Crash in MN

[rightrudder]

Just heard on news that a King Air crashed in MN, and that tailnumber of a/c was plane used by MN Senator Paul Wellstone. They do not yet know if he was on board.

 

[jetexas]

He was on board. 8 people died. ; (

Bulletin: Sen. Paul Wellstone Dies in Plane Crash, CNN confirms -- Details to Come
EVELETH, Minn. (Oct. 25) - A plane chartered by Sen. Paul Wellstone, D-Minn., crashed Friday and all eight aboard died, a Transportation Department official said.

The plane went down two miles from a runway in a wooded area, according to officials. Greg Martin, a spokesman for the FAA, said eight people died in the crash.

Several Democratic officials said Wellstone had not been heard from in several hours.

Officials in Wellstone's campaign office could not be reached immediately.

One Democratic official said Wellstone's schedule for the day included a chartered flight to Eveleth, where he was to attend a funeral.

 

[skyking1976]

I heard that they were trying their 2nd approach. WX was OVC007 and rainy, probably icing too.

 

[JimNtexas]

decoded METAR:

KEVM 10/25 12:14 PM LIFR 5 sm Light Snow Overcast 400' 140 (SE) at 3 kt 35.6°F 33.8°F 30.03" 93%

 

[JJJ]

Has anyone seen any so called "Aviation Experts" yet on the news yet. It seems like there are always "experts" on tv speculating what caused the accident.

 

[Fast8945]

As far as the aviation expert goes= YES, miles obrien. He talked about the leading edge of the King Air 200 (unknown what type of aircraft except a KING AIR). He was talking about how ice doesn't build up on th leading edge because of the "boots".

Can someone tell me though, can't ice build up in the flaps and ailerons? Thanks.

Also, can someone interpert the weather statement. Thank you for your help.

 

[jetexas]

Fast8945..

KEVM 10/25 12:14 PM LIFR 5 sm Light Snow Overcast 400' 140 (SE) at 3 kt 35.6°F 33.8°F 30.03" 93%
KEVM - airport code
10/25 - date
LIFR - Low IFR
5 sm - 5 statute mile visibility (not bad)
overcast 400 feet
140 - wind direction
35.6 degrees F/ 33.8 degrees F - temp, dew point spread. the closer this is, the lower the ceilings (usually).
30.03 pressure
93% - humidity

You can definitely get a lot of ice even with boots. If you wait too long to pop the boots, you can run into problems, too fast, you can have problems too. boots are no guarantee, especially if you get into severe icing.
Ice generally does not get past the boots, unless you are in severe icing where all bets are off. The water can then streak back along the wing and freeze there.

 

[sydeseet]

I'm just glad that CNN has something new to report now that the sniper is caught. Nothing like a good ol' fashioned plane crash to tie up cable news for at least a week or so. I wonder what they'll suggest this time:
Not flying when it's "bad weather?"
Not flying airplanes that can crash?
They'll probably suggest that all King Air's be grounded until they find the problem because they're sure this is an inherent flaw in the airplane, they don't just crash for no good reason!!!!
Maybe political figures shouldn't use those "fly by night" charter operators with the otherwise impecable safety record, that'll help.
If all else fails they can always call it pilot error.....

Anybody remember the "death spiral" that killed JFK Jr? Or the proposal by the "experts" that non-licensed pilots not be allowed to touch the controls at low altitudes after the Jessica D-something crash a few years ago???

Cable news and their "experts" needs to be outlawed like asbestos in buildings, it has the same affect.

Sorry, just a little ranting about the media and aviation. I'm not making light of the accident at all, bad things happen sometimes.

 

[azpilot]

With weather at 400' overcast and no precision approach in snow it seems like they should not have been shooting the approach.

Sad. Hopefully no lawsuits will result of this and I give my sympathy to the families involved.

- AZPilot

 

[AlphEcho]

All the recent word that I've heard from the FAA is that that whole theory about ice "bridging" around the boots is total myth. In all their experiments they have never been able to make that happen, therefore I doubt that was the cause of this accident. However it is a pretty cold and icing-conducive day here in MN, and icing could have been a factor. Evelyth is out in the middle of nowhere, and it appears that weather was below minimums for that airport at the time of the crash. I met the pilots of the airplane and saw the aircraft when Wellstone was in MKT a couple weeks ago. One real young guy and an older guy, both very friendly. It's a real tragedy for sure.