Caravan Down in Central Texas (merged)

[lowslow]

If your asking me, than yes. According to the time you have posted, I have more night time than you have total time.

IIRC, last few nights have been full moons btw. I have no idea if that's significant here though. I was just responding to lunacy of the idea that he intentionaly hit a house....

 

[EatSleepFly]

Glad everyone is OK!

As for the picture- THAT, ladies and gentlemen, is yet another great reason not to get rushed/lazy and leave cargo nets and/or cargo unsecured. Yikes!

I've worked with some guys that probably wouldn't have survived this crash because they would've been barraged with boxes since they're too f-in lazy or in a hurry to tie everything down and secure three little nets.

 

[bugchaser]

Flying Illini, how many times have you had to put down an airplane after an engine failure? Until you have been faced with that kind of decision, don't make too many comments about other pilots choices. In that situation you do whatever you have to do in order to get your ass down in one piece. It's bad enough during the day. At night it would be extremely challenging.

 

[PurpleTail]

FedEx feeder crash in Austin...

http://www.news8austin.com/content/top_stories/default.asp?ArID=147895

Luckily the pilot lived and that it was NOT mainline. Speedy recovery my man.

Plane lands upside down on house
Updated: 10/19/2005 7:33:20 AM
By: News 8 Austin Staff

http://www.news8austin.com/images/750.gifhttp://www.news8austin.com/media/2005/10/19/images/01plane.jpg http://www.news8austin.com/images/750.gifhttp://www.news8austin.com/images/750.gif http://www.news8austin.com/images/750.gif

A pilot is recovering after his plane crashed into a home in Williamson County.
The crash happened around 11:10 p.m. Tuesday along County Road 122 near old Settler's Park, close to Round Rock.
One woman was inside the house, by got out safely.
The aircraft was a Cessna 208 Cargo Master piloted by Michael McKenna of Cedar Creek. The plane was contracted to carry packages for FedEx.
The plane was at 7,000 feet when it began to lose power. McKenna attempted to glide into Georgetown airport for safe landing, but he lost altitude too quickly, a Texas Department of Public Safety spokesperson said.
The plane clipped a telephone pole, then struck the house at a high rate of speed and came to rest upside down on top of the house.
McKenna was taken to Brackenridge Hospital with minor injuries.
The Federal Aviation Administration is investigating.

 

[Brown Cow]

This is the second FedEX crash in the last two weeks. The FAA should pull these things out of the sky and mandate that the operators fix them up.

 

[FN FAL]

We just had a big pilot/management meeting about icing/winter operations. It was brought up that the feds have threatened or talked about threatening to pull the "known icing" certification off the CE-208.

Has anybody heard of such a thing regarding the Caravan?

As far as engines quitting on a Caravan, I cannot wait to hear how this one quit. What about that Caravan out west that had the off airport landing with two aboard not too long ago? BRB, going to go look it up.

 

[bigD]

I'm not taking a side on this, but guys, I don't think Flyin' Illini is saying the pilot intentionally hit a house.

He was trying to get to GTU, and think Illini's point is that the pilot might have been stretching to make GTU when he should have been looking for something that left him with more options once he got lower. GTU has nothing but houses everywhere around it but to the east. Unless you're landing 29, if you fall short of the runway, you're going to end up in somebody's back yard.

That said, there's really not anywhere close to enough information to play the coulda shoulda woulda game. And as someone else said, it's easy to sit here and second guess the pilot when we're not sitting in an 8,000 pound (or whatever it is) glider.

 

[FN FAL]

NTSB Identification: LAX05LA244
Nonscheduled 14 CFR Part 135: Air Taxi & Commuter
Accident occurred Friday, July 22, 2005 in Globe, AZ
Aircraft: Cessna 208B, registration: N717BT
Injuries: 1 Minor.​

This is preliminary information, subject to change, and may contain errors. Any errors in this report will be corrected when the final report has been completed.

On July 22, 2005, about 0830 mountain standard time, a Cessna 208B, N717BT, lost engine power after takeoff from San Carlos Apache Airport (P13), Globe, Arizona, and impacted the ground east of the airport. The airplane came to rest 1 mile from the Apache Gold Casino and 50 yards from Highway 70 on the San Carlos Indian Reservation. Tarene Leasing LLC, d.b.a. CorpJet/Baltimore Air Transport and contracted out to United Parcel Service (UPS), operated the airplane under the provisions of 14 CFR Part 135 as a cargo flight. The airplane sustained substantial damage. The airline transport pilot (ATP), the sole occupant, sustained minor injuries. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed for the cross-country flight. The flight's destination was Safford Regional Airport (SAD), Safford, Arizona. An instrument flight rules (IFR) flight plan had been filed.

The airplane departed Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport (PHX), Phoenix, Arizona, about 0700. The flight made a stop at Globe to drop off cargo. According to the pilot, on the takeoff climb out he heard a "big bang," and then the engine spooled down.

NTSB Identification: DFW05IA150.
The docket is stored in the Docket Management System (DMS). Please contact Public Inquiries
14 CFR Part 91: General Aviation
Incident occurred Tuesday, June 07, 2005 in Clarendon, TX
Probable Cause Approval Date: 9/13/2005
Aircraft: Cessna 208B, registration: N9505B
Injuries: 1 Uninjured.​

The engine of the turboprop cargo airplane ingested bird(s) into the engine intake while climbing to cruise altitude. The pilot made a successful forced landing into an open field following the total loss of engine power. Examination of the engine revealed foreign object damage to the compressor stator vanes.
The National Transportation Safety Board determines the probable cause(s) of this incident as follows:
The loss of total engine power due to damage of the compressor stator vanes caused by a foreign object. A contributing factor was an in-flight ingestion of bird(s).

NTSB Identification: SEA05FA074
Scheduled 14 CFR Part 135: Air Taxi & Commuter
Incident occurred Tuesday, April 12, 2005 in Roosevelt Roads, PR
Aircraft: Cessna 208B, registration: N1241X
Injuries: 4 Uninjured.​

This is preliminary information, subject to change, and may contain errors. Any errors in this report will be corrected when the final report has been completed.

On April 12, 2005, about 1130 Atlantic standard time, a Cessna Caravan 208B airplane, N1241X, experienced a total loss of engine power during a cross-county flight. Following the loss of power, the pilot successfully landed the airplane at Roosevelt Roads Naval Station, Roosevelt Roads, Puerto Rico. The airplane is registered to First Bank of Hazelwood, Missouri, and was being operated by MN Aviation, San Juan, Puerto Rico, as a Title 14, CFR Part 135, scheduled domestic passenger flight, when the incident occurred. The airline transport pilot (ATP) and three passengers aboard the airplane were not injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed and a visual flight rules (VFR) flight plan was activated. The flight originated from Vieques, Puerto Rico, approximately 20 minutes prior to the power failure and subsequent forced landing. The pilot's planned destination was San Juan, Puerto Rico.

 

[EatSleepFly]

Yes, ground the whole fleet because 2 airplanes crashed for apparently entirely different reasons within a month.

There is not really anything wrong with the Caravan. Of course, it's ungodly slow, and has some icing issues. The icing "issues" are even debatable. They are as much issues with how the aircraft is operated, as anything else.

From what I understand, maintenance at the feeders is generally pretty good. Engines fail sometimes, it happens. Perhaps it's best to wait to see what the NTSB finds out before going on an Mu-2 style witch hunt.

 

[EatSleepFly]

We just had a big pilot/management meeting about icing/winter operations. It was brought up that the feds have threatened or talked about threatening to pull the "known icing" certification off the CE-208.

Has anybody heard of such a thing regarding the Caravan?

I think that's just a rumor.

I just went to one of those Caravan icing seminars awhile back and nothing was mentioned about pulling the known ice certification. Of course, they might not be too keen on sharing that information as it would affect sales. If the FAA pulled the known icing certification, that would be devastating to a LOT of operators. I can't see that happening.

New Caravans have some different equipment now- an ice detector light, an annunciator for airspeed in icing conditions, and a larger plate for the windshield.