one failure I can think of that would risk a fire and that would be separation of the exhaust manifold from the turbo. It is much more likely a turbo melt down, or separation of ducting on the air side, neither of which would be starting any fires. I would imagine that if the exhaust had come apart that the sound of the running engine would be very different and much louder. This might give the pilot a clue to use the engine power sparingly. Continue the glide to the airport with engine at idle and then only use partial power to set up a normal approach to the runway.

 

I'm no brain trust, so I'm just musing.

[mike_elliott]

From this poor photo, it sure looks like your pane could be rebuilt by the insurance company if you want. How many Rockets did they make? Are they easy to find used? I would seriously look into repairing this one given the money put in the panel.

 

Very sad for me to see 5626C in the weeds...I spent some time with David in her and she was a good steed. 

[jnisley]

Thanking God your alive and able to be with your family!

[aviatoreb]

David, that looks like a repairable airplane. But looking at the cute picture in your gallery of your wife and three tiny children- remember kiddies grow. Believe me on that - I have 3 boys and my biggest just past 6'1" (overnight I swear!)

You might consider this as an opportune moment to consider to switch to something with 6 seats. Just a thought. I am not inclined to make such a switch since myself my guys are already looking at colleges.. Before you know it it will be just my wife and myself visiting the kids... But you got a ways to go before then.

[ArtVandelay]

Regarding the cost of repair, see other thread "Here is to mother...", $23K for what was a perfectly good airplane until FAA inspector got a hold of it...I agree it's worth looking at but any damage will likely be expensive, not to mention the prop and engine repairs required. Once they deduct salvage value....doesn't leave much room for any kind of damage.