Alert Tecnam engine failure Boonah

[Viper]

Tecnam 7200 engine out over Wyralong dam { Tiger country } emergency landing passenger a pilot walk away Plane #$@&

 

 

[dazza 38]

I flew 7200 on wednesday I also flew over Wyaralong dam. Bugger.She had 1932 hours on the engine when I flew her last wednesday.Im glad the pilot and his daughter is OK.There is a strip beside the dam not used, but that is what would head for, or the Beaudesert Boonah road.

 

 

[gareth lacey]

hi dazza

 

Craig and his daughter are both ok, Craig suffered a lower back injury but only bruising NOW to get the facts right Craig was cruising at approx 100 knots when Rotax engine coughed a number of times ,Craig feathered engine but would not maintain revs then engine stopped ,fuel cocks were open and plenty of fuel radioed in to Dave and dave said to make sure that fuel was on ,by this time Craig had tried to restart engine IT WOULD NOT START he told his daughter the emergency procedures and he then looked for a suitable emergency landing spot and was at approx 1500 ft ,he was over heavy timber but located a spot and went in did the mayday calls but as he got lower he was heading for dam did a turn to the grassy area and cleared a fence and landed albiet downhill,applied brakes but at near the end of the field a drop off of 3 mtres dumped and undercarraige gave up, skidded into a tree and punctured wing tank ,his daughter quickly left and he exited the right hand door(left hand was jammed ) .I have been to the crash site with Craig and you can see the landing marks in the grass ,he did an incredible job in getting it down and not sustaining any injuries WELL DONE CRAIG

 

Cheers gareth

 

 

[dazza 38]

That is great news Gareth.

 

She felt fine when I pulled the engine through to burp her last week, compression felt good (for a engine with nearly 2000 hours on it) , she ran smooth like she always has.It will be interesting to find the cause.

 

Planes are replaceable, people are not. I am really happey that the Graig & his daughter are OK.

 

 

[gareth lacey]

Hi Dazza

 

Craig and i would also like to know that but it seems that "it was an unfortunate incident) and nothing will be done ,unless you are deceased there will be no investigation as to the cause of engine failure it is a insurance job and they wont spend the money on that!!

 

Cheers gareth

 

 

[Guest Maj Millard]

Mmmm....912s don't just quit like that for no reason, even at 1900+hrs. Many have done well in excess of that. The following possibles come to mind....Was the aux fuel pump left on, or run 100% of the time ? = over-pressure at the carbs.

 

It sounds like it was fitted with a Constant-speed prop?...was a manifold -pressure guage fitted to monitor engine loading as required ? = engine overload or overheat. Were the carb mount rubbers checked for cracking lately ?... Were the carbs adjusted and set-up per Rotax manual ?....Was the fuel-filter clean and serviced recently ?.........time and a little examination may tell....................................................Maj...

 

 

[Ultralights]

the only 912 engine failure i have seen was on one run exclusively on Avgas, and oil changes were not done regularly enough, oil was almost silver with lead before it was replaced, engine failed due to cracked cam shaft, resulting from lead past clogging a fine oil gallery lubricating part of the camshaft. one side lubricated, one side not= cracked camshaft.

 

 

[gareth lacey]

HI

 

we were told it had its 100 hourly recently(32 hrs ago?) and Maj there is no aux fuel pump its a high wing(gravity fed?) as for all your other possibilities i and Craig cannot comment ,we dont know enough about Rotax engines and you do Trust the flying School when they hire out their planes .Dazza flew 7200 last wed all was ok then only time and examination will tell!! till hell freezes over thats not about to happen!!

 

cheers gareth

 

 

[fly_tornado]

wouldn't be bad fuel? there have been some heavy storms around SEQ lately...

 

 

[Viper]

wouldn't be bad fuel? there have been some heavy storms around SEQ lately...

I had just refueled the plane before take off , fuel supply had come from 201 liters tanks transferred into 20 liter containers then transferred out to the pumped into the plane { real possibility }

 

 

[old man emu]

I have been to the crash site with Craig and you can see the landing marks in the grass ,

I bet there are some pretty good skid marks somewhere else.

 

A good outcome.

 

OME

 

 

[Viper]

I flew 7200 on wednesday I also flew over Wyaralong dam. Bugger.She had 1932 hours on the engine when I flew her last wednesday.Im glad the pilot and his daughter is OK.There is a strip beside the dam not used, but that is what would head for, or the Beaudesert Boonah road.

Hi Dazza thanks for your support

AS to the airstrip I wished id known that was there at the time , I considered the road but the traffic was real heavy and I suppose I just made a decision that I thought right at the time . CFI questioned why i was was were i was and that there were better places to land eg the hill . Suppose that's easy in Hind site eh but I could only do what I thought best at the time and my daughter and I walked away so that is all that counts As to the inquiry no one cares enough to look into it so some other poor customer does not have to endure that { Buyer Beware eh }

 

 

[Bandit12]

Any landing that you walk away from is a good one Viper.....and as a parent I can understand that you are probably first and foremost glad that your daughter came through unscathed. It will be interesting to learn whether any causes can be identified though.

 

 

[turboplanner]

Hi Dazza thanks for your support

 

AS to the airstrip I wished id known that was there at the time , I considered the road but the traffic was real heavy and I suppose I just made a decision that I thought right at the time . CFI questioned why i was was were i was and that there were better places to land eg the hill . Suppose that's easy in Hind site eh but I could only do what I thought best at the time and my daughter and I walked away so that is all that counts As to the inquiry no one cares enough to look into it so some other poor customer does not have to endure that { Buyer Beware eh }

Don't worry Viper, we all can do it better after the event, particularly when we weren't in it; the great news is that training kicked in and you pulled off a survival!

 

So what did you do to it Dazz?

 

 

[Viper]

Hi Bandit

 

Any landing that you walk away from is a good one Viper.....and as a parent I can understand that you are probably first and foremost glad that your daughter came through unscathed. It will be interesting to learn whether any causes can be identified though.

Thanks for that I did ask if there would be any sort of inquiry but it is all to hard seems to be a case of read the little sign on the cockpit of the plane as that says it all. Can not really understand that, as if anything can prevent a tragedy occurring in this sport something should be done . We all talk about mitigation but when near misses like this happen they are dismissed as part of the sport. and it should not be like that You have to die before someone will bother . Sounds like a case of putting the ambulance at the bottom of the hill

 

 

[motzartmerv]

Good Job Viper. You both walked away so evrything you did was the right thing. Its good that you are compelled to think about what you could have done better, but its all academic. On the day, you made the right choices and flew the plane.

 

Take some comfort in knowing that you were weighed and measured and not found wanting..;)

 

 

[turboplanner]

Hi BanditThanks for that I did ask if there would be any sort of inquiry but it is all to hard seems to be a case of read the little sign on the cockpit of the plane as that says it all. Can not really understand that, as if anything can prevent a tragedy occurring in this sport something should be done . We all talk about mitigation but when near misses like this happen they are dismissed as part of the sport. and it should not be like that You have to die before someone will bother . Sounds like a case of putting the ambulance at the bottom of the hill

They don't necessarily bother even if you die. We badly need information on accidents to know where to target training and auditing.

 

 

[Viper]

Thanks for all the support it means alot as it is hard not to think you should have done it better ,

 

I never want to go through that again that was the worst thing ever

 

 

[alf jessup]

Thanks for all the support it means alot as it is hard not to think you should have done it better ,I never want to go through that again that was the worst thing ever

Viper,

 

You did it perfectly, your here and you and your daughter are alive and that is all that matters, the plane is replaceable life isn't.

 

As for the CFI he can harp on why didn't you do this or why were you over there, fact of the matter is the fan stopped probably for a reason not linked to you.

 

Your survival instincts kicked in more so with your child with you, you might have bent the plane but who cares your alive and that is all that matters.

 

End of story.

 

Alf

 

 

[Turbo_Boss]

Hey Viper,

 

I am very happy that you and your daughter are OK.

 

When you will now exactly why the engine stop?

 

Regards,

 

Isaac

 

 

[Kiwi]

I had just refueled the plane before take off , fuel supply had come from 201 liters tanks transferred into 20 liter containers then transferred out to the pumped into the plane { real possibility }

Glad that you are both ok.

 

I was at the crash site on Sunday securing the aircraft with 4 others including John Mckeown (local Raaus rep and approved Raaus accident investigator.) I drained the remaining fuel out of the starboard wing and there was no evidence of water in the fuel.(I also filed up the ride on mower out of the same drum straight after Craig had filled 7200.)

 

Another club member was flying over the Dam 30 minutes earlier in his Jab and experienced carby ice, (high time pilot) so that is something that needs to be considered.

 

It will take quite a bit to recover the aircraft and while the insurance company might not be interested, Ian and the rest of our club plan to find out why the rotax stopped.

 

Google coordinators are ....................... Google earth shows only the northern half of the Wyaralong dam, so I have included a photo taken from the air not long after the crash. (The jab pilot and I went looking for the downed aircraft while Dave went by car). I have also included some photos taken from the ground.

 

 

 

 

Kiwi.

 

 

 

 

 

[Viper]

Viper,You did it perfectly, your here and you and your daughter are alive and that is all that matters, the plane is replaceable life isn't.

 

As for the CFI he can harp on why didn't you do this or why were you over there, fact of the matter is the fan stopped probably for a reason not linked to you.

 

Your survival instincts kicked in more so with your child with you, you might have bent the plane but who cares your alive and that is all that matters.

 

End of story.

 

Alf

King words Issac I appreciate that

 

 

[dazza 38]

Just checked out Kiwi's photo's. I honestly think that, that was a good place to put down Craig. At the end of the day, planes getting bent doesnt really matter. People getting bent is the problem.Well done.

 

 

[Viper]

Glad that you are both ok.I was at the crash site on Sunday securing the aircraft with 4 others including John Mckeown (local Raaus rep and approved Raaus accident investigator.) I drained the remaining fuel out of the starboard wing and there was no evidence of water in the fuel.(I also filed up the ride on mower out of the same drum straight after Craig had filled 7200.)

 

Another club member was flying over the Dam 30 minutes earlier in his Jab and experienced carby ice, (high time pilot) so that is something that needs to be considered.

 

It will take quite a bit to recover the aircraft and while the insurance company might not be interested, Ian and the rest of our club plan to find out why the rotax stopped.

 

Google coordinators are 27 55 39S 152 47 37E Google earth shows only the northern half of the Wyaralong dam, so I have included a photo taken from the air not long after the crash. (The jab pilot and I went looking for the downed aircraft while Dave went by car). I have also included some photos taken from the ground.

 

 

 

 

Kiwi.

Hi Kiwi

Thanks for all your help it was much appreciated at a terrifying time maybe carb icing could have been the reason

 

I spoke to Ian this morning and asked what sort of investigation would occur ,his words to me were that he had spoken to every relevant authority including RAAus and no one would be taking it further , he also said that no one would bother to spend the necessary cash to investigate and at no stage indicated to me that he would do otherwise actually indicated to quite the contrary ( quite Flippant } I do know Ian is a very experienced pilot 20000 hours I think and I have nothing but respect for him as a pilot but this morning his $#@ happens attitude to this was appalling.

 

I are not looking to find a scapegoat or blame anyone or in Ians words clutch at straws I just would like a explanation for my own self and for the safety of every pilot out there , surly this is nothing but due diligence

 

 

[Bandit12]

I think that RA-Aus has some culture issues around this sort of thing Viper. From what I can understand and have read, the early days of ultralights was plagued with engine failures, and I believe that might be a member or two here who have had in excess of 20 or more engine failures during their time. Certainly if you read some of the US forums where they fly unlicensed, unregistered ultralights, things like engine failures are still quite commonplace.

 

So the culture is to shrugg off these sorts of things. CASA doesn't want to really know about it, the ATSB hasn't the resources or interest in investigating, and RA-Aus probably neither the technical knowledge (although some specific people may have), funds (investigations can cost a lot of money) or perhaps even interest (already alluded to). The a/c owner is facing a loss of income until the insurance comes through and a suitable replacement can be found, probably an insurance excess and quite likely a rise in insurance premiums in the near future. And they probably aren't hugely keen to spend money trying to track down "why", when there is no return for that money spent. I feel your pain, but it seems that real investigations or outcomes from recreational aviation incidents are little more than a pipedream at the moment.