Seneca Crash at OUN

[DAS at 10/250]

Just got a call from an old friend,

A seneca crashed about 30 minutes ago into the University of Oklahoma flight department building. No injuries on the ground. RIP to the pilot.

Edit: the pilot was not an OU student. The pilot was said to be an older gentleman with considerable PA34 time.

 

[JonJohn82]

Very shocking and sad. There was a classroom full of students inside at the time.

 

[User546]

Oh no! We fly out of OUN pretty frequently. I've alway seen a red and white Seneca sitting out on the ramp that belonged to an older gentelman as well. Sure hope that wasn't him.

 

[User546]

Just found this on one of the Oklahoma City news sites - not much information yet.

One Dead In Norman Plane Crash
Witness Says He Saw Plane Clip Terminal Building Before Crashing

NORMAN, Okla. -- The Federal Aviation Administration confirmed Wednesday that at least one person is dead after a twin-engine plane crashed at the University of Oklahoma's Max Westheimer Airport in Norman.

A witness who works at a diner inside the terminal said he saw the plane take off and veer to the east before it clipped the northeast corner of the terminal building.

Cameron Quetone works at Ozzie's Diner inside the terminal facility. Quetone said he heard the engine stop just before the Piper Seneca twin-engine plane hit the corner of the building before it crashed on the east side.

Quetone told reporters that no injuries were reported inside the terminal.

Emergency officials were investigating at the scene late Wednesday.

Picture of the crash sight here:
http://www.newsok.com/

 

[JonJohn82]

I think that red and white Seneca that you're talking about is a buddy's of mine. The one that went down was different. Sad deal.

 

[inthewind]

RIP to the unfortunate pilot in this mishap. Four and a half years ago I had a similar experience to what it sounds like happened to this guy.
[/QUOTE]
Cameron Quetone works at Ozzie's Diner inside the terminal facility. Quetone said he heard the engine stop just before the Piper Seneca twin-engine plane hit the corner of the building before it crashed on the east side.

I lost the right engine in a PA-23-160 Apache just after takeoff. Low and slow and nowhere to go. The damn thing wouldn't climb cuz I was on a ferry flight and very heavy. It took everything I had to keep it out of the trees long enough to try to put it down in a farm field. Now it's in a junkyard in STL. I got to spend a month in the hospital after two hours waiting to be cut out of the beast. Anyway the feds told me that I deserved a medal for not killing anyone, myself included.
If what the diner guy said is correct then this guy probably didn't have much of a chance at all.



Live to ride, Ride to live.

 

[GravityHater]

I lost the right engine in a PA-23-160 Apache just after takeoff. Low and slow and nowhere to go. The dang thing wouldn't climb cuz I was on a ferry flight and very heavy.

Gol-dang, will an apache climb on one in any conditions? Nice job.

hey, is there an 'I survived an engine failure on T-O club"?

 

[jbDC9]

Gol-dang, will an apache climb on one in any conditions? Nice job.

hey, is there an 'I survived an engine failure on T-O club"?

Umm, yeah, sure, got my membership card around here somewhere... I guess I got lucky by losing one on a 310R, fairly lightweight on a cool morning. That thing climbed right up, around the patch and got my butt back on the ground in one piece. Nice to have 285 hp each side...

 

[FN FAL]

Umm, yeah, sure, got my membership card around here somewhere... I guess I got lucky by losing one on a 310R, fairly lightweight on a cool morning. That thing climbed right up, around the patch and got my butt back on the ground in one piece. Nice to have 285 hp each side...

Both of my partners and a passenger got to see one shut down after liftoff at night one winter, taking off from a small airport in Minnesota.

I never quite got the real story from them on "why" the engine quit, but they were able to get it re-lit after they got things settled down.

This was in a turbocharged 320 Skyknight. I think if I had a choice of which piston twin that I would be in at takeoff during an engine failure, I think I would have to say the 300 series Cessna would be the one.

 

[FLav8r]

Ive lost an engine in flight in a C172SP. There is an AD for the problem. Pull the power to idle and the engine stops. Had to put it into a field and the plane was substantially damaged. Me and the other guy had cuts, bruises and mild sprains but we were treated and released.

 

[hoop]

From this morning's Daily Oklahoman............



NORMAN — A longtime Norman surgeon was killed when the twin-engine plane he was piloting crashed Wednesday as it tried to land at Max Westheimer Airport.

Emergency workers look over the wreckage of a deadly plane crash Wednesday at Norman's Max Westheimer Airport. Authorities said Dr. Robert Spector was killed when the plane he was piloting crashed. Photo by Ty Russell

Dr. Robert Spector, 62, was arriving from Austin, Texas, when the crash occurred, Deputy Fire Chief James Fullingim said.

The Piper Seneca PA-34 clipped the terminal and nose-dived into the ground about 4:25 p.m., Fullingim said.

"The Norman Regional Hospital family is deeply saddened by the passing of Dr. Robert Spector," hospital President David Whitaker said.

"Dr. Spector was a highly regarded and respected surgeon on Norman Regional's medical staff. His compassionate caring will be greatly missed. Our thoughts and prayers are with Dr. Spector's family."

Officials with the Federal Aviation Administration and the National Safety Transportation Board remained on the scene Wednesday night investigating the crash. A cause of the accident had not been determined.

Blanchard residents Ty Breckenridge and Lenore Wilde were watching from Ozzie's Diner inside the airport terminal as the plane came in.

Breckenridge said the plane was flying through a crosswind when it tipped right and struck the tarmac with its nose wheel.

"Then the right wheel hit and bounced him back up. It looked like he tried to give it full throttle to bank and climb back up but he didn't make it," Breckenridge said.

The plane cleared the top of the north side of the building but went down when one wing clipped the south edge, Breckenridge said.

"It sounded really loud," said Cameron Quetone, an employee at Ozzie's Diner. "We heard the engine stop and then he just nicked the corner of the building."

Wilde said it was her first trip to Max Westheimer.

"We just decided to have coffee and watch the planes come in. I never expected anything like this," Wilde said.

Flight instructor Parker Ferguson, who saw the plane go down, was the first one to reach the wreckage.

"He was alive. He opened his eyes for about 15 seconds. Then he was gone," Ferguson said.

FAA records show the plane is registered to NDI Airplane LLC. The company's registered agent is Marion Charles Bauman, a Norman attorney.

Records show Spector received a commercial license with single- and multi-engine ratings in March 2004. He had had no prior accidents.

Spector has practiced medicine in Norman since 1974 and has held numerous offices on the Norman Regional Hospital staff, according to the hospital's Web site.

Raised in Beaumont, Texas, Spector attended Lamar University and Southwestern Medical School. He was board-certified in general and vascular surgery.

RIP

 

[FN FAL]

What is it with Doctors, twin engine piston aircraft and crosswinds?

There was a Cessna 303 or 340 sitting at Meigs a few years ago that was damaged in a bad landing. The windshield was popped out, there were dimples in the fuselage above the wings, the flaps couldn't be retracted and the props were unusually rolled back at the tips. If I remember correctly, there was some flat tires as well. Line guy said a regular customer (Dr.) owned the plane and was trying to sue the tower guys for "clearing" him to land.

 

[User546]

Very sad to read. Our sympathy and condolenses certainly go out to his family.

To one of our own, may the pilot RIP.

 

[joe_pilot]

RIP to the pilot. I've seen 3 incidents at OUN. A cherokee got blown off the runway, a guy crashed his mooney that he bought off ebay (no joke) when he had engine failure at 300 feet and decided to turn back to the runway. The third one I saw from up close. I had to land a 172RG gear-up when the left main actuator broke.

Condolences to the family.

 

[JonJohn82]

OUN is busy place.

 

[MFRskyknight]

What a world. I live in Norman and was up at OUN yesterday about 2 hours before this happened. Saw it on the news. Man, that's sad.

 

[JonJohn82]

It is crazy. I just happened to not be teaching that day.

 

[hotwings402]

Gol-dang, will an apache climb on one in any conditions? Nice job.

hey, is there an 'I survived an engine failure on T-O club"?

Yea it'll climb if you do EVERYTHING right and your not too heavy. I flew one (regular engines 150hp) with long range tanks which was like 108 gallons of fuel. When checked up by a old timer he pulled the mixture on take off at 50 feet and I had to bring it around the pattern, it'll do it but very carefully. Thats two people. Have the long range tanks full and 3-4 people in the thing and you could be screwed (four you are for sure). Its not nearly as good as a seneca or even a seminole. The apache also has a low high VMC that could kill you, its like 20 mph above stall speed.

 

[JeffG]

Yeah, I was actually AT the airport about two office rooms down from the wall that the plane hit. Me, as well as two assitant chief instructors were just sitting around talking about random things when we heard the plane and looked out the open window and saw the shadow pass from left ot right over the parking lot. Then we saw some stuff fly off from the right and we heard a low crash. One of the chiefs said, "Somebody's crashing into our building!" and so we ran the opposite way and turned down a hallway. Ppl came from everywhere with fire extinguishers. Some guys ran out of the FBO saying, "Its Bob!"

Well I went out the side doors and a handful of people were gathering at the site. I couldn't see the plane because he was behind the wall, but I saw debris the looks on the peoples faces. As I rounded the corner I saw the Seneca upright, nose into the ground. Tree branches down all around it, and the most disturbing was the pilot hanging by his seatbelt...arms limp in front of him and head down. The cockpit was completely destroyed and wide open. Almost half of his body was in plain view.

Some people were screaming 911, others were yelling for towels, it was like an out of body experience.

Anyways, by the time the paramedics got there..he was already dead. NTSB has been out here quite a bit lately, and I think they are ready to get the plane out of there. The cause is starting to get a little more clear. Originally, people thought he lost an engine on takeoff. But the NTSB found 22 prop strikes on the runway that he was landing on. So my unofficial guess is, he hit the nosewheel first...kind of wheel barrowed onto the right main and struck the prop. Maybe he kinda panicked and went full power with both engines. Right engine was giving him nothing and went yawing and rolling to the right. He was heading straight for our restaurant in the terminal building, but pulled up over it...stalled out above hit, rolled to the right and his right wing hit the corner of the building I was in. Then he went nose down just east of the wall. About 10 feet from the sidewalk people walk on everyday, 5 feet (or less) from the building, and right on top of the table that our secretaries sit and smoke on their breaks.

A miracle that no one on the ground was hurt, and i'm glad he at least pulled up to save the many ppl inside of the restaurant.

NTSB will have a prelim report in about 3 days I think.

 

[User546]

We dropped some passengers off at OUN this evening, so I took a few minutes to visit the crash site and pay a silent tribute to our brother in flight who had tragically left us.

As I stood there, I noticed on a table that was just a few feet from the main impact, there was a pair of broken glasses laying there.

The "personal-ness" of the glasses really gave me a heavy heart, so I took a photo and I wanted to share it with you all. We always need to remember after an accident like this where people are quick to blame the pilot and talk bad about his decisions - right or wrong, a fellow pilot still lost his life, and that's the far greater thing.

http://www.bartnet.net/~jmt/pict0183.jpg