Mooney down at East Hampton

[SkunaMooner]

Awesome Thread.

 

Love to hear more Steve. you da man.

[bnicolette]

Pictures:

http://easthampton.patch.com/articles/photos-24c33407#photo-11151798

Steve,.....so glad you and your passenger are okay!  Great Job!!!

[DaV8or]

Thanks for the article with pictures Brett. If you have to land into a forest of trees, this one looks about as good as it gets. I wonder if the airbag seatbelts would have helped here, or made it harder to get out?

[scottfromiowa]

Quote: Antares

I read the latest updates to the news article.

[mooneysteve]

Yes I am saying that, this guy is a lunatic, had to get police involved with this Craig guy. He called Kim's mother to tell her how he rescued her and now feels a life connection with her and has to come to MA. to be with her. Had to have hospital security involved with him, had to notify our local police, he has too many stories. Thanks to everyone involved, but come on now. And now for the photos.

[mooneysteve]

photo 1

[Frontierwg]

Hi Steve,

Glad to see that you and your fiance are doing ok.

I was one of the people there, that helped get your fiance to the other side of that fence.

I guess this was a life changing expierience for that guy.

I know it affected me. My back is still hurting from that day.

He probably will need to get professional help, inorder to resolve his issues.

I know that it was life changing for all that was there.

Some were affected more than others.

Hopefully he can move foreward.

 

[wiguy]

 Thanks for the updates, wishing both of you a speedy & full recovery.

[mooneysteve]

Thank you Bill for all the help, you are a true everyday hero, the way it should be.

 

                                           Steve and Kim

[gsengle]

Quote: Piloto

Two engine failures no less?  That is not so encouraging but glad you are here to tell about it, with special mitigating circumstances.  You do have many hours under your belt though I understand.  Were these both in your current airplane.

[MooneyMitch]

What the heck happened to your IO-550?  I've got one of those!!

[gsengle]

Quote: Mitch

What the heck happened to your IO-550?  I've got one of those!!

[MooneyMitch]

Rats!  Maybe something simple like a plug or high tension plug wire coming off.  That would be the best and I wish you the best on this.  We'll look forward to your discovery.

[jetdriven]

Sounds like a burned exhaust valve.  No compression, no CHT, and high EGT.  Let us know what you find, G.

 

[Frontierwg]

Quote: mooneysteve

Thank you Bill for all the help, you are a true everyday hero, the way it should be.

 

                                           Steve and Kim

[DaV8or]

Quote: gsengle

But nothing ever reported because all ended happily.  I suspect engines act up way more often than we hear.  Although in my case in 2 of 3 cases I think I could have held altitude for longer than I did.  I generally choose to put down the nearest place possible - which in the last case on sunday was unfortunately pretty remote....

[jackn]

Greg, A similar situation with a friend of mine in his A36 w/IO550. He had recently installed ECI cylinders. One cylinder developed a crack between the head & Barrel. Apparently he's not the only one. Fortunatly, like you, he had lots of altitude & made a safe landing.

[AcclaimML]

So i guess stay away from ECI cylinders and stay with OEM?

[jackn]

Not saying that. Just something to look into. I used factory when I did my top-end.

[AcclaimML]

That's what I have ordered for the top end.  Just curious.

[jackn]

ECI? I'd check with them to see how many premature failures. Your jugs are different and it may not be the case in your situation. Caveat Emptor!

[contrails]

Steve,

Outstanding job and wishes for a fast recovery. It is a shame you now have to deal with this guy after all you have been through.

[FloridaMan]

I was in the area exercising the eurocopter and checked out the crash site. It looks to me like the plane augered in and death decided to not take you that day. From the damage to the trees surrounding the burned area, it doesn't look like there's any way that the plane could have been stable coming in.

Also, Steve, I have your charred and melted keys that I can send to you if you'd like.

[cujet1]

I also walked from the road to the crash site. I took a good look at the trees. The trees are closely spaced, moderately tall and dense. Yet, only one branch was broken. There were no other visible upper scars on the trees. I concur with the above statement, it sure looks like the airplane came in an attitude other than flat and level, hit a tree branch, broke it off and ended up on the ground in a survivable manner.

I was not there to witness the crash, so the above is simply conjecture. However, "IF" I am correct, I feel the information needs to be accurate. Mooney pilots need to know about what works and when luck is involved. I'm certainly not wanting to anger or to annoy anybody, especially the fortunate folks involved. But, I'd sure like to know how a stable approach can avoid hitting all of the closely spaced trees and simply break off one large branch, located 2/3 the way up the tree. I'm currently thinking an aircraft the size of a Mooney would have to be at right angles to the ground to do this.

Are you sure the aircraft did not stall/spin at the last second?

[mooneysteve]

The answer to cujet1's question, I did not stall and spin in, knowing that I would not make the airport or any other alternative safe landing area, when I was at treetop levels just above stall I did not want to go into the trees nose first, I put the nose up sharply to lose all possible speed and put the plane as flat as possible when entering the trees, call it luck or skill, or a little of both, all worked out well.