Two dead, two injured in light aircraft crash in Phuket

[rooster59]

Two dead, two injured in light aircraft crash in Phuket 

Eakkapop Thongtub

 

The crash took place at about 10:30am this morning. Photo: Eakkapop Thongtub
 

PHUKET: Two people have died and another two have been seriously injured when a light aircraft crashed on a plot of land in Pa Khlok earlier today (Mar 10).

 

Capt Nattee Pichitchainitimet of the Thalang Police, who is at the scene, confirmed to a The Phuket News reporter that the incident took place at about 10:30am today and involved a Butterfly 05 (HS-PMS) light aircraft belonging to the Siam Aviation Association (SAA).

 

Capt Nattee confirmed that the two injured persons were students from the Thalang Technical College’s aviation maintenance department while the pilot and a third passenger were pronounced dead at the scene.

 

Full story: https://www.thephuketnews.com/two-dead-two-injured-in-light-aircraft-crash-in-phuket-66295.php#xZTqwmlWM6oOVW51.97

 

 

-- © Copyright Phuket News 2018-03-10

[Guest]

Photos from the crash site

 

 

 

[I wonder]

Hard to believe that J450 was a high wing configuration a/c similar to Cessna 150.

Miracle anyone survived that impact. 

 

[ozfarang]

The type of aircraft involved in this accident. Jabiru J450

 

 

It looks as though the aircraft impacted the ground with a very high vertical speed and virtually no forward speed. 

 

RIP to the two souls who perished.

 

 

[uffe123]

Don"t know what happened but sad. Evidently maybe no pre-check before flight? I  always did it by the book and have many hours in a Bonanza. There again maybe engine problems, but you can glide those light planes for a long time without power.

[VocalNeal]

I was taken for a flight by a guy called Frank Reick in a Bonanza down the Hudson river and around the statue of Liberty. He claimed he invented the "security" widget for over the undercarriage switch which was next to the flaps switch. So one didn't accidentally raise the undercarriage on the ground. 

Edited March 10, 2018 by VocalNeal

[RichardColeman]

3 hours ago, rooster59 said:

Capt Nattee confirmed that the two injured persons were students from the Thalang Technical College’s aviation maintenance department

Oh dear !

[Guest]

43 minutes ago, uffe123 said:

Don"t know what happened but sad. Evidently maybe no pre-check before flight? I  always did it by the book and have many hours in a Bonanza. There again maybe engine problems, but you can glide those light planes for a long time without power.

The pilot was former 747 captain. Next to him was an aviator instructor. Both experienced pilots.

 

The rumour at the site was that the engine had problems, plane stalled and dropped down. 

[midas]

1 hour ago, uffe123 said:

Don"t know what happened but sad. Evidently maybe no pre-check before flight? I  always did it by the book and have many hours in a Bonanza. There again maybe engine problems, but you can glide those light planes for a long time without power.

You will recall that was even part of the test (or it was when I did it at Cranfield airfield in the UK years ago)

[midas]

46 minutes ago, oilinki said:

The pilot was former 747 captain. Next to him was an aviator instructor. Both experienced pilots.

 

The rumour at the site was that the engine had problems, plane stalled and dropped down. 

Well that is unbelievable  surprise because as I mentioned earlier we were taught never to be intimidated by the prospect of landing without the engine

[Guest]

10 minutes ago, midas said:

Well that is unbelievable  surprise because as I mentioned earlier we were taught never to be intimidated by the prospect of landing without the engine

At this area, small planes constantly fly at very low altitudes. The crash site was about 300 meters from the airfield.

https://goo.gl/maps/WXXyc8zr7jy

 

There was no signs that the plane had any forward movement when it crashed. 

 

[Daffy D]

Probably nothing to do with this incident.

 

Many years ago in Kenya when international Jumbo pilots made stopovers in Nairobi they would sometimes wander down to the local flying club and get some of the local "Kenya Cowboys" let them fly their small planes "just to keep their hand in"

 

Obviously they were all seasoned pilots and quickly got back into handling a small plane, except when it came to landing. They were used to sitting 30 odd feet off the ground in the Jumbo cockpit that their ground perception was a bit off when landing a small plane so near the ground.

 

There were a few close calls but, as far as I recall never an accident.

 

As I said probably nothing to do with this story but maybe an interesting anecdote for some.

[jenny2017]

Here's a more detailed report about the accident.

 

“The aircraft took off the ground at 10:05am. The aircraft then flew around the airpark. Ten minutes later as the aircraft was going to land the wind got stronger so the captain decided to fly around.
 

 

         https://www.thephuketnews.com/investigation-underway-into-phuket-light-aircraft-crash-66301.php#jdTEA836AwV4QeUi.97

Edited March 10, 2018 by metisdead
Edited as per fair use policy: 14) You will not post any copyrighted material except as fair use laws apply (as in the case of news articles). Please only post a link, the headline and the first three sentences.

[Outbackoz]

Wonder who built the aircraft and certified it? (430/450 sold in kit form) 

 

[fantom]

Agree no foreward speed at impact and high vertical speed.

Note prop shows no sign of power at impact.

That Jabiru must have been close to all up weight.

Wind conditions appear speculative but suggestive of gusts and increasing low level turbulance.

[MrY]

1 hour ago, Daffy D said:

Probably nothing to do with this incident.

 

Many years ago in Kenya when international Jumbo pilots made stopovers in Nairobi they would sometimes wander down to the local flying club and get some of the local "Kenya Cowboys" let them fly their small planes "just to keep their hand in"

 

Obviously they were all seasoned pilots and quickly got back into handling a small plane, except when it came to landing. They were used to sitting 30 odd feet off the ground in the Jumbo cockpit that their ground perception was a bit off when landing a small plane so near the ground.

 

There were a few close calls but, as far as I recall never an accident.

 

As I said probably nothing to do with this story but maybe an interesting anecdote for some.

 

I also wouldn't go fly a small plane after flying a jet without taking an instructor (or at least another pilot) with me just to tell me to keep on going down on flare. There's definitely a "pucker factor", it feels like your ass is scraping the ground when you're still 10 feet off the ground...

 

That said, I fully concur with the ones noting there seems to have been zero forward speed on impact as the pilot seems to have stalled the aircraft. If indeed the engine quit, then it is pilot error not to pitch down to maintain airspeed. That should be the very first reaction regardless the type of aircraft. He seems to have had an instructor with him, was he so intimidated by the Sky-God's experience level that he didn't react?

[Inepto Cracy]

RIP to Capt Wattana and the instructor. Condolences to their families and friends. I was present when this new aircraft arrived at Pa Klok.

May the survivors have a quick recovery.

Edited March 10, 2018 by Inepto Cracy
add

[Psimbo]

I see the normal conjecture and completely irrelevant comments have started (WT Heck does an incident in the US involving a plane with a retractable undercart have to do with this?)

 

3 friends were approximately 300m away when it went overhead with the engine sounding rough, comment from one was 'that doesn't sound too healthy'. There was a silence for a few seconds then the explosion/bang as it hit the ground.

 

Apparently loads of rubberneckers didn't help the emergency services getting there and on the volunteer's video you can see Somchai's taxi pootle-ing along and not getting out of the way of two ambulances. I wish they would record the VRNs on Dashcams and report these inconsiderate idiots to the cops for action. 

 

As for the exact circumstances of the crash I will wait for the report as opposed to armchair analysis. 

[MrY]

3 hours ago, Psimbo said:

I see the normal conjecture and completely irrelevant comments have started (WT Heck does an incident in the US involving a plane with a retractable undercart have to do with this?)

 

3 friends were approximately 300m away when it went overhead with the engine sounding rough, comment from one was 'that doesn't sound too healthy'. There was a silence for a few seconds then the explosion/bang as it hit the ground.

 

Apparently loads of rubberneckers didn't help the emergency services getting there and on the volunteer's video you can see Somchai's taxi pootle-ing along and not getting out of the way of two ambulances. I wish they would record the VRNs on Dashcams and report these inconsiderate idiots to the cops for action. 

 

As for the exact circumstances of the crash I will wait for the report as opposed to armchair analysis. 

 

What incident in the U.S.? The commentary has been pretty spot-on so far. The only conjecture being the "evidently maybe no pre-check" post. "If indeed, then" comments don't quite qualify as speculation either.

 

As to waiting for accident report, you may have years to wait. This is Thailand after all. If there ever will be a final report, it is not a given that it will be publicly available. Some of them will leave you scratching your head as to what they are trying to say or how did they arrive to their 'conclusions'.

 

In any case, R.I.P.

[MrY]

5 hours ago, MrY said:

 

I also wouldn't go fly a small plane after flying a jet without taking an instructor (or at least another pilot) with me just to tell me to keep on going down on flare. There's definitely a "pucker factor", it feels like your ass is scraping the ground when you're still 10 feet off the ground...

 

That said, I fully concur with the ones noting there seems to have been zero forward speed on impact as the pilot seems to have stalled the aircraft. If indeed the engine quit, then it is pilot error not to pitch down to maintain airspeed. That should be the very first reaction regardless the type of aircraft. He seems to have had an instructor with him, was he so intimidated by the Sky-God's experience level that he didn't react?

 

Seems like the "aviation instructor" in the front seat was an aviation maintenance instructor (according to Phuket News), so one pilot and three passengers after all.

[Psimbo]

13 hours ago, MrY said:

 

What incident in the U.S.? The commentary has been pretty spot-on so far. The only conjecture being the "evidently maybe no pre-check" post. "If indeed, then" comments don't quite qualify as speculation either.

 

As to waiting for accident report, you may have years to wait. This is Thailand after all. If there ever will be a final report, it is not a given that it will be publicly available. Some of them will leave you scratching your head as to what they are trying to say or how did they arrive to their 'conclusions'.

 

In any case, R.I.P.

I refer you to post #6- as far as I am aware the Hudson is in New York, not Phuket. We also have comment about a crash in Kenya- both totally irrelevant. 

 

'A lack of pre-checks'?- 2 flights had already been conducted without any issues.

 

Accident reports have taken up to a year in the past- as did the one when the fighter crashed last year.

 

Some of your comments are pure conjecture (comments like 'seems like'), posts #16  and 20 refer. 

[PETERTHEEATER]

Why have news reports referred to the aircraft type as a Butterfly 05?

[MrY]

8 hours ago, PETERTHEEATER said:

Why have news reports referred to the aircraft type as a Butterfly 05?

 

Because that is what they see written on the side of the aircraft. The actual type of the aircraft is/was Jabiru 450. Jabiru builds factory-built (certified) airplanes, kitplanes, and their own engines. The 450 is built from a kit with a Jabiru engine, i.e. it's an 'experimental' class of aircraft.

[MrY]

8 hours ago, Psimbo said:

I refer you to post #6- as far as I am aware the Hudson is in New York, not Phuket. We also have comment about a crash in Kenya- both totally irrelevant. 

 

'A lack of pre-checks'?- 2 flights had already been conducted without any issues.

 

Accident reports have taken up to a year in the past- as did the one when the fighter crashed last year.

 

Some of your comments are pure conjecture (comments like 'seems like'), posts #16  and 20 refer. 

 

Speed-reading, eh?

 

Post #6 comments about Bonanza in reference to post #5 where someone speculates about pre-flight and mentions the Bonanza (an aircraft with a reputation to accident prone).

 

The Kenya post was a reminder that airline pilots do not remain proficient/qualified to fly GA aircraft without further training (and I fully concur).

 

None of the posts so far mention any incidents, accidents, or crashes, other than the one in the OP.

 

Accident reports have often taken far more than a year (as in 'never'). Commercial and military accident reports usually get finished eventually, but often the conclusions are disagreed on. General aviation is where the reports are most lacking (delays/content). By the time anything gets released from AAIC, this accident will hardly be 'news' anymore.
 

The "2-flights already" comment did send shivers down my spine. I would very much consider a kitplane with only 2 prior flights to still be in a 'shakedown' (unless of course someone from Jabiru had done the final inspection). Seems awful early to be carrying a full load of passengers. Even renting a GA aircraft, most rentals require 5 hours with an instructor before release these days. And those aircraft are fully certified and previously flown.

 

I used "seems like", as the information available was of the kind I cannot independently verify. Hardly 'conjecture' (=a conclusion based on incomplete information) though, as I did not draw conclusions and the source is exactly the same as the OP! (Which I also mentioned in my post). If you don't like (or disagree with) someone's post, it is completely up to you. But please remain factual, read the posts fully, and use words according to their intended meaning. Thank you.