EDITOR, The Tribune.
Thank you for your valuable space. I read the report about the plane that crashed into the sea off Clifton and was surprised to read that the pilot said it was more dangerous to land on the airport than to crash the plane into the shark-infested sea.
I wonder whether anybody would be dead if he had done an emergency landing at the airport with the fire engines waiting for him.
When I worked at the airport in the 1980s, the tower told the pilot of a Piper Aztec that he only had two wheels down so the pilot landed without that wheel, but left the other two down.
The tower let him land on what used to be runway five and the pilot decided to land on the grassy shoulder, instead of the asphalt. Later, he explained that he did not want to risk blocking that taxiway, while he waited for his plane to be moved.
The amazing thing was that with only two wheels the pilot was able to steer it straight down the shoulder, until one wing finally sank down to the ground, and the plane tried to turn towards that wing but the pilot was able to control it.
The other amazing thing was how little damage it did to the plane. The only thing that was damaged was the one wing tip. The pilot had even shut down both engines and feathered both props, while the plane was still in flight, to stop the props from hitting the ground and getting damaged.
Because twin engine planes are built to fly on one engine, he had shut down one engine long before lining up with the runway, and he shut down the other one when he crossed over the beginning of the runway.
Nobody needed medical attention, and mechanics came rushing out to the plane and lifted the wing up, and put a baggage cart where the wheel should have been and that’s how they towed the plane to the ramp. It looked kind of funny being towed, but it was hardly damaged and before long it was flying again.
Did the investigators investigate why c6-REV couldn’t fly on one engine?
PUZZLED
Nassau,
March 3, 2015.
Comments
B_I_D___ 9 years, 1 month ago
Not all planes are the same...also depends on how the plane is loaded...if it's heavy, you don't stand a chance...also, slightly different circumstances...the situation you describe, the pilot had the benefit of both engines to get himself situated precisely how he wanted to handle the situation, and had time to plan and execute his plan. It obviously worked out according to his plan. Here is the catch though, in this most recent situation the pilot flew past the tower at low altitude to have them check the gear, as he was trying to climb back up to altitude one of his engines failed...NOW...that is a VERY different situation. When your gear is down and you lose an engine you have to make choices and make them fast, most if not all piston twins will not maintain altitude with an engine out and gear down. You may be able to control the plane, but you are going down. When the Captain started to make his turn in the traffic pattern, that turn pointed him out to sea, which is when the engine failed...at the altitude he was at when the engine failed, he could not make that turn back to the runway and likely would have ended up in the pine trees or marshes surrounding the airport, either way, it's a split second decision. Let's assume he was probably anywhere from 200 feet-500 feet and starting his circle maneuver to get back to the airport, gear is down, engine fails, immediately the plane is likely losing 200+ feet per minute (and that's being optimistic), he's got 1 maybe 2 minutes of airtime left before he impacts the ground whether he likes it or not. You put that plane into a tight turn to try to get back to the airport and that rate of descent increases DRAMATICALLY. If he had both engines operational and was able to get back up to altitude and set himself up nicely, lined up on the runway with altitude to spare, he may have gone for that on airport landing. Another aspect is landing speeds, the Navajo/Chieftain line land a LOT faster than an Aztec which puts a totally different dynamic on things when that wing drops and causes the spin. Hope this helps.
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