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Engine Failure

Attempting the “impossible turn” proves fatal in Florida

On Friday afternoon, a small plane crashed into a parking lot after developing engine trouble shortly after taking off from the Fort Lauderdale Executive Airport. All three people onboard were killed with no injuries on the ground.

According to Terry Knowles who owns the repossession lot, six of the destroyed vehicles were repos with the seventh being his own truck. His boat, mud buggy and camper were also destroyed while several other vehicles sustained lesser fire damage. Terry also indicated that he and one of his employees were in the lot at the time, which is part of a busy industrial area filled with warehouses and stores; but luckily they were not injured in the accident.

Apparently and in part according to Terry’s eyewitness account, the pilot made a classic pilot mistake: His engine failed after takeoff and he attempted to make the so-called “impossible turn” back to the airport. You can see some of our past articles about the impossible turn here with one of our articles quoting a pilot as saying:

…if the engine ever really did quit on takeoff below 500 feet, the best thing to do is just land straight ahead. Once you get above 500 feet (and get some airspeed) your options improve greatly, to maybe include a return to the field.

In other words, the pilot might have been better off trying to find a road or something to land straight ahead on, but he or she was flying over a well developed area and its probably to early to second guess the pilot’s decision making until an actual investigation by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is concluded.

The Associated Press article posted on Yahoo! also listed several other high-profile crashes at the Fort Lauderdale Executive Airport over the last decade with the latest incident no doubt going to lead to more scrutiny of the airport.

Failure to land at the closest airport proves fatal

General Aviation News will often reprint accident reports from the US’s National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), including one dated January 2010 about an accident involving a Beech B60 in Madison (Alabama) that caused two fatalities.

Apparently, 15 minutes after take-off at an altitude of 6,000 feet, the Beech B60’s right engine experienced a catastrophic engine failure with the nearest airport suitable for landing being about 10 miles away. Instead of flying to this nearby airport, the pilot instead decided to return to the departure airport which happened to be 30 miles away.

He did not make it. The aircraft crashed and burned three miles from the intended airport for the emergency landing.

An accident investigation uncovered a 5 1/2- by 6-inch hole in the top right portion of the crankcase and that the No. 2 cylinder of the right engine had separated from the crankcase during the flight. In addition, two No. 2 cylinder studs were found to have fatigue fractures along with a portion of the right side of the crankcase plus some of the cylinder hold-down studs exceeded the manufacturer’s specified length.

It had also been 50 hours and 8 months since the aircraft had its most recent annual inspection plus the right engine had not been overhauled for about 1,425 hours and it was 455 hours since the No. 2 cylinder was removed for the replacement of the six cylinder studs.

Nevertheless, the probable cause of the accident was ruled the pilot’s failure to return to the closest airport after a catastrophic engine failure due to fatigue cracks and separation. 

Preparing for an inflight engine failure

An inflight engine failure is a serious emergency and its something that every pilot needs to be prepared for and to practice simulating. Hence, a recent video put together by Jason Schappert for his MzeroA site is well worth watching as Jason explains how to be prepared for and to simulate an inflight engine failure.

In the video, Jason outlined the ABCs of an inflight engine failure emergency. Specifically, he covered:

  • A: Airspeed
  • B: Best landing area
  • C: Checklist (specifically a quick inflight emergency check to troubleshoot the problem)

Jason emphasized the need to be cool, calm and collective and not to get tunnel vision when looking for a place to make an emergency landing because the best place to land may in fact be right below you or behind you – especially if you are flying over an urban or forested area. He also noted that you will need to get onto a control frequency in order to find someone who could be of real assistance to you. Finally, Jason talked about the need to put yourself in position at the 500 feet or 150 meter level to make a safe landing.

At the end of the video, Jason invited viewers to share their thoughts in the comments section about any experiences they may have had that involved an inflight engine failure or any suggestions they have for a pilot who faces such a situation.

Engine failure and incipient spin video

We have recently posted a couple of posts concerning what to do or not to do should you experience an engine failure right after take-off. However, Blake, the blogger behind the Fly With Blake blog, has just posted a video showing a textbook example of what can and will likely go wrong if you attempt to return to the airport at to low of an altitude after an engine failure immediately after take-off.

Unfortunately, the pilot and his acrobatic partner were both killed in the crash and we should warn you, the video is graphic.

Engine failure on takeoff and the impossible turn

Jason Schappert has posted the second video in his series about engine failures after takeoff. In part one, he had explained what to do if an engine quits at a low altitude while in part two, he moves on to what happens when there is no usable runway left and then he covers the topic of so-called “impossible turns.”

Regarding impossible turns, Jason says that if you are flying below 1,000 feet, you should not even think about trying to turn back but if you are flying at 1,000 feet or above, then you can consider it. He also makes the interesting point that while you my not make the runway, you will at least be on airport property (that is, in the example he used).

Moreover and as we mentioned in a recent post (How impossible is the impossible turn?), there are situations where the impossible turn can be performed but it can really depend on the circumstances and the pilot’s training. After all and as Bruce Mamont commented in the post’s comment’s section:

Learning how to execute, the right altitude and practice are critical. It shouldn’t be attempted on the strength of reading an article, blog, or listening to hanger talk; I’d hope that all of the above might inspire a desire to seek out competent instruction.

A point definitely worth noting!

How to avoid aircraft stalls

Stalls can be scary but with proper instruction and practice, they can largely be avoided. Hence, a recent post written by Jason Schappert is well worth reading. In his post, Jason writes about the three places where he has seen his students struggle and thus, greatly increase their odds of an inadvertent stall. These places are:

Jason does an excellent job of briefly explaining the mistakes he often sees his students and other pilots doing in the cockpit.

However, if you want a more humorous discussion of this otherwise series topic, Episode 9 from the Profpilot.co.uk’s (“The Cheerful Flight Training Site”) “How to Fly a Plane (Reasonably Successful)” series takes a more “lighthearted” approach to the topic of stalls:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ItMgrp8Cgfg[/youtube]