Just came across this one on YT... tragic but potentially valuable training material.

[ShuRugal]

Pilot videotaping his own fatal crash in 1984.  The camera appears fixed to the aircraft, and does an excellent job of showing the aircraft buck and fight as it is pushed beyond its envelope.  Looks like some prime training material.  Hopefully this man's unfortunate death can provide an object lesson for the rest of us.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZfPr_gZzHRw

 

My interpretation of the crash sequence:

 

 

1. Pilot rejected attempting the pass
2. Begins a turn to reverse route,
3. terrain appears relatively close ahead as the pilot turns
4. pilot begins to panic, steepens his bank angle and pulls harder to bring it around before getting closer to the terrain
5. aircraft enters an accelerated stall and the nose begins to drop to the inside of the turn
6. pilot really panicking now, buries the yoke/stick in his gut trying to keep the nose up at the steep bank angle
7. aircraft enters spin in response to stall while in non-coordinated flight
8. Ground clearance insufficient to recover, crash assured at this point

 

My thoughts on actions that could have saved this pilot and his passenger:

1. Determined that density altitude was too great to clear that pass and planned another route
2. Recognized sooner that the aircraft's real performance was not sufficient to continue the planned route (before terrain had risen to flight level)
3. Remained calm while making the abort turn: there appeared to be sufficient lateral clearance to complete that turn at standard rate, especially given the slow airspeed
4. Recognized the signs of an impending accelerated stall, leveled the aircraft, and resumed the turn at a reduced rate
5. Recognized the signs of an impending spin, unloaded the wings and performed unusual-attitude recover procedure

 

 

Any other comments?

 

[ArtVandelay]

Don’t start your turn from the middle, go to the side to have entire pass width to work with.

[gsxrpilot]

Start by not losing your head. Panic often causes that.

[whiskytango]

4 hours ago, teejayevans said:

Don’t start your turn from the middle, go to the side to have entire pass width to work with.

Also, keep in mind where the wind is coming from.  Don't let the wind blow you into the terrain as you make your turn, as it did to Cory Lidle (building).

[steingar]

The thing I hate most to see in the windows is terrain.  I hate it even more when I see it in the windshield.

[DAVIDWH]

Once there, you are there.

Sad, sad and not sure if he could have been saved at that point.

That being said he was turning to the right and any Duster will tell you the aircraft always makes left turns better due to prop rotation.

Not sure if a left turn would have saved him at point, but maybe.

[Cardinal767]

I’ve watched it many times over the years. One thing remains the same in my book, in level flight, the horizon must always stay below a given point in the windshield. If it goes above this point, it’s time to get back on the clock and work the plan you should have in place. I learned this flying my Cardinal back country fly in Idaho, where I had very little spare power.

Here is a video that might thrill. Just know your limits.

 

[Hank]

17 minutes ago, Cardinal767 said:

I’ve watched it many times over the years. One thing remains the same in my book, in level flight, the horizon must always stay below a given point in the windshield. If it goes above this point, it’s time to get back on the clock and work the plan you should have in place. I learned this flying my Cardinal back country fly in Idaho, where I had very little spare power.

Just know your limits.

 

My limits are somewhat higher than that . . . . .

[Cardinal767]

51 minutes ago, David Herman said:

Being an Army helicopter pilot in a previous life ... that sort low level flight doesn’t bother me at all. It’s uncontrolled airspace with no population centers to avoid by 500’ or 1000’. And in a K ... he’s got a turbo ... so more power available at high altitude. 

Having said that, however, doing this sort of flight without performance planning and a map recon followed by a high recon ... prior to going low level can have tragic consequences -should one encounter power lines or the guy wires from towers ... or find too late that aircraft Performance is not adequate.

E.g. - Helicopters could reach their limits and experience “retreating blade stall” well below Vne at higher altitudes. or in high DA environments like the dessert in the summer. Some military pilots discovered this the hard way.  I’m wondering if the published Va in fixed wings aircraft is really the Va in some cases? 

David,

You're absolutely correct. The pilot has flown the route for two years. The filming flight was planned out and scouted out, and even used an app with satalite pictures. Starting out higher, then lower and lower as the area was learned. He did it while getting out of monster headwinds. The pilot is also a rotorcraft and LTA pilot, so he’s respectful of contour flying.

Va (indicated) in a fixed wing is pretty straight forward as long as you know your current W&B. No worries about RBS, but Accelerate Stalls are normally found the hard way too. With 60kts+ between Va and Vs1, no abrupt altitude changes, and no greater than 60* bank angle, I doubt the 232 was pushed to its 2.8g limit or tempting an accelerated stall. 

The pilot also said he had no plans to do another filming flight. He said he had too much fun and might be tempted go lower. Being there wasn’t anything for at least 50 miles in every direction, if something went wrong, the first responders would be coyotes.

 

[kris_adams]

15 hours ago, Cardinal767 said:

I’ve watched it many times over the years. One thing remains the same in my book, in level flight, the horizon must always stay below a given point in the windshield. If it goes above this point, it’s time to get back on the clock and work the plan you should have in place. I learned this flying my Cardinal back country fly in Idaho, where I had very little spare power.

Here is a video that might thrill. Just know your limits.

Neat video.  thanks for sharing!  I loved how recognizable the shadow was. 

[xcrmckenna]

I’ve watched it many times over the years. One thing remains the same in my book, in level flight, the horizon must always stay below a given point in the windshield. If it goes above this point, it’s time to get back on the clock and work the plan you should have in place. I learned this flying my Cardinal back country fly in Idaho, where I had very little spare power.
Here is a video that might thrill. Just know your limits.
 

Great video, and even with two years of planning I still wouldn’t have a big enough pair.... It’s wonderful to see the skill level pilots have.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Cardinal767]

On 3/19/2018 at 10:50 AM, Kris_Adams said:

Neat video.  thanks for sharing!  I loved how recognizable the shadow was. 

Chris, here’s another neat video of shadows and a pilot being more than just at the controls, but apart of his aircraft. With the absolute oldest version of man flight and controlling an aircraft with about 20-30 seconds of lag time between control input (heat) and response, it’s art in motion. Flying 100% at the mercy of the winds and the topography interaction, and never touched the walls of the canyon (by inches) , can you imagine the grin on the pilot’s face? LOL

 

[kris_adams]

very cool as well.  Extra kudo's for putting that song to an aviation video!

 

[kmyfm20s]

On 3/18/2018 at 6:54 PM, Cardinal767 said:

I’ve watched it many times over the years. One thing remains the same in my book, in level flight, the horizon must always stay below a given point in the windshield. If it goes above this point, it’s time to get back on the clock and work the plan you should have in place. I learned this flying my Cardinal back country fly in Idaho, where I had very little spare power.

Here is a video that might thrill. Just know your limits.

 

I used to fly up through central Nevada like that in the past. Such a great sensation of speed! It also worked well to get out of the turbulence and head winds:)