Light plane makes emergency landing on WA road

[old man emu]

I bet the Health & Safety inspectors will be wanting some of his hide. Did he have authorised traffic controllers at each end of the worksite, and was the correct warning signage displayed in accordance with the Regulations?

 

 

[Birdseye]

You may larf and dismiss this as bullcrap BUT,. . .a local farmer that I know personally has been helping the highways authority to clear snowdrifts from the local roads using his tractor, fitted with a snow blade. . . He has done this for a few days, expecting no thanks from the council, as they are complete and utter assholes, only interested in their expenses and other interests. . . He asked if the local council would at least cover the costs of his diesel fuel for clearing the roads,. . .and their response was to threaten him with penalties for using Red dieisel ( Farm diesel ) to run his plough tractors on the highway. . . . .I HATE THESE FECKING ASS HOLES to the bottom of my heart and wish them all a painful death.. . . .who the hell voted for these creeps anyhow . . . . they certainly are not qualified members of the Human race. . . .

If the suystem is the same as here, the councillors have no power to control much at all, the real power is in the un-elected employees that run these 'sheltered workshop' councils.

 

 

[bexrbetter]

They closed the road so it could take off

Plane landed about 5pm, Police closed the road somewhere after 6, plane was still there during the night.

 

Might still be there, doubt if they started looking at it until next morning, and had to get the right people there first..

 

 

[turboplanner]

Plane landed about 5pm, Police closed the road somewhere after 6, plane was still there during the night. Might still be there, doubt if they started looking at it until next morning, and had to get the right people there first..

They flew it out to Broome.

[onetrack]

There would have been a concerted effort to get the aircraft off the highway as fast as any repairs allowed. We're talking National Highway 1 here, and it's the only route for North-South traffic in W.A., for that region.

 

Close that road and nothing moves North or South from that point. But that highway carries a very substantial amount of important traffic and supplies, both ways.

 

Petroleum fuel distribution, food, and other vital supplies for the major towns such as Broome and Kununurra, all rely on Highway 1 being open. Produce from the Ord River is trucked to the South via this highway.

 

Heavy equipment of all types - from Mining to Marine, is trucked along this highway. Cattle are moved in large numbers by multiple road trains, from stations to port for export, along this highway.

 

The oil and gas industry is a big player in Broome, servicing the offshore gas fields, and vast amounts of oil and gas infrastructure support and supplies, move to Broome from the South, along this highway.

 

The recent Kimberley floods of January and February, which seriously damaged and closed large sections of Highway 1 for a couple of weeks each time, have caused havoc to the townships in the Kimberley, and to many business operations in the region.

 

The major supermarkets in Broome were recently forced to transport semitrailer loads of supermarket supplies to Broome, by barge, from Pt Hedland - a very expensive exercise, no doubt, and I'm not sure who picked up the tab for that.

 

 

[bexrbetter]

There would have been a concerted effort to get the aircraft off the highway as fast as any repairs allowed. .

The pictures taken at night show clearly the plane wasn't pushed to one side, as it should have been, and asap.

There is plenty of room to the left side of the craft, maybe it was very boggy over there, maybe they could have put some planks down first. At the minimum they could have pushed it onto the verge and closed one lane only.

 

I've just seen too many times where the Police have taken absolutely ridiculous measures without seeing the big picture, and how their actions affect a greater number of people, as you have exampled.

 

 

[Jerry_Atrick]

You may larf and dismiss this as bullcrap BUT,. . .a local farmer that I know personally has been helping the highways authority to clear snowdrifts from the local roads using his tractor, fitted with a snow blade. . . He has done this for a few days, expecting no thanks from the council, as they are complete and utter assholes, only interested in their expenses and other interests. . . He asked if the local council would at least cover the costs of his diesel fuel for clearing the roads,. . .and their response was to threaten him with penalties for using Red dieisel ( Farm diesel ) to run his plough tractors on the highway. . . . .I HATE THESE FECKING ASS HOLES to the bottom of my heart and wish them all a painful death.. . . .who the hell voted for these creeps anyhow . . . . they certainly are not qualified members of the Human race. . . .

Phil - I hear and agree with you. The councils are low-lives and are more about destroying local communities while beating their chests with self-importance. Also it is HMRC and the police that enforce the law around red diesel... not the council... And let's face it, fuel is about 1/3 of the cost of running a tractor (well, mine anyway) so even of the council picked up the tab, the farmer would be contributing a lot out of his own pocket. But councils and their staff are imply too thick to see the picture.

 

If the suystem is the same as here, the councillors have no power to control much at all, the real power is in the un-elected employees that run these 'sheltered workshop' councils.

It is similar - in that the employees will provide the information to the councillors in such a way as to get the councillors to make a decision or strategy they way the employees want. However, councillors here do weild power over what is left of their employees because of massive outsourcing. Councils are about fleecing as much from their constituents as possible and minimising the services they provide. While I could probably write a book on the subject in terms of mismanagement and petty politics; taking on issues that are of a national concern rather than those of local administrative remit, there is a push by central government (when will they accept they run a federal system here, too) to offload as much of the responsibility for the provision of services to local councils while reducing the grants they give the councils to do their jobs.

Anyway, back the thread - be interesting to see the cause of the emergency and how they could fly it out so quick... and yet we will still have to wait, how long, 2 years to know what happened???

 

 

[turboplanner]

The pictures taken at night show clearly the plane wasn't pushed to one side, as it should have been, and asap.There is plenty of room to the left side of the craft, maybe it was very boggy over there, maybe they could have put some planks down first. At the minimum they could have pushed it onto the verge and closed one lane only.

I've just seen too many times where the Police have taken absolutely ridiculous measures without seeing the big picture, and how their actions affect a greater number of people, as you have exampled.

Sometimes the police know what they are doing. This isn't the Newell Highway, traffic flow is low - maybe one vehicle per 5 or 10 minutes. As it was reported, they were driving around the aircraft.

[onetrack]

The problem with pushing the aircraft off the road is the steepness of the road formation shoulders. At around 4500kgs, you would need substantial manpower to get it back up onto the sealed section of the highway again.

 

You usually move aircraft around on nearly-dead-level surfaces. Make that surface a 15% or 20% grade and you have serious problems with aircraft movement - unless you have a tug.

 

Yes, they could probably use a 4WD as a tug, but the chances of damage to aircraft increase when people untrained in aircraft handling, start becoming involved in moving aircraft.

 

 

[Happyflyer]

From the ATSB web site:

 

The ATSB is investigating a dual engine failure and forced landing involving a Cessna 441, VH-LBY, at 39 km East of Broome Airport, Western Australia, on 2 March 2018.

 

During descent into Broome Airport, the right then left engines began to surge. The pilot shut down the right engine and made a mayday call. Shortly after, the left engine failed and the pilot conducted a forced landing on the Great Northern Highway. There was no reported damage to the aircraft. The pilot and passengers were not injured.

 

As part of the investigation, the ATSB will interview the pilot and obtain engineering information.

 

Should a critical safety issue be identified during the course of the investigation, the ATSB will immediately notify those affected and seek safety action to address the issue A final report will be released at the conclusion of the investigation.

 

 

[carrod01]

Let's celebrate a good result. Well done to the pilot, nice to see a great outcome rather than the tragedy of body bags, trauma and longer road closures.

 

 

[Downunder]

Let's celebrate a good result. Well done to the pilot, nice to see a great outcome rather than the tragedy of body bags, trauma and longer road closures.

I'll celebrate the pilot AFTER I find out the reason for the emergency landing.......

 

 

[Yenn]

The video shows a 4WD driving past the aeroplane, so it was not too boggy on the side of the road. Standard crossfall on a road is 3% not 15% and it certainly looks like 3% to me. Should have been possible to swing it off at right angles to allow traffic to pass, but that would be up to the police, who aren't too bright.

 

I once spent over two hours waiting while the police stopped all traffic, where a prime mover had lost its trailer. A crane was positioned on part of the road and suddenly the police lost interest and left. the first thing the crane crew did was to get the traffic moving in one lane, which could have been done by the police two hours earlier.

 

 

[Happyflyer]

The video shows a 4WD driving past the aeroplane, so it was not too boggy on the side of the road. Standard crossfall on a road is 3% not 15% and it certainly looks like 3% to me. Should have been possible to swing it off at right angles to allow traffic to pass, but that would be up to the police, who aren't too bright.I once spent over two hours waiting while the police stopped all traffic, where a prime mover had lost its trailer. A crane was positioned on part of the road and suddenly the police lost interest and left. the first thing the crane crew did was to get the traffic moving in one lane, which could have been done by the police two hours earlier.

The fall of the shoulder of the road is substanial, as it needs to be, given the rains they get there. A four wheel drive car is made to drive off road, a Conquest is not. Five tons of aircraft held up br three skinny tires. Taking it off the road would have been a stupid decision. I’m guessing you’d never had to move an aircraft of that size on a slope without a tow bar.

[onetrack]

Standard crossfall on a road is 3% not 15% and it certainly looks like 3% to me

You are confusing crossfall, camber, and road shoulders.Crossfall is the measure of the flat slope across a road, on a curve. All properly constructed roads should have a certain amount of crossfall on curves, exactly the same as rail lines do - and for the same reason.Camber is the curved shape of a road formation where the centre of the road formation is higher than the outsides of the formation, to assist in draining water from the formation to stop it from puddling and creating potholes.

 

0.5% is an adequate amount of fall from the centre of the formation to the outside, for camber - but it can be a little more.

 

Too much slope on the camber, and semi-trailers at maximum legal height of 4.3M, with a high C of G, have an increased tendency to fall over.

 

The road shoulder is the edge of the very steep drop, off the road formation, into the roadside drain (sometimes called the table drain).

 

That drop into the drain from the formation can be 15 to 20% slope. The aircraft would need to be moved right off the sealed section of the highway, into the roadside drain, to allow heavy traffic to pass, on the sealed section of the highway.

 

Getting the aircraft off the road into the roadside drain, would be easy enough - getting it back up onto the road formation, afterwards, for takeoff, is where the potential problem of damage to the aircraft would likely occur.

 

Road shoulders can become very soft after heavy rain - as more than one heavy vehicle driver has found to his dismay, as he pulled over onto the shoulder with his fully loaded rig, and felt his LHS wheels sink to the makers name.

 

There have been trucks that have rolled over, simply by pulling off onto the shoulder after heavy rain, and the road shoulder gave way. The red-dirt country is notorious for road shoulders becoming treacherous after rain.

 

 

[Guest Guest]

I'll be keen to find out the reason behind this "out landing", having thousands of hrs on high perf turboprops myself this is somewhat unusual, having said that a safe outcome was the end result, hope we can all learn from this -:)

 

 

[1958cessna172]

Will be booked for speeding, straddling lanes, no 'Wide Load' sign, bald tyres, no reg and unroadworthy.Internationals reading this will think I'm joking ...

Great interpretation!!!