fly_tornado Posted July 2, 2014 Posted July 2, 2014 http://www.thechronicle.com.au/news/lowood-plane-crash/2307060/?ref=hs BREAKING: Emergency services crews have converged on Patrick Estate in Lowood where a light plane has crashed. The plane crashed about 3pm near Lowood-Patrick Estate Rd, about 35km north west of Ipswich. Early reports say the pilot and a passenger jumped clear of the plane before it caught fire, but their condition is not yet known. The cause of the crash will be investigated.
bexrbetter Posted July 2, 2014 Posted July 2, 2014 The cause of the crash It was a forced landing due to smoke, not a crash.
fly_tornado Posted July 2, 2014 Author Posted July 2, 2014 Just echoing the article, I wonder if it was a lipo fire?
jeffd Posted July 2, 2014 Posted July 2, 2014 yep as they say ,NEVER LET THE TRUTH GET IN THE WAY OF A GOOD STORY, oh im sorry did i type that out loud woops
ExJourno Posted July 2, 2014 Posted July 2, 2014 And it also didn't catch fire. No leaping. I stand corrected. Pilot in question just informed me there was leaping, Still wasn't any crash or any fire. 1
Phil Perry Posted July 2, 2014 Posted July 2, 2014 But hang on a minute. . . . a witness was quoted as saying that "The pitch of the engine changed as the aircraft circled the paddock ( ? ) and then it "HIT" the ground ( ? ) Hmmmm,. . . . The one and only picture shows a very intact looking aircraft, and one blade of the prop is also visible,. . . . . doncha just love "Witnesses" . . . . . . but I guess they just tell it in terms they understand and the reporters teport it verbatim. . . . Some years ago I read about an air accident in the USA, and the only witness was a man who insisted that he heard the pilot "Give it the gun" just before it crashed. The man insisted upon this phraseology otherwise he said he would retract his witness statement. . . . But that was in America. . . . .
Bob Llewellyn Posted July 3, 2014 Posted July 3, 2014 But hang on a minute. . . . a witness was quoted as saying that "The pitch of the engine changed as the aircraft circled the paddock ( ? ) and then it "HIT" the ground ( ? )Hmmmm,. . . . The one and only picture shows a very intact looking aircraft, and one blade of the prop is also visible,. . . . . doncha just love "Witnesses" . . . . . . but I guess they just tell it in terms they understand and the reporters teport it verbatim. . . . Some years ago I read about an air accident in the USA, and the only witness was a man who insisted that he heard the pilot "Give it the gun" just before it crashed. The man insisted upon this phraseology otherwise he said he would retract his witness statement. . . . But that was in America. . . . . The crash sequence from "Flying High" comes to mind...
motzartmerv Posted July 3, 2014 Posted July 3, 2014 hahaha... Bloody strong aeroplane to look like that after a "crash" and a fire. Wow.!!! What type is it? Looks like maybe a storm, but not seen the canopy design on one before.
ExJourno Posted July 3, 2014 Posted July 3, 2014 It is a zenith. It was the battery. It will likely be flown off the paddock by tomorrow. The Chronicle has updated its story, no more mention of a crash. By "taxied" the witness was referring to the landing roll. What I consider a pathetic failure to properly fact check, by too many journalists, generally, shits me. The utterly irrelevant reference to the change in engine "pitch" is quite amusing. Has there been any reportage of aviation related matters that were actually reported correctly in the first instance? Like, even one? 2
fly_tornado Posted July 3, 2014 Author Posted July 3, 2014 Because its only interesting and newsworthy if its a crash. You write the story and fix it later 2
Bandit12 Posted July 3, 2014 Posted July 3, 2014 Has there been any reportage of aviation related matters that were actually reported correctly in the first instance? Like, even one? Didn't they report MH370 as "missing"? Months later it would seem that was an accurate statement (unless the conspiracy theorists are right!). But apart from that, it would seem nothing else has been correct for quite some time...... 1
AJS71 Posted July 3, 2014 Posted July 3, 2014 Surprise, surprise a media outlet churning out more sensationalised, fictional garbage! Is it any wonder so many folks think light aircraft are so dangerous. If it's in the paper or on the TV it must be true? Right? Great to gear no injuries and an AC that's airworthy...yes I realise it's a negative post, but far too many of these 'journalists' misinterpret what they see and make up what they don't see. Personally I think that's f@&@&d! 1
turboplanner Posted July 3, 2014 Posted July 3, 2014 The Chronicle said in one of the earlier links: "Emergency services crews converged on Patrick Estate at Lowood today after a light plane made a forced landing."
nickduncs84 Posted July 3, 2014 Posted July 3, 2014 It is a zenith.It was the battery. It will likely be flown off the paddock by tomorrow. The Chronicle has updated its story, no more mention of a crash. By "taxied" the witness was referring to the landing roll. What I consider a pathetic failure to properly fact check, by too many journalists, generally, shits me. The utterly irrelevant reference to the change in engine "pitch" is quite amusing. Has there been any reportage of aviation related matters that were actually reported correctly in the first instance? Like, even one? There was a GA plane make a forced landing in a paddock near YMBD recently. My CFI told me that any time someone mentions the word pan or mayday on the radio, the news choppers will arrive 15 minutes later. He also said that it's quite funny to watch the disappointment on the reporters face when they rock up to see a fully intact plane and not a drop of blood. Sure enough, 15 minutes later the channel 9 chopper rocked up. Within 15 minutes, they had posted an article which incorrectly stated that it was the flying school's plane that had 'crashed'. They even printed the name of the flying school. It's so pathetic it's almost laughable. 1
rankamateur Posted July 3, 2014 Posted July 3, 2014 Because its only interesting and newsworthy if its a crash. You write the story and fix it later Papers always print the news on page one and the retraction on page 67. 2
ExJourno Posted July 3, 2014 Posted July 3, 2014 Papers always print the news on page one and the retraction on page 67. Not always. I printed an apology and correction on the same page, same size headline and same amount of space when a journo mistakenly wrote a bloke had assaulted police (he had obstructed only, but court lists list as "assault or obstruct"). I also met with the guy in person the day it printed AND arranged a meeti. With his boss to explain our @#$!up - to discover had I not, he'd have been fired as his employment was a feature of the article, brief though it was. Note: I am no longer in journalism. Go figure. Meanwhile, nick, I spoke to the big fella this morning. We had a chuckle about the various "news"... Well, I chuckled. He oh-welled. At least CFT got an underhanded wrap for training him so well for an emergency, eh? All very lol-worthy... but not something I'd like to experience.
Butch Posted July 3, 2014 Posted July 3, 2014 But hang on a minute. . . . a witness was quoted as saying that "The pitch of the engine changed as the aircraft circled the paddock ( ? ) and then it "HIT" the ground ( ? )Hmmmm,. . . . The one and only picture shows a very intact looking aircraft, and one blade of the prop is also visible,. . . . . doncha just love "Witnesses" . . . . . . but I guess they just tell it in terms they understand and the reporters teport it verbatim. . . . Some years ago I read about an air accident in the USA, and the only witness was a man who insisted that he heard the pilot "Give it the gun" just before it crashed. The man insisted upon this phraseology otherwise he said he would retract his witness statement. . . . But that was in America. . . . . I witnessed a plane accident that killed 5 people 150 metres from where I was standing . At the inquest because I had no Aeronautical experience I said that the plane crashed and it seemed like the pilot was giving it all he could . Now I realize what actually happened, a power stall. All of you experts need to realize people don't make things up, they just don't understand what has happened. Put you all in a situation where you haven't the faintest what has happened and you to might make a statement that sound ridiculous to the well informed, It is easy to be an expert , but it's hard to be humble , cheer,s Butch 7
Tony Loeffel Posted July 3, 2014 Posted July 3, 2014 Yes all is fine. It was a Lipo battery that failed. It failed 20 minutes after takeoff. Pilot landed when he smelt smoke in cabin, landed as intended. Engine pitch change was pilot throttling down for a landing. Battery smoked heavily and was later removed after smoke reduced. Fire brigade attended as precaution in case of grass fire. Plane was flown out this afternoon. No injuries, no medical treatment required. Pilot has stated he will NEVER use a Lipo battery again. (Battery was about 6 months old). Plane was mot damaged in landing or from heat damage. No fire was present or evident. 2
nickduncs84 Posted July 3, 2014 Posted July 3, 2014 I witnessed a plane accident that killed 5 people 150 metres from where I was standing . At the inquest because I had no Aeronautical experience I said that the plane crashed and it seemed like the pilot was giving it all he could .Now I realize what actually happened, a power stall. All of you experts need to realize people don't make things up, they just don't understand what has happened. Put you all in a situation where you haven't the faintest what has happened and you to might make a statement that sound ridiculous to the well informed, It is easy to be an expert , but it's hard to be humble , cheer,s Butch Yep it's not really the witnesses fault, for all the reasons you say. But you would expect the media to do a little more investigating before they publish dribble. There should be more of a focus on getting it right, instead of being first.
David Isaac Posted July 3, 2014 Posted July 3, 2014 What , no comments on how well he handled this situation. Well done, obviously trained well. Now to the battery, was it Lithium Iron Phosphate (LiFePo4), Lithium Ion (Li-ion) or Lithium Ion Polymer? I doubt it is Lithium Iron Phosphate (LiPo) as quoted because they have good thermal stability compared to the others and can be constantly charged at 14.6 volts.
Guest Andys@coffs Posted July 4, 2014 Posted July 4, 2014 I'm all for new things and generally am one of the first adopters, to my wallets detriment......but that all said, I'm not at all interested in replacing my AGM Lead/Acid Battery anytime yet. Lead acid is heavy and they don't last all that long in the scheme of things but they are pretty bullet proof....Li(anything) need complex charging circuits and an understanding of usage limitations in a system that probably has very little instrumentation around it against which to measure the usage limitations. That complexity is something that I'll hold off on for now. If Boeing cant get it right with all the engineering skills they have then why would I think I can get it right. If the current system had an inherent flaw that created issues constantly then I'd be looking for alternates but that isn't the case that I can see.....Decca battery's aren't that expensive (certainly cheaper, but with different physical footprint than the Odyssey Battery's) when the cost is amortised over the 5+ years I can reasonably expect them to last. I'm not sure that under any circumstances having to smell smoke that contains Lithium molecules is a good thing even if, as happened here, an uneventful emergency landing is required. Andy
fly_tornado Posted July 4, 2014 Author Posted July 4, 2014 Andy for the short hours we fly Lipos should be stable if you charge them fully with a balance circuit prior to flying with them. They are only really dangerous if you don't use a balance circuit. Too many people are selling them as lead acid replacements which they aren't.
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