plane down

[zero.one.victor]

Saw on the news that a Cessna 195 based at Rome GA went down in the saltwater near St Augustine FL. Two missing, one dead, one OK.
Bummer, hope nobody here knew the people involved.

Eric

[GAHorn]

A Chalk's amphibian also went down yesterday with 19 aboard. All lost.

[Falcon]

Pilot, daughter still missing after plane crashes off coast
The small plane, carrying four people, was heading from Jacksonville to Fort Pierce.
By Associated Press
Published December 20, 2005

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


ST. AUGUSTINE - The Coast Guard searched unsuccessfull y Monday for a pilot and his daughter who were missing after their small plane crashed off the northeast Florida coast.

Missing since Sunday were pilot Gary Tillman, 43, and his daughter, Hanna Tillman, 16, both of Rome, Ga., said St. Johns County sheriff's Sgt. Charles Mulligan.

Passenger Anna Kipp, 16, of Rome, Ga., was taken to a hospital where she was pronounced dead, Mulligan said. Another passenger, Rachel Hestetler, 16, was found in the water and is listed in good condition.

"We have not seen any debris, nor have we found the other two individuals," Mulligan said Monday afternoon.

Tillman was an "accurate, educated and well-trained" pilot and well known in the Rome, Ga. area, said his best friend, Ronnie Wallace of Rome.

An insurance broker who specialized in aviation insurance policies, Tillman had been a pilot for decades and sometimes flew his own plane to inspect and insure other small aircraft, Wallace said. He did not know much about the flight that crashed, except that Tillman, his daughter and two of her friends were planning a vacation.

Rain, gale force winds and 7- to 10-foot seas hampered the search after the Cessna 195 went down about a mile off Vilano Beach near St. Augustine, Coast Guard Petty Officer Donnie Brzuska said.

The plane departed Craig Field in Jacksonville and was headed to Fort Pierce.

Gary Tillman reported the plane was in distress and unable to maintain altitude shortly after 1 p.m. A short time later the tower lost contact.

Brzuska said the stormy weather led the Coast Guard to pull a helicopter and motor lifeboat from the search area for safety reasons. An 87-foot cutter was sent to the scene to help in the search and arrived early Monday.

The cause of the crash was being investigated.

"Gary loved life," Wallace said. "And when he was flying, he was all business. Safety was number one."

--Staff writer Tamara Lush contributed to this article.

[Last modified December 20, 2005, 01:49:07]

[zero.one.victor]

When they have to call off the search op's because of rain and gale-force winds, it makes you wonder what the wx was like at the time of the crash. And if it was really bad, why someone was out flying in it.
Saw a bit of the video of the Mallard crash, the airplane heading down & augering in at about a 60 degree angle, while the burning wing lofts down quite a ways off. Terrible. I wouldn't be too surprised to see the Feds ground at least Chalk's airplanes, if not the whole Mallard fleet. Sounds like a spar falure from what the talking heads on TV are reporting.

Eric

[sphillips]

If you go to:ntsb.gov, then under News and Events, they have pics of the Mallard aft spar failture of the right wing. I maintain a Part 91 Mallard for my employer, along with a hangar full of warbirds, and we are awaiting anxiously for the final analysis.

[alaskan99669]

If you go to:ntsb.gov, then under News and Events, they have pics of the Mallard aft spar failture of the right wing.

Here's a direct link:
http://ntsb.gov/Pressrel/2005/051222a.htm

[russfarris]

From what I have seen, the emergency A.D. only applies to the Frakes PT-6 conversion of the Mallard. The FAA is exhibiting good sense on this, in my opinion. The turbine conversion is almost exculsively used in demanding operations like Chalk's, while the original R-1340 powered airplanes are pampered pets. Seaplanes take a pounding in water operations; I'm sure this would have accelerated fatigue, especially in a Mallard that was used day in and day out. I wonder what the total airframe time was on N2969... Russ Farris

[sphillips]

Airframe had 31,000 hours, and 39,000 total flight cycles. This is an interim AD. Frakes is developing a special detailed inspection procedure to be available within 45 days, which means a follow on AD to supercede the current one.

[russfarris]

31,000 hours...the hard way, with a take-off or landing every 45 minutes!

Does your employer have a stock or Frakes Mallard? I fly R/C models as well, and I have a 48" span kit of the Mallard for electric power as a winter project. Russ Farris

[Harold Holiman]

I saw on TV that a shrimp boat snagged the 195 yesterday and they recovered the two bodies. They are planning on raising the plane today or tomorrow according to the TV report.

Harold

[sphillips]

My employer flies a G73T, the Frakes turbine conversion. It has about 15,000TT, but was an "airliner" in Indonesia for a time. The inspection covers wing station 77L to wing station 77R which is from inboard of of left engine nacelle to inboard of right engine nacelle. That complete structure is called a box section with the rear spar being the main load spar. The Chalks Mallard wing failed between the fuel tank quik drain and the dry bay drain, which is essentially right at the fuselage. There is probably no more that 3 inches between these two drains.

[lowNslow]

My employer flies a G73T, the Frakes turbine conversion. It has about 15,000TT, but was an "airliner" in Indonesia for a time. The inspection covers wing station 77L to wing station 77R which is from inboard of of left engine nacelle to inboard of right engine nacelle. That complete structure is called a box section with the rear spar being the main load spar. The Chalks Mallard wing failed between the fuel tank quik drain and the dry bay drain, which is essentially right at the fuselage. There is probably no more that 3 inches between these two drains.

In the picture from the link above are two converging holes drilled in the spar at the breakage point, what would those be for?

[sphillips]

Tho the NTSB has not said, but it appears to be two rivet holes, possibly a bad repair at some point in its history. On our plane, that area is visible from the top of the wing down into the dry bay, which is between the wet wing tank and the fuselage. The upper horizontal hole is for an AN4 bolt. Most of these planes have lived in a salt water environment at some point, so corrosion repairs are common.

Steve