C182 crash with fatality - Tasmania

[Marty_d]

Thoughts are with the family of the lady killed.

 

Woman dies in light plane crash in north-east Tasmania

 

 

[FlyingVizsla]

This from the National President of the AWPA - Australian Women Pilots' Association:-

 

... National Vice President Sandra Southwell has passed away. The family of Sandra has confirmed the following details; Sandra passed away yesterday, Saturday 20th January, 2018 after being involved in an aircraft accident.

 

Our condolences go to Sandra’s partner of 25 years Barry Bransden.

 

 

Sad news indeed.

 

 

[FlyingVizsla]

From the ABC

 

Friend witnesses fatal plane crash on farm

 

 

[MartyG]

Condolences to all involved.

 

 

[kaz3g]

Very sad event. Sandra was a very active pilot and AWPA member who will be sadly missed by many. RIP.

 

Kaz

 

 

[JerzyGeorge]

I am very sad, I met Sandra at Wynyard club and talked to her many times , something went horribly wrong RIP

 

 

[BLA82]

Tragic

 

 

[Happyflyer]

An unusually detailed statement from the ATSB.

 

ATSB executive director of transport safety Nat Nagy said the circumstances of what happened were not yet fully understood.

 

"On Saturday in the afternoon, a Cessna 182 aircraft with two people on board departed Sheffield for a private airstrip near Tomahawk," he said.

 

"Just prior to arriving, witness reports indicate that they conducted a number of orbits to the south-east of the field, and then went about a number of attempted approaches to land."

 

Mr Nagy said the plane landed then half way down the strip.

 

"It subsequently bounced, and following that the pilot did what's called a go-around, where they increase the power and attempt to climb out," he said.

 

"As part of that climb out, the aircraft failed to climb above a tree towards the end, or rather past the end of the strip, and they did hit that tree, and subsequently came to rest on the side on the ground there."

 

He said ATSB investigators would remain on site for two to three days.

 

 

[Marty_d]

More on the story.

 

Pilot killed in Tasmania farm crash identified as Sandra Southwell

 

 

[Gravity]

Terribly sad-:(

 

There's nothing that can be done for her but hopefully her death will not be in vain and that some out there will learn from this event. RIP.

 

 

[Garfly]

Investigation: AO-2018-008 - Collision with terrain involving Cessna 182, VH-TSA, at Tomahawk, Tasmania, on 20 January 2018

[Gravity]

That was just awful to read and so sad. Humans really never learn for the poor decisions others make. RIP to a fellow aviator -:(

 

 

[onetrack]

There was no windsock at the airstrip

I fail to understand why anyone would build an airstrip without a windsock? I would have thought that'd be the first thing you'd install.There was a simple and serious error here, whereby the pilot failed to organise and establish ground communications upon arrival.

 

The pilot organised with the airstrip owner to meet the aircraft - why wouldn't you organise a method of ground communication, while you're at it?

 

Driving around on a runway flashing vehicle lights, to try and communicate, is just plain foolishness, when there's no method of signalling having previously been agreed on.

 

 

[SDQDI]

Flying into a strip without a windsock shouldn't be too hard.

 

It is very easy if you have a gps so there is a groundspeed/airspeed comparison but even without that a 15 knot wind should be easy enough to notice.

 

I have noticed in my limited flying time it is quite common for winds at ground level to be at 180 degrees to winds at circuit height. A low level precautionary check pass at a place without a sock would be prudent.

 

While we always say you can always go around there comes a point at some strips when going around is a no go.

 

 

[biggles]

Agree that there are generally always other visual cues out there, ( smoke, water waves etc.) but surely some sort of low level 'wind direction and velocity' indication shouldn't be too much to expect..... Bob

 

 

[facthunter]

There could quite likely be little or no reliable indicators near the drome. In the past a windsock was considered pretty well indispensable for an ALA.. It was a standard item erected at a specified height above ground and the angle it went to related to wind strength on the Beaufort scale Having wind reversed in a height of I,000 feet would produce some interesting windsheer. It's quite common for it to be somewhat less that the wind aloft but usually close to the same direction. UNLESS you might be experiencing a sea breeze overpowering a prevailing wind , where there can be considerable turbulence which will be of some concern by itself. Nev

 

 

[Happyflyer]

Wind socks have a habit of blowing away, especially on private strips where it may not be noticed. But lack of wind sock should not cause this. His first touch down point was two thirds down the runway. Headwind, tailwind or no wind, you don’t want to be there! This poor fellow will have to live with this but others can learn, if the approach isn’t happening as you wish, please go around early!

 

 

[facthunter]

Yes the Go around should be at a place whether you are on the ground or not. I saw a 182 go around with a near vertical bank to go between two TV ]Aerials at about 20 feet height. on climb out. You don't get closer to death than that. Nev

 

 

[hihosland]

vehicle on runway.............................................. go around

 

visual clues of too fast final approach......... .......go around

 

GPS ground speed 15 k above air speed...........go around

 

touch down beyond 50% of strip........................go around

 

 

[turboplanner]

I'm not so sure about this - 5 or 6 aimless orbits"?, no normal circuit - even if they'd made a mistake about wind direction?, two experienced pilots, one with over a thousand hours, just wandering around?. That part seems very odd to me.

 

 

[Jaba-who]

There could quite likely be little or no reliable indicators near the drome. In the past a windsock was considered pretty well indispensable for an ALA.. It was a standard item erected at a specified height above ground and the angle it went to related to wind strength on the Beaufort scale Having wind reversed in a height of I,000 feet would produce some interesting windsheer. It's quite common for it to be somewhat less that the wind aloft but usually close to the same direction. UNLESS you might be experiencing a sea breeze overpowering a prevailing wind , where there can be considerable turbulence which will be of some concern by itself. Nev

Unfortunately If have disagree on some of this, Nev. In the world outside community airfields ( ie farm strips) windsocks are often a luxury. They can be: never been one from day 1, was one but it blew away, perished & fell to bits.

They can be there but rusted in place and don’t swing with the wind.

 

The old idea that a certain angle indicates a certain widespread has now no basis in reality. That was true when they were all made with heavy canvas type stuff. They now come in all sorts of materials, lengths and tapers which all effect how much they angle out in a wind.

 

I have found that wind direction at any height is no indication of ground level direction. This is especially true where there are features such as hills, trees gullies, areas of farm land interspersed with tree corridors ( for wildlife that now exist in many places. ) best you can hope for is somewhere in the same quadrant and even that isn’t a certainty.

 

 

[Jaba-who]

I fail to understand why anyone would build an airstrip without a windsock? I would have thought that'd be the first thing you'd install.There was a simple and serious error here, whereby the pilot failed to organise and establish ground communications upon arrival.

 

The pilot organised with the airstrip owner to meet the aircraft - why wouldn't you organise a method of ground communication, while you're at it?

 

Driving around on a runway flashing vehicle lights, to try and communicate, is just plain foolishness, when there's no method of signalling having previously been agreed on.

Might not have been any.

 

If the only options were radio and you didn’t have one on the ground and mobile phone but there’s no reception there then that’s it.

 

But I agree that a plan to indicate the wind direction would have made all the difference. In retrospect if a plan had been made eg to point the vehicle in the direction of the best runway it would have been all they needed.

 

That of course assumes the pilot knew ahead of time there was no windsock.

 

Was any of the ground party aviators? I have been told the most glaringly wrong or faulty info about the state of bush strips by non-pilots.

 

They may not have even realized the sock or lack of it should have been advised to the pilot.

 

 

[Gravity]

Flying into a strip without a windsock shouldn't be too hard.It is very easy if you have a gps so there is a groundspeed/airspeed comparison but even without that a 15 knot wind should be easy enough to notice.

 

I have noticed in my limited flying time it is quite common for winds at ground level to be at 180 degrees to winds at circuit height. A low level precautionary check pass at a place without a sock would be prudent.

 

While we always say you can always go around there comes a point at some strips when going around is a no go.

I disagree. Using a GPS only for gauging wind speed is not advisable. It's not just the speed of the wind a sock shows its direction and variations in wind strengths via the very nature of the sock moving about especially in gusting conditions. It would be fool hardy to make that judgement on indicated speed verses a GPS speed only.

 

 

[tillmanr]

I disagree. Using a GPS only for gauging wind speed is not advisable. It's not just the speed of the wind a sock shows its direction and variations in wind strengths via the very nature of the sock moving about especially in gusting conditions. It would be fool hardy to make that judgement on indicated speed verses a GPS speed only.

I have flown from North of Benalla for 15 years and learned that what is at ground level can be +90 degrees different by only +300 ft elevation. This is especially true when cold easterlies come off the alps. A fleeting glimpse of the sock is important. Drift on different approach legs should give a bit of an idea but it is not a certainty.

 

 

[SDQDI]

I disagree. Using a GPS only for gauging wind speed is not advisable. It's not just the speed of the wind a sock shows its direction and variations in wind strengths via the very nature of the sock moving about especially in gusting conditions. It would be fool hardy to make that judgement on indicated speed verses a GPS speed only.

I am not denying that windsocks are a valuable tool, but you can get enough info without them if you need to.

95% of my flying is done out of paddocks and off of roads that don't have any windsocks within a cooee and it is still quite easy to do safely. There shouldn't be any excuse for accidentally landing downwind (ignoring one way strips and gentle 5knot variable winds). Most of the time there is something to spot in the surrounding area (maybe a tractor ploughing dust or ripples on a dam or smoke from a chimney) but a gps is also a very useful tool for checking headwind/tailwind direction. Crosswind component should be very obvious when on finals in most of the stuff we fly as will gusts.

 

Keeping an eye out for ground level wind indicators should be as automatic as keeping your a lookout for suitable paddocks ect in case of a forced landing.

 

Yes again windsocks are an awesome tool but we shouldn't fall out of the sky without them.