Mooney 201 lands on high power lines in MD

[1980Mooney]

4 hours ago, kortopates said:

The flight aware track doesn't show the plane getting below 1200' (uncorrected for baro) or about 660' AGL. LPV minimums are 789 msl or 269' AGL, but power lines are more like 100 AGL at what I am guessing is most of a mile from the runway. 

Barometric pressure 30 minutes before crash was 29.45.  Correcting 1,200 ft pressure altitude results in 761 ft corrected altitude (not AGL).  The KGAI elevation is 539 MSL.  That is only 222 ft AGL.  However ADSBExchange shows his track right into the power lines.  Barometric Altitude is shown as 1,100 ft for the last 4 data points including impact.    Corrected altitude was 661 ft. and AGL was 122 ft - which seems to match hitting near the top of the high tension power lines.

ADS-B Exchange - track aircraft live (adsbexchange.com)

[FlyingCanuck]

Not sure the temperatures a few hours ago, but right now it’s around ten degrees C on the surface. They flew at 4,000 both ways (GAI-HPN and return) today. Upper winds show temps about +2 degrees C at 6k. They were awfully close to the icing range at that temp. 

Not saying icing was a factor. Probably not at all. But curious about the decision to fly in this weather at all: low IFR, freezing levels below 10k, non FIKI aircraft. Doesn’t give a lot of room for decision making. 

Used to be based at GAI. Have flown that approach many times. The ASOS/AWOS is often wrong; the runway lights suck; and there’s a few pieces of ground that create some interesting (mild) eddys on approach. 

hope all are ok!

[1980Mooney]

1 minute ago, FlyingCanuck said:

Not sure the temperatures a few hours ago, but right now it’s around ten degrees C on the surface. They flew at 4,000 both ways (GAI-HPN and return) today. Upper winds show temps about +2 degrees C at 6k. They were awfully close to the icing range at that temp. 

Not saying icing was a factor. Probably not at all. But curious about the decision to fly in this weather at all: low IFR, freezing levels below 10k, non FIKI aircraft. Doesn’t give a lot of room for decision making. 

Used to be based at GAI. Have flown that approach many times. The ASOS/AWOS is often wrong; the runway lights suck; and there’s a few pieces of ground that create some interesting (mild) eddys on approach. 

hope all are ok!

Crash was at 17:28

[1980Mooney]

Watch the rescue livestream

Watch rescue live: Plane into power lines with people trapped - Statter911

[FlyingCanuck]

16 minutes ago, 1980Mooney said:

Crash was at 17:28

OVC002. Minimums for the LPV are 300’. 

[Seth]

Hi gang - been a long time since I posted.

 

Aircraft is owned by an entity and a few shares, usually 3 to 5 are owned any time be different people. Kind of like a club Mooney. I have flown in this aircraft before and know two of the previous owners.

 

I’ll grab the ATC live link and post it later. They were on the GPS 14 approach to GAI on the way from HPN (White Plains NY). A Cheyenne ahead of them went missed, diverted to a nearby airport with an ILS and landed safely. 
 

The power line tower hit is left of centerline and well below glide path.

The two occupants were rescued about 7 hours after impact and taken to the hospital with serious injuries. They were in communication with fire/rescue via cell phone.

Glad they are alive.

-Seth

 

[Marauder]

Pilot and passenger identified.

https://www.cnn.com/2022/11/27/us/maryland-small-plane-crash-power-lines/index.html


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk Pro

[Seth]

Link to rescue video

 

 

[Seth]

Link to local news with lots of info

 

https://wtop.com/montgomery-county/2022/11/outages-in-montgomery-co-after-small-plane-crashes-into-power-lines/
 

 

[Seth]

Live ATC - N201RF starts around 18 min into recording.

 

https://archive.liveatc.net/kbwi/KBWI-App-WOOLY-128.7-Nov-27-2022-2200Z.mp3

[Ibra]

3 hours ago, 1980Mooney said:

However ADSBExchange shows his track right into the power lines.

Looks like about the point where one legally disconnect his AP on LPV? it would be good to know if they had 3D guidance and if STEC AP does hook to LPV glide-slope? 

The weather minima are about the point where Walmart shop start to looks like Runway at night without 3D guidance…

Looks terrifying to crash and hanging up there for hours, a miracle that they are alive and walked away !

 

Edited November 28, 2022 by Ibra

[Seth]

Glad they are safe.

 

This is not good for GA image anywhere but especially not around GAI where 3-5 neighbors have started a movement to try to restrict/close the airport. Of 6000 noise complaints something like 97% were from 3 households.

We just had a meeting last week about it. They caused a study to be done which the county paid for, etc.

Over 100,000 customers had no power last night including many road traffic lights. Schools are closed today in the entire county so buildings can be assessed for heat, water, and connectivity. Power was not restored until after the timeline to make the decision was made. 
 

metro (DC subway) lost power to more than one station and may have limited operations.

Again, I’m glad they are okay (taken to the hospital after 7 hours hanging with serious injuries) however this really affected the region and it’s going to put a black eye on GA.

The Mooney really is built like a tank. That tower must have flexed and caught a 90 knot airplane on approach and brought it to zero in a short arc. I’m amazed.

-Seth

 

[redbaron1982]

3 hours ago, Seth said:

Glad they are safe.

 

This is not good for GA image anywhere but especially not around GAI where 3-5 neighbors have started a movement to try to restrict/close the airport. Of 6000 noise complaints something like 97% were from 3 households.

We just had a meeting last week about it. They caused a study to be done which the county paid for, etc.

Over 100,000 customers had no power last night including many road traffic lights. Schools are closed today in the entire county so buildings can be assessed for heat, water, and connectivity. Power was not restored until after the timeline to make the decision was made. 
 

metro (DC subway) lost power to more than one station and may have limited operations.

Again, I’m glad they are okay (taken to the hospital after 7 hours hanging with serious injuries) however this really affected the region and it’s going to put a black eye on GA.

The Mooney really is built like a tank. That tower must have flexed and caught a 90 knot airplane on approach and brought it to zero in a short arc. I’m amazed.

-Seth

 

I agree with this.

First of all, good that they are alive.

We need to do better. Better preflights, better planning, better ADM, etc. I'm quite new to the GA world, but really, even with 10k hours flying LIFR at night, in a single engine, it's pushing it. Anything goes wrong and you have very small room to have a successful outcome.

I'm not a fan of more regulations, I think the GA should self impose on them higher standards. The main beneficiaries is ourselves: we stay alive, we pay less insurance, etc.

[carusoam]

Thanks for the insights…

Especially the ones with local and/or professional experience!

Go MS!

Accidents are… well… accidents.

Often there is something to learn…

Getting insights from the pilot involved are always welcomed!

Best regards,

-a-

[Yetti]

8 hours ago, Seth said:

Live ATC - N201RF starts around 18 min into recording.

 

https://archive.liveatc.net/kbwi/KBWI-App-WOOLY-128.7-Nov-27-2022-2200Z.mp3

26 minutes Approach issues a low altitude alert.   Twice.  30 minutes sounds like they were seeing if he landed.   30 minutes new controller came on.

[WaynePierce]

At least, in the pictures I've seen, it looks like he put the gear down. That probably was beneficial, more things to hook wires, etc. I'm glad they're OKish.

[MooneyMitch]

I’ll bet the pilot was really shocked he’d come in contact with power lines ! 

[Shadrach]

3 minutes ago, WaynePierce said:

At least, in the pictures I've seen, it looks like he put the gear down. That probably was beneficial, more things to hook wires, etc. I'm glad they're OKish.

He was on approach 1.25 miles from the threshold, it would be odd for him not to have the gear down.  I think most of the aircrafts energy was absorbed by the tower which deformed and shifted to a degree that it will likely need to be replaced entirely.  I am surprised the aircraft held together. aircraft weight and speed and tower construction compare to Bill Graham's helicopter accident in Vallejo, CA back in 1991.  The outcome of that accident was much worse with no survivors. The charred remains of the helicopter remained in the tower for days after the accident.

[M20ExecDriver]

A testament to the once piece Mooney wing. I shudder to think of the result had it been another brand of aircraft with bolt on wings.

[PT20J]

Pretty good testament to the strength of the tower, too. One thing about tower structures is that every member is load bearing -- there are no redundant components. There were several accidental tower collapses when TV antennas were upgraded for digital transmission and the crews removed a piece before inserting a new, stronger member, or sometimes when a temporary brace wasn't strong enough to take the load.

Skip

[Pinecone]

2 hours ago, carusoam said:

Accidents are… well… accidents.

Often there is something to learn…

-a-

In the safety world, we do not use the terms accidents.  We use mishaps.

The word “accident” implies that it just happened and could not be prevented.

Most mishaps occur from a chain things going or being done wrong that lead to the final situation.

Yes, many times there are things to learn.  But too many times the sequence is well know and perfectly preventable.,

[Rusty Pilot]

2 hours ago, Yetti said:

26 minutes Approach issues a low altitude alert.   Twice.  30 minutes sounds like they were seeing if he landed.   30 minutes new controller came on.

I was wondering if the pilot had the altimeter setting correct.  It appears ATC was on top of their game and providing a valuable alert.  I am sure we will learn more as the investigation is conducted.

[carusoam]

7 minutes ago, Pinecone said:

In the safety world, we do not use the terms accidents.  We use mishaps.

The word “accident” implies that it just happened and could not be prevented.

Most mishaps occur from a chain things going or being done wrong that lead to the final situation.

Yes, many times there are things to learn.  But too many times the sequence is well know and perfectly preventable.,

Often, we have the opportunity to hear first hand from the person behind the controls….

To see what they saw…

So there is…

1) a perfectly preventable situation…. Or else we wouldn’t have the IR….

2) More important… something went wrong with the really well planned flight…

 

How do we get that person to describe where the wheels fell off… in this situation…

Many hints above… all very valuable to avoid similar situations…

But, only one person probably knows all of the details…

Open invite for the pilot to join us here on MS!

Best regards,

-a-

[Rusty Pilot]

My big takeaway is we fly a very structurally sound plane and when equipped with shoulder belts our chances of surviving a crash are high.  Any other aircraft and this likely would have resulted in two fatalities.  In this case a BRS would not have helped.

[Gregory Gagarin]

I also note that this was this pilot's second flight of the day - returning from West Chester, NY.  Flew up, departing at 8:40 am arriving at 11 am. See post with Flight Aware log.  Then starts back at 3 pm.  Long day, on top of the weather.  I am wondering if fatigue may have been a factor.