Ballistic shute deployed

[fly_tornado]

http://www.pressherald.com/2015/08/23/ultralight-aircraft-crashes-in-fryeburg/

 

An ultralight aircraft crashed Sunday evening in a wooded area off Porter Road in Fryeburg, police said.

 

Police Chief Joshua Potvin said the plane crashed into trees as the pilot – a 56-year-old man from Media, Pennsylvania – tried to make an emergency landing at the Eastern Slopes Regional Airport in Fryeburg.

 

 

An Aerolite 103 single-seat ultralight aircraft crashed in a wooded area in Fryeburg on Sunday. The pilot was not injured. Fryeburg Police Department photo

 

 

Search photos available for purchase: Photo Store →

 

Potvin said the pilot was flying his Aerolite 103 single-seat ultralight aircraft out of Leavitt Airport in Albany, New Hampshire, when his engine started to fail around 6 p.m.

 

Realizing he did not have enough altitude to make the runway, the pilot deployed his emergency parachute system, which helped slow the descent of the aircraft. However, the maneuver forced him to land in trees just west of the runaway in a wooded area off Porter Road.

 

The aircraft was damaged, but the pilot was not injured, according to Potvin, who did not release the pilot’s name.

 

 

[Spooks]

I saw a video of a Cirrus last week. The aircraft had run out of fuel about 200miles away from Hawaii but the parachute safety system allowed a slow descent into the sea (where they were thankfully rescued!).

 

I read that they're a legal requirement on all German registered microlights now, makes sense for that worst moment.

 

 

[facthunter]

Can't see any chute. Might have done better if he hadn't deployed it in that type of aircraft. It's not compulsory to use it, even if carrying it is . Nev

 

 

[fly_tornado]

on the left of where the rudder meets the elevator there is a black strap point at 10:30

 

 

[facthunter]

Shouldn't the chute land on top of the aircraft? My point is a lowspeed aircraft that is flyable, keep flying it. Nev

 

 

[HeliPilot70]

Here are some more pictures from the scene: http://imgur.com/a/AdWXD

 

 

[Marty_d]

Can't see any chute. Might have done better if he hadn't deployed it in that type of aircraft. It's not compulsory to use it, even if carrying it is . Nev

It'd depend on terrain wouldn't it? Even with slow flying aircraft, if there was no clear area within gliding distance, better to come down under the chute I'd have thought.

 

 

[fly_tornado]

has anyone fallen out a tree lately? it hurts

 

 

[Marty_d]

I'd rather take a chance of falling vertically out of a tree than hitting it horizontally.

 

 

[SDQDI]

Certainly better than having an incident like some we see that have been fatal with the chute still undeployed.

 

Certainly be confident in your ability to land an 'engineless' plane if the circumstances permit it but don't be scared to pull the red handle if things are not adding up.

 

 

[Guest SrPilot]

I'd rather take a chance of falling vertically out of a tree than hitting it horizontally.

Actually, M_d, I'd rather do neither one.

 

Hopefully, anyone flying with a ballistic parachute has learned if, when, and how to use the device. When something unfavorable happens, such a an engine failure or a wing departure (by which I mean "goodbye wing" as it floats away), the pilot must make decisions "on the fly." Time may not allow "thinking about it" for any appreciable length of time, but pulling the chute handle is not necessarily the better or best choice in all situations.

 

Flying with a ballistic parachute simply does not eliminate the need to fly the airplane (if possible) and reach reasoned decisions. Sometimes we must make monumental decisions, and some of the options we face are not binary. We do not always choose between (only) two options; we may have a number of options.

 

If we lose an engine, hopefully we will have the time to at least attempt a restart. If not, perhaps the only choice is picking the most suitable landing site in our route of travel. The chute may not be an option due to low altitude or airplane attitude or speed. Or it may not be the better option if you are over - or within gliding range of - a large level pasture. On the other hand, it may be the only option if you are over rugged terrain or flying on a dark night with nothing more than a flashlight for company. (Best, though, not to be doing that one.)

 

Whenever making a significant decision in an emergency situation, we must quickly identify our risks and assets so we can best choose and execute a a strategy for survival. We cannot just "do something" and hope that what we did will work out for us. If our desired outcome includes walking away from an emergency situation, jerking the ballistic parachute handle may not be the best approach.

 

Emotions should not necessarily drive our decision. The late Duane Cole, an accomplished airshow pilot, in his book Happily Flying Safely (I believe), said when the engine has quit and you are going down, don't focus on saving the airplane - it already has let you down. Focus instead on saving you and the other souls on board. If you also save the airplane in the process, great!

 

I've never owned an airplane with a ballistic chute. Three of my last four airplanes, though, had seat chutes on board. Thus, I had options. My new airplane (an Aeroprakt A22LS) will have a ballistic chute so I have been thinking about its use should the occasion arise.

 

Please excuse my prolixity. Your thread started me thinking and in part I was writing to myself as I reviewed my decision tree.

 

 

[Marty_d]

Please excuse my prolixity.

Your prolixity is excused. In fact it's the first time I've seen the word and had to consult a dictionary.

 

I agree completely with everything you said. Of course an engine-out situation should not have the chute high on the checklist, and yes, if you have the height then you should be flying the aircraft, trying to restart, and looking for suitable forced landing areas. My point was simply that if there were no clear landing sites within the glide cone of the aircraft, then surely the chute is a better option than flying into trees.

 

I had this discussion with the pilot of a CH-750. He didn't have a BRS and didn't want one - he said that if he had an engine failure over tiger country, he'd flare it just over the tree tops so the horizontal component of his arrival speed would be very low anyway. While I can see his point, my personal preference would be to have that choice to pop the chute.

 

 

[DGL Fox]

Yes it is an interesting thought, with more aircraft having ballistic chutes maybe it is time to directly address it in our training regime, when and where to pull it and when not to...maybe just a 1 hr lesson with your CFI to give so me the types of landscape and occasions where you would and wouldn't just to get the thought process going if the need arises....just like you have your procedure in your head about what you would do for a engine failure on take off.

 

David

 

 

[facthunter]

You can still control a plane with the engine out and a slow speed plane into any kind of wind further slowing it's groundspeed, has a very low velocity and you are still able to play an active part in how and where it goes. In a tractor aircraft you have a relatively heavy motor in front of you and some structure, to help brush a few things away. When you pull the chute you have no further say in what happens and you will hit the ground or some obstacle at a resultant of vertical rate of descent and the wind velocity and from any direction not necessarily the front when you make contact. Nev

 

 

[fly_tornado]

I had this discussion with the pilot of a CH-750. He didn't have a BRS and didn't want one - he said that if he had an engine failure over tiger country, he'd flare it just over the tree tops so the horizontal component of his arrival speed would be very low anyway.

good idea but if you clip a tree and rip open your fuel tanks and the whole thing goes up in a fireball, you might wish you had pulled the chute

 

 

[Guest SrPilot]

good idea but if you clip a tree and rip open your fuel tanks and the whole thing goes up in a fireball, you might wish you had pulled the chute

Well, playing "iffy," if you pull the chute and it "Roman candles," there's going to be a heck of a lot of drag out there while you're trying to make an emergency landing in a paddock. Just saying.

 

 

[Downunder]

The article tends to indicate pulling the chute " forced him into trees" so I'm tending to side with Nev a bit as to whether such "light" ultralights really need them.

 

Ultimately, it's up to the owner/builder as to fit one or not. Which is fair enough.

 

 

[fly_tornado]

have you fallen out of a tree lately?

 

 

[M61A1]

While I have nothing against the use of a BRS, in your decision making process, they need to be the "last resort" rather than first thing you do , it appears that a lot of those deployed seem to have other options, but chose to become a passenger.

 

Perhaps a better line of question might be "what part of his decision making process had him flying over trees, that he couldn't glide clear of, if the engine failed?"

 

 

[fly_tornado]

I think the stats for forced landings into treed areas tells a pretty clear story.

 

 

[M61A1]

I think the stats for forced landings into treed areas tells a pretty clear story.

What......that we have a lot of very optimistic or thick pilots?

Sign in one flight line office I have frequented...

 

"If you fly a single engine helicopter (could be any aircraft) over water for any length of time, sooner or later you will get wet".

 

 

[fly_tornado]

The way I read this story, old mate was going out for a fly and his engine started seizing and he pulled his chute because he wasn't going to make it out of the trees. I suspect that many forced landings happen pretty quickly and you don't get a lot of options to chose from.

 

 

[M61A1]

The way I read this story, old mate was going out for a fly and his engine started seizing and he pulled his chute because he wasn't going to make it out of the trees. I suspect that many forced landings happen pretty quickly and you don't get a lot of options to chose from.

You get as many options as you give yourself.

 

 

[fly_tornado]

which is why GA flying is 7 times more dangerous than driving a car, god knows how dangerous flying a part 103 is.

 

 

[facthunter]

Strange how the more thought and practice you put into your flying the LUCKIER you get .Nev