Mountain flying crash

[Flying Pig]

http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=316_1249535759

This is a good video for those who have not seen it.  I saw it some time ago, but was unaware of the story that went with it.

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Very tragic; but Density Altitude was forgotten.  A little grainy...but it is 25 years old................

Here's a video shot by a "Bird Dog" pilot just before he crashed in Colo. in 1984. The wreckage wasn't found for 3 years.
Suggest you read all the details and then view the 6 minute video.
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Text from Source:

Document #1 -- The tragic tale of the missing Cessna L-19E

Cessna serial number 24527 - FAA Reg. Number N4584A - January, 2009 Intended Flight Route: Granby, Colorado to (Jeffco County) Denver, Colorado. Lost: August 10th, 1984 More.. at approx. 13:00 hours Found: August 23rd, 1987, near Tabernash, Colorado

It's a very tragic tale - unwittingly caught on film by the gentleman who died in the crash along with a friend riding in the back seat.

The family of the deceased had put a 20-year moratorium (via the FAA) on the release of the film to the general public with the only stipulation that it (at the FAA's request to the family of the deceased) be shown ONLY to Flight Instructors at FIRC's and workshops.  Last year the moratorium was up and not renewed - so it effectively became "public domain".

Here's what h appened: The gentleman flying this aircraft (a restored single-engine Cessna L-19E "Bird Dog" - commonly used by the US Army (beginning in 1962, it was also known as the "O-1" during the Vietnam War - the last one retiring from active service in 1974) & the USAF in Korea & Vietnam for general spotting (F.A.C.) & liaison duties as well as a basic training airplane in the US) had been offered a contract by the Colorado Dept. of Forestry to videotape a particularly nasty type of beetle infestation that had been ravaging hundreds of acres of Colorado forest in and around some of the higher-elevation foothills surrounding some of the Rockies. One thing that was unique about this particular flight was that the pilot had mounted a VHS video camcorder atop the instrument panel for the purpose of visually recording any beetle infestation that was observed 20 along the flight route. The pilot started the camera shortly after takeoff and it ran until the aircraft crashed down through the trees - approx. 6-1/2 minutes later.

The problem, as you'll see in this (approx.) 6-1/2 minute video, was that he was flying into what can be clearly seen as gradually ever-ascending terrain altitude. However, because of the density altitude conditions which existed at the time of the accident (remember, this was in August), he was already at or above the airplane's effective "service ceiling" - the point at which a plane cannot maintain at least a minimum of a 100 foot-per-minute rate of climb - in this case, he was flying a normally-aspirated (meaning no turbocharger or supercharger on the engine) single-engine plane at or above it's normal level of (density) altitude for which it was capable of maintaining - again, considering the abrupt bank angle attempted at the end of the flight which culminated in the crash itself.

As he flew along - with his friend in the back seat (this being a "tandem-seat" aircraft - fore-and-aft seating - like a Piper Super Cub), you can see the terrain continually slowly increase in altitude, until right at the very end of the tape, when he makes his second - and fatal - error. He makes a moderately steep turn to the right (in excess of 45 to 50 degrees angle of bank) in an attempt to turn around quickly - the plane loses considerable lift and initially stalls twice; then on the 3rd stall (with the stall warning horn blaring in the background), enters the traditional "stall/spin" syndrome and flips upside down as the left (up-wing) wing stalls completely and the plane, flipping over on it's back, plunges straight down through the trees but not before capturing the pilot's last mournful cry to his friend in the back seat: "[darn], hang on Ronnie!!"; the plane smashes downwards through the thick tree branches (you can hear the heavy "thuds" as the plane's wings smash into these while heading for the ground); it crashes & burns - killing both the pilot and back-seat passenger.

There is a small fire which consumes some of the wreckage but no forest fire is started and since the plane plunged straight down through the trees to the ground, there was no visible tree damage for any would-be rescuers to use to spot the wreckage or crash location. One additional important factor that added to the delay of the discovery of the wreckage was the fact that the fuselage (the main body) of the plane came to rest upside down - on top of the ELT (Emergency Locator Transmitter) antenna, effectively silencing its emergency signal to satellites and other would-be rescue aircraft.

Note: The above photo text is wrong in that it was just over three (3) years from the crash date of Aug. 10th, 1984 until its initial discovery on Aug. 23rd, 1987.

The wreckage laid there for approximately 3 years (Aug. 10th, 1984 to Aug. 23rd, 1987) until it was found by a pair of backpackers hiking through that particular location. The wreckage was removed and after the NTSB & the FAA released their findings (based on both crash evidence as well as lack of prior logged maintenance problems with the plane); the wreckage was then released to the family of the deceased pilot as the plane had belonged to him. The family kept what they wanted and gave the rest to a scrap yard for final disposition.

Dale Wood, a Colorado deputy sheriff  investigating the wreckage and the crash scene, discovered the shattered video recorder within the wreckage and "rebuilt" the tape (which was in pieces and had been exposed to the elements for 3 years - some of it hanging from tree branches during that 3 year period of time!!) and turned it over to the NTSB for final review. The end result was what you see here - the pilot had recorded, on video tape, his "continued flight into rising terrain - combined with a high density altitude condition existing at that time - along with an abrupt maneuver (approx. 45 - 50+ degrees angle of bank) resulting in a fatal "stall/spin" accident." - he had unwittingly recorded his own death.

The fire had warped and partially melted the VHS recorder into a misshapen hunk of plastic that no one at the NTSB or FAA could recognize, so they initially passed on a closer examination - thinking it was apparently some sort of item that could not be attributed to playing any conceivable role in the accident.

This is that tape - converted to DVD/WMV file format. The intermittent gaps in the "engine rumbling noises" and the electronic "glitches" in the video and audio portions of the tape were caused by tree and ground impact damage along with heat from the fire as well as exposure to the elements for three years - I saw this tape approx.  20 years ago and its exactly as I saw it back then. - Finis -

The Cessna L-19E "Bird Dog" - 2-seat ("tandem" - fore & aft seating) spotter (F.A.C.) and general-duty liaison aircraft used extensively in both the Korean and Vietnam Wars as well as in the US as a US Army and USAF basic training aircraft. Engine: Continental O-470-11, 6-cylinder,  213 hp.

Introduced in the very early 1950's (around the start of the Korean War), this aircraft is the "forerunner" of what eventually became the Cessna 170 series of civilian light planes. There are approximately 120 Cessna L-19's (also known as "O-1's") still registered & flying in the US today.

[Eclipse]

So for us non-pilot flatlanders, was the issue that even though he appeared to be flying at a consistent altitude, since he was in the mountains the "effective" altitude was much higher and at some point
the air thinned out beyond what this plane can fly in?

If that's the case it seems like this must be a fairly common and dangerous situation for mountain flyers, especially VFR because the whole situation fools the pilot into believing he's fine when all the time the clock is ticking...

[Flying Pig]

He wasnt flying at a steady altitude. He was flying up slowly rising terrain.  He was steadily gaining altitude at at the same time, his airplanes engine was becoming less effective.  When he discovered what was happening, he was in a narrow valley with no where to go and banked/turned into rising terrain, which caused him to lose altitude and stall.  You can hear his stall horn sound three times.  The last time he stalled, he went into an unrecoverable spin at tree top level.  His engine has reached its operating ceiling and the only place he had left to go was down, at tree top level.

[Jill]

Thanks for sharing that Robert.  Tragic.

[bosshawk]

Tragic indeed, but completely preventable.  In my nearly 17 yrs of CAP flying, I can't count the number of searches that I have flown where the pilot did exactly what the Bird Dog guy did.  Light planes rarely can outclimb the terrain in high mountains.  As Steve Fossett found out, they can't usually outclimb a 500 ft a minute downdraft when the best rate of climb at their altitude is 300 ft a minute.

Hard to teach judgement.

[Check Pilot/Tow Pilot]

The NTSB narrative adds official information to this tragic tale:

NTSB Identification: DEN84FA308. The docket is stored on NTSB microfiche number 25894.

Accident occurred Friday, August 10, 1984 in TABERNASH, CO Probable Cause Approval Date: 12/14/1992 Aircraft: CESSNA L-19E, registration: N4584A Injuries: 2 Fatal.

THE AIRPLANE DEPARTED GRANDBY 8/10/84 AND FAILED TO ARRIVE AT ITS DESTINATION. ON 8/23/87, IT WAS FOUND ON THE SLOPE OF A HIGH TREE-COVERED RIDGE. VIDEO TAPE RECOVERED FROM THE WRECKAGE PROVIDED A VISUAL AND AUDIO RECORD OF THE FLIGHT FROM TAKEOFF TO IMPACT. COMPARING THE RECORDING TO A TOPOGRAPHICAL MAP, THE FLIGHT WAS SLOWLY CLIMBING BUT ITS ALTITUDE ABOVE THE GROUND WAS DECREASING WHEN IT CRASHED AT THE 10,200-FT LEVEL. DURING THE LAST FEW SECONDS OF THE TAPE, THE TERRAIN DOMINATED THE VIEW THROUGH THE COCKPIT WINDOW. THE PILOT MADE AN APPROXIMATELY 45 to 55-DEG ANGLE BANK TO THE RIGHT, AND THE STALL WARNING HORN COULD BE HEARD 3 TIMES DURING THE APRX. 180 DEG OF TURN. THE AIRPLANE SUBSEQUENTLY STALLED 3 TIMES, SPUN, FLIPPED OVER, AND ENTERED THE TREES. THE DENSITY ALTITUDE WAS JUST ABOVE 13,000 FT.**

The National Transportation Safety Board determines the probable cause(s) of this accident as follows: IN-FLIGHT PLANNING/DECISION, IMPROPER...PILOT IN COMMAND AIRSPEED...NOT MAINTAINED...PILOT IN COMMAND...DENSITY ALTITUDE NOT TAKEN INTO CONSIDERATION WHILE ATTEMPTING 180-DEGREE RIGHT TURN AT APPROX. 45 to 55 DEGREES OF BANK ANGLE...PILOT IN COMMAND INSUFFICIENT LIFT AVAILABLE TO COMPLETE THIS MANEUVER SAFELY.

Contributing Factors: WEATHER CONDITION...SUNNY AND HOT...HIGH DENSITY ALTITUDE CONDITIONS... TERRAIN CONDITION...MOUNTAINOUS/HILLY...FLIGHT INTO CONTINOUSLY ASCENDING TERRAIN...HIGH DEGREE OF BANK ANGLE RESULTING IN LOSS OF POSITIVE AERODYNAMIC LIFT...AIRCRAFT UNABLE TO MAINTAIN LEVEL FLIGHT...

NOTE: The Cessna manual for the L-19E lists the service ceiling for this make/model as 20,300 feet. Under "optimum" conditions (less density altitude), and/or with a much gentler bank angle, the pilot should've been able to safely complete this turn. By banking at 45 to 55-degrees under existing temperature conditions at the time of the crash, he effectively put the performance ceiling for completing this maneuver well below that altitude.

Very sad and very preventable.

[Airrace]

Great video and thanks for sharing it with us.

[a2capt]

The thing that is apparent to me from the onset, knowing what the outcome of the video will be is that you see several instances of low passes over trees in what seemingly appears to be a clueless attitude and have to wonder if any control input clues were gathered from that to where a turn back towards the airport would have been the prudent thing to do much earlier, in a clearing with a very bank rate.

Though the purpose of the flight was to document beetle infestations and I guess you can't really do that from above unless they are so numerous that you could easily see it, and if that were the case, then flying lower would have been ridiculous anyway as you would have instant un-meltable 'ice' all over your leading edges in the form of a big sticky airflow disrupting mess.

So, either way, given the technology of the day this seems like it was a Bad Idea from the start.