Mid-Air Collision

[IP076]

12 News just reported a Mid-Air collision between a Mig-21 and a Piper Cheyenne near Chino Valley, AZ.

The Mig 21 successfully landed at KPRC. 5 people were fatally injured in the Cheyenne.

You can listen to an audio archive here:

http://archive-server.liveatc.net/kprc/KPRC-Oct-18-2006-2030Z.mp3

The Cheyenne takes off very close to the beginning of the tape. The Mig calls back about 18-20 minutes into it.

I suggest we keep the monday morning quarterbacking to a minimum. No one is quite sure what exactly happened...

Prayers go out to the families of all those involved...

 

[Makesheepnervus]

Intersting tape, from the sound of it the cheyene and the mig were making an improvised photo shoot. After take-off you hear the cheyene say that he is going to hold overhead and wait for the mig, later you hear the tower say we are getting ready for a "special operation here". When the mig (experimental 21UT) takes position it sounds like the cheyene joins pattern for rwy 3. Later when the Mig is heading straight out on 3 he states "I'm going to be working with the cheyene"

When the Mig does call back in he simply states his position, and says he has lost visual and radio contact with the mig and can see a smoke collumn on the ground and then asks if the tower is recieving an ELT.

I can only guess that the mig was unaware that he'd had a mid air, as he doesn't seem to be in any hurry to get back to the airport, and it is only in his last transmission that he asks to make a low pass to check for damage.

Also interesting, but probably unrelated is the tower telling the cheyene after takeoff that he sees "what apppears to be smoke coming from your left(right?) engine cowling", the pilot acknowledges this and dismisses it as coming from some water in the cowling.

 

[YourNameHere]

Five dead in plane crash near Prescott


PRESCOTT, Ariz. -- Five people were killed Wednesday afternoon when a twin-engine plane on a flight to take pictures of a vintage Soviet jet fighter crashed east of Prescott, a federal official said.
A twin-engine Piper Cheyenne and a MiG-21 fighter took off from the Prescott airport about 1:30 p.m. for a photo shoot, said Ian Gregor, a spokesman for the Federal Aviation Administration.
As the Piper was climbing on takeoff, an air traffic controller radioed the pilot to warn him that vapor was seen coming from the right hand engine, Gregor said. The pilot radioed back that he believed there was no problem.
About 20 minutes into the flight, the MiG pilot told investigators he thought he had a problem with a landing gear door. The pilot of the Cheyenne then flew in closer for an inspection, Gregor said.
The MiG pilot said the Cheyenne never reappeared after flying under his jet and radioed air traffic controllers there may have been a mid-air collision at about 8,900 feet. But Gregor said there was no sign of damage on the jet after it landed safely at Prescott.
Searchers spotted a large column of smoke and found the Cheyenne destroyed in a crash. There were no survivors.
Investigators from the FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board will investigate the accident. Prescott is about 60 miles north of Phoenix.


http://kvoa.com/Global/story.asp?S=5558743

 

[The_Russian]

OMG it was 21UT!!!! Godspeed!

 

[The_Russian]

http://www.jetphotos.net/viewphoto.php?id=554050

Here is a pic. The FAA website says the registration expired last year (2005).

Temporary Certificate

Certificate Number T047211 Issue Date12/15/2004 Expiration Date01/14/2005

 

[C601]

update

http://kvoa.com/Global/story.asp?S=5564222

 

[Big Duke Six]

Terrible.

I got the feeling that the controller never fully realized what had just happened. He never asked the Mig if he needed any assistance while orbiting the crash site, and was directing the Mig as if nothing happened after that. Even when the Mig called in requesting the low approach, so the tower could look him over for his gear problem, the tower responded as if the Mig was just coming back in for the standard (since he had been in town for the last two weeks participating in the airshow) high speed, low approach. You can hear the excitement in the controllers' voice when he clears him for it with "no altitude restriction". You can almost hear the nervousness and anguish in the Mig pilots' voice before he comes back in, as the reality of what he believes just happened goes unsaid.

A sad day. RIP guys.

 

[Gorilla]

Godspeed. Lesson: Don't do formation unless expertly trained. Maybe they were. Stuff like this still happens.

 

[erj-145mech]

From aero-news.net

It may have not been a mid air that caused the PA-31T to crash:

Cheyenne Down In Arizona


Mid-Air With MiG-21 On Photo Flight Believed Not The Cause

http://www.aero-news.net/#A twin-engine Piper Cheyennne on a photo mission with a MiG-21 went down near Prescott, AZ early Wednesday afternoon, killing a confirmed five and possibly six people. While early reports suggested there was a mid-air collision, it appears now that the Cheyenne did not clip the Mig and crashed for undetermined reasons.
The two aircraft took off from Prescott airport about 60 miles north of Phoenix to photograph the Soviet-designed Mig before it flew on to an airshow, said Ian Gregor, an FAA spokesman.
He explained to the Associated Press that Mig pilot, Bob Ray, told investigators he thought he had a problem with his landing gear door about 20 minutes into the flight. He asked the Cheyenne's pilot to inspect the gear door, and the Cheyenne flew underneath but never appeared on the other side.
The Mig pilot then called Air Traffic Control to report a possible collision at 8,900 feet.
The FAA spokesman said a cursory inspection on the ground showed no sign of damage to the fighter.
Ray has flown his MiG-21 for about two years after a career as a Naval Aviator and claimed that he was not performing any unusual maneuvers before the accident. He was forced to cancel his plans to fly in the Goodyear Balloon and Air Spectacular because of the investigation the AP reports.
Prescott tower controllers had earlier warned the Cheyenne’s pilot of vapor trailing from his right engine on departure. They say the pilot responded he felt it wasn't a problem.
A large column of smoke from the fire aided search crews in locating the Cheyenne’s wreckage 16 miles northwest of Prescott. "The plane was completely burned up," said John Ginn, fire district chief for Chino Valley north of Prescott. "The only thing left was a small section of tail and two engines. There was very little discernible" he told the AP.
Scott Reed, a spokesman for the Yavapai County Sheriff's Office, said the medical examiner's office will determine exactly who and how many were on the plane. It is possible there was a sixth person on board.

http://www.aero-news.net/#​

"It's fair to say that we have an idea who may have been on the plane, but we can't release names until we have positive identification," he said.
The FAA and the NTSB are on the scene and are investigating the accident.
FMI: www.ntsb.gov

 

[The_Russian]

It would be hard for a MiG 21 to take damage from hitting a Cheyenne. There is a lot of steel in that MiG.

The controller would have had no clue as to whether or not there was actually a mid-air. I would have expected that he would have alerted the MiG that he has called the authorities. If he did, I missed it.

 

[Rally]

You'd have to have alot of water in the cowlings or wings to make spray visible enough for a controller to notice it. Wonder if it was fuel?

 

[The_Russian]

If it was fuel, the Cheyenne pilot would have had time for a distress call.

 

[TR4A]

Looks like there were two SWA retired pilots on that aircraft.

 

[ACT700]

I found this on A-net. http://www.airliners.net/open.file?...b_vq QRFP&photo_nr=1&prev_id=&next_id=0885549

Condolences.

 

[Rally]

Looks like wings, tail, props engines are all there.

 

[The_Russian]

No trail to the accident.

Flat Spin?????

 

[gsrcrsx68]

One of the news articles said the tail or tail parts were elsewhere.

 

[Fearless Tower]

No trail to the accident.

Flat Spin?????

I'm no NTSB investigator, but it sure looks like it dropped straight down in a level attitude with zero forward motion. Flat spin is the only thing I can think of.

 

[Rally]

I was always under the impression that if you lost your tail you would pretty much nose dive straight over. Of course I'm not sure what would happen to this aircraft if the vertical just came off. That could probably flat spin it. Wierd accident for sure.

 

[Big Duke Six]

It looks like there is some debris behind the final resting spot, and possibly what look to be sliding marks leading up to the wreck, especialy behind the left wing. It's hard to say. The desert floor out there is probably fairly hard, so there may not be many marks anyway.

It's weird that there were no distress calls either.