Plane wreckage located - Goulburn

[Geoff]

Plane wreckage located - Goulburn

 

Sunday 7 January 2007

 

Search parties have found the wreckage of a plane believed to have gone missing late yesterday in the Southern Tablelands.

 

The bodies of two people are on board the plane which was found shortly before 9am today.

 

Police and air safety investigators are being flown into bushland north east of Gunning.

 

An alarm was raised around 9pm yesterday after two men aged 54 and 65 failed to return to Goulburn airport in their “Stinga†ultralite.

 

Both men, who are believed to be experienced pilots and residents of the Goulburn area, were last seen flying over Goulburn Golf Course around 3pm yesterday.

 

Officers were told that the men were expected to go for a short flight but had not returned.

 

Inquiries into the exact circumstances leading up to the crash are continuing and a report will be prepared for the Coroner.

 

 

[Guest Sabre]

The results of this accident investigation will be very interesting, considering the ballistic parachute was deployed.A tragic lose.

 

 

[albert]

Ballistic parachute

 

I have heard that once the parachute is deployed you lose control of the aircraft

 

Worse still if it deploys unexpectedly in flight its bad news .I have seen footage of it happening when the air craft was taking off many years ago on what looked like a drifter or something like it. Anyway I will not come to any conclusions and what for the professionals to find out the cause of the unfortunate incident.

 

 

My condolence to :;)7: families and friends.

 

 

Albert.

 

 

[albert]

Ballistic parachute

 

I have heard that once the parachute is deployed you lose control of the aircraft

 

Worse still if it deploys unexpectedly in flight its bad news .I have seen footage of it happening when the air craft was taking off many years ago on what looked like a drifter or something like it. Anyway I will not come to any conclusions and what for the professionals to find out the cause of the unfortunate incident.

 

My condolence to :;)7: families and friends.

 

Albert.

 

 

[Guest Fred Bear]

Wish they would stop calling it a Stinga but none the less...Via News LTD. RIP guys.

 

Plane crash duo 'never took risks'

 

January 07, 2007 07:09pm

 

Article from: AAP

 

AIR safety experts are investigating an ultralight plane crash that claimed the lives of two experienced pilots near Goulburn in southern New South Wales.

 

A search aircraft found the wreckage of the Stinga aircraft this morning, along with the bodies of two men, identified by locals as John Guthrie, 56, and Neville Smith, 65.

 

Both were said to be experienced and cautious pilots who never took risks, and who had only been out for a short flight in fine weather.

 

The search for the plane began around 9pm (AEDT) yesterday after it failed to return to Goulburn airport.

 

The ultralight was last seen flying over the local golf course around 3pm.

 

Neil Smail, of the Australian Maritime Safety Authority, said the crash site was spotted early today by a search aircraft from the Wollongong-based Australian Aerial Patrol.

 

"They reported it and soon after a helicopter was able to get a medical crew into the area and the medics advised that there were no survivors," Mr Smail said.

 

Former Goulburn mayor Tony Lamarra said both victims would be sadly missed by the local community.

 

"They were good friends of mine ... in the last 52 years we had become like brothers," he said on Sky News.

 

He said the men were both responsible aviators.

 

"They never took risks ... if the weather was not good they would stay put," he said.

 

"It's just one of those unfortunate things ... We don't really know what caused the accident.

 

"I'm really sad because I have lost a couple of really good friends."

 

He said Mr Smith left behind a partner and three children.

 

Mr Guthrie's wife was said to have died eight years ago.

 

Police have not released the names of the deceased.

 

"Inquiries into the exact circumstances leading up to the crash are continuing and a report will be prepared for the Coroner," a police spokeswoman said.

 

 

[eastmeg2]

Can anyone confirm that a ballistic chute was deployed?

 

I also carry a GRS450 on my trike which, being the trike type is designed for quick deployement and inflation, less than 2 seconds. The assumption is made that a trike with a crumpled wing won't fall faster than 140km/h and the trike type GRS chute is design for deployments up to 160km/h airspeed.

 

However for faster 3 axis aircraft like a Sting ar predicted to be able to fall faster than 160km/h with a strctural failure the ballistic chutes are designed to open more slowly in air speeds up to 240km/h (from memory) with sliding rings moving gradually up the lines to prevent the chute from fully opening too quickly, to keep the G-Forces down to a surviveable level and not tear the aircraft completely apart by opening too quickly. Apparently they can take up to 6 seconds to fully open and this may have made the critical difference.

 

 

[Guest Fred Bear]

It appears that the chute was deployed upon impact with the ground. Will have to wait for the final results though. Thanks for the info you posted. I was interested in some of these figures.