NTSB report up on Monarch Air accident

[Whirlwind]

Well, it would seem our first thoughts on what happened were not correct. While this is an inital report, it does dispute the first thoughts we all had.

http://www.ntsb.gov/ntsb/brief.asp?ev_id=20030711X01067&key=1

What is interesting it that the bird strike does not appear to have taken out the engine, and they did have power after it hit them.

This leaves me completely clueless as to why this prevented them from maintaining altitude if the bird hit 12 inches outboard of the left wing landing/taxi light.

Reading the radio transmissions, I'm now quite puzzled over the whole thing. Very weird.

 

[VampyreGTX]

Well, it all depends on what kind of birdstrike it was. There is a possibility that the amount of damage from the birdstrike was pretty significant, especially to a Cessna. If it was a large bird (do you guys have very large birds in that area?) I almost hit a Bald Eagle one time in Florida and I knwo a bird that size impacting the wing could possibly effect the aerodynamics of the wing.

Is it possible that the impact caused this? Meaning, the 'dent' was so significant that it cause enough drag to make the plane difficult to maintain straight-and-level? (Possibly creating a slip condition that results in loss of altitude?) I'm leaning to this as it appears there was some type of loss of control. The 60' energy path means they impacted the ground with some decent velocity and not in a proper emergency field landing attitude (slow and soft). Granted, nerves would be frayed in this situation, but the description of the damage also indicates nose low and possibly wing low as well.

A friend got hit by a vulture through the windscreen of a 172 and was knocked out and suffered a major concussion. Didn't regain consciousness until the hospital. Imagine the instructor having to fly and with a shattered windscreen, the student laying there bleeding and unsconscious and a dead turkey vulture laying in the cabin....

 

[fLYbUDDY]

A friend got hit by a vulture through the windscreen of a 172 and was knocked out and suffered a major concussion. Didn't regain consciousness until the hospital. Imagine the instructor having to fly and with a shattered windscreen, the student laying there bleeding and unsconscious and a dead turkey vulture laying in the cabin....

That sucks! It's a good thing the instructor didn't get nailed also(which is kinda surprising considering the small cockpit area of a 172).