Airpac accident at Bayview Apt.

[trybysky]

Anyone heard about what happend in Skagit Co. Washington with the Airpac accident?

 

[Launchpad]

Just what was said in the news. Cleared for the approach, and that was it. Found the plane 2 days later.

YO-

 

[Rogue5]

http://www.avweb.com/newswire/12_02a/briefs/191340-1.html

January 9, 2006
Air Show Pilot Dies Hauling Freight

By Russ Niles

Newswriter, Editor

Described by colleagues as "one of the top three or four performers" in the business, air show pilot Eric Beard, 48, died Friday when the Piper Seneca he was flying crashed in fog about 400 yards short of the runway at Skagit Regional Airport near Burlington, Wash. Beard was perhaps better-known for flying a rare Yak-54 nicknamed Russian Thunder in air shows all over the world. On Friday he was flying for Airpac Airlines, a Seattle-based cargo company. He worked part-time for Airpac and also worked for Boeing. His last transmission to Whidbey Island approach was normal and there was no indication of an emergency, according to Tom Peterson, air search coordinator with the state department of transportation. "He was supposed to call once he got on the ground," Peterson told KOMO News. "They did not hear from him and the people waiting for him on the ground reported that he didn't call in or make it." Beard is survived by his wife Diane and four children. Beard held two degrees from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University and worked for NASA on both the space shuttle and Titan rocket programs. He began flying aerobatics in the early 1980s and performed for 13 years, including appearances at EAA AirVenture and other major shows. The Yak-54 is one of seven aircraft purpose-built for aerobatics in 1996 by the Yakevlev Design Bureau. Fred Rosenfelder, the air boss for three major Seattle-area air shows, said that not only was Beard a top performer, he was a meticulous pilot. "He always knew his routine. He was meticulous with the safety of his routine and if it wasn't right, it wouldn't happen," Rosenfelder said.​

 

[chrisrj83]

I took off out of skagit about a half hour before it happened, and the weather at the airport wasn't good at all, but out over the bay it went up to about 2000 ceilings and good vis, not sure exactly what happened but maybe went visual over the bay and then got disorentated trying to land vfr??

 

[81Horse]

-- ... not sure exactly what happened but maybe went visual over the bay and then got disorentated trying to land vfr??

You should have stopped at the "not sure exactly what happened" part. Let's let the accident investigators figure it out.

 

[chrisrj83]

I'm not trying to piss anyone off, and I don't know what happened.... but I do know that the conditions were much worse than auto was calling them, and there was no way to shoot an ndb approach without going missed.

 

[81Horse]

-- I'm not trying to piss anyone off, and I don't know what happened....

I understand. Still, I think speculating -- especially on a public forum -- is bad form. Others here may disagree.

-- but I do know that the conditions were much worse than auto was calling them, and there was no way to shoot an ndb approach without going missed.

Well, I know the area well myself. I personally wouldn't draw any conclusions based on a ninety-minute old pirep. Maybe your surmise is correct, but maybe it's not; and it's very likely no one will ever know for sure. Furthermore, I don't know that all other possible factors (mechanical or structural failure, pilot health and fatigue, and so on) have been ruled out yet; do you?

 

[chrisrj83]

Well, I am sorry to anyone who I might have offended with my prior post.

 

[81Horse]

chrisrj83, no offense taken, and no apology necessary. If you hear more details about the accident, I would be interested to hear about it.

 

[chrisrj83]

ntsb preliminary report

On January 6, 2006, about 1950 Pacific standard time, a Piper Seneca PA-34-200T, N36107, was destroyed after colliding with trees and terrain at the Skagit Regional Airport (BVS), Burlington, Washington. The airplane is registered to Airpac Airlines of Seattle, Washington, and was being operated as "Airpac 32" a domestic non-scheduled cargo flight operated under the provisions of Title 14 CFR Part 135. The airline transport pilot, the sole occupant of the airplane, was fatally injured. Instrument meteorological conditions prevailed at the time of the accident. The flight originated at Bellingham, Washington, (BLI) on an instrument flight rules (IFR) flight plan, approximately 20 minutes prior to the accident. The pilot's flight planned destination was BVS.

The 1950 METAR weather observation at the Skagit Regional Airport was, in part, visibility 5 statute mile; broken clouds at 100 feet AGL (above ground level); overcast skies at 800 feet AGL.

The published minimum descent altitude for the straight-in NDB runway 10 approach at Burlington is 1,240 feet above mean sea level (1000 feet AGL). The published minimum visibility for a straight-in NDB approach is 1-1/4 mile.