onetrack

The general opinion amongst all the discussion is that some degree of power is still being produced from at least one engine, or both, and that engine spool down noise is still on the audio for several seconds after the aircraft exploded. Despite the long float and the touchdown more than halfway down the runway, the general impression is there's no appreciable loss of aircraft speed in the slide, despite the full contact sliding on the tarmac for 800-900 metres, and over 200 metres of dirt past the end of the runway. Juan Brown estimates the aircraft was still doing close to 150mph when it hit the localiser berm, other figures I have seen people calculate, come out at around 125kts, that's 144mph, so some pretty close estimates there. The B737 approach speed is normally 142kts, the aircraft seems to be going faster than that on the approach in the video, but it landed, so it must have been doing 145-150kts on touchdown, that means it only lost maybe 20-25kts in speed over more than a kilometre - that shows some degree of engine power was still being produced, well above idle. Why that happened, we can only guess. Perhaps the bird strike damaged engine controls, and the crew were unable to bring the engines back to idle on touchdown? Juan points out just how robust the hydraulic system is on the B737, it has triple redundancy and the electric motors will still drive the systems, provided they have power. The aircraft shows an approach that is under good control. The CVR and FDR have been recovered, but it appears both show signs of damage. As their location and mounting/protection arrangements are built to withstand fires and serious levels of impact, I'd be surprised if useful information can't be acquired from them. Another angle is why the ADS-B signal and information ceased 7 minutes prior to the crash? Perhaps the bird strike released engine debris that damaged electrics? More questions than answers at present. Decoding plane black boxes to take over a month WWW.KOREAHERALD.COM Decoding the black boxes from the Jeju Air crash in Muan, which claimed 179 lives, is expected to take at least a month, with one box partially damaged the Transport Ministry reported. If the damage...

Some more useful videos below. All the signs point to a messed-up emergency landing, they forgot to lower the gear, floated for a long way down the runway before they finally belly-flopped onto the tarmac, and by then it was all too late. They had too much speed on for where they touched down. The CVR record will be interesting, not the first time there was panic and confusion in the cabin - and it appears they'd been on duty for quite a while, too. But the simple fact remains, those who constructed the solid-concrete-with-earth-berm-reinforcement for the localiser should be lined up and shot. The brick perimeter wall of the airport would have posed no major threat to a sliding B737, it was the solid earth berm and the massive concrete under it, at the localiser, that caused this dreadful loss of life.

I understand that is SOP for any aircraft where it is determined by the crew that they can safely continue flight until the excess fuel is consumed (or dumped, if the dump ability is available to them). But it appears that this landing was an urgent emergency landing as indicated by landing with a tailwind. So perhaps the aircraft had suffered control damage or other major damage, that the crew determined was serious enough to warrant an immediate landing. We won't know until more information is available from the authorities. I have seen/read nothing about what type of emergency was declared by the crew.

The insurance company site below has useful information in their FAQ's. Insurance is all about the following; 1. Understanding the risks involved in what you're doing. This means you have to clearly outline to your insurer, the activities you're undertaking, so they can assess the risk. 2. Making sure you clearly disclose to your insurer, anything that could affect a claim. "Non-disclosure" in insurance is a critical feature of insurance. If you do not disclose important information that an insurer needs to calculate risk, then you stand to have claims rejected due to that non-disclosure, which can either be intentional or non-intentional. Insurance companies treat non-disclosure as misleading or even fraudulent. 3. Insurance is all about "good faith". You make disclosures on the basis of good faith, and your insurer makes payouts based on good faith. Anything outside good faith recognition is regarded as misleading or fraudulent. 4. Public Liability insurance is based on the insured party either admitting negligence, or being found guilty of negligence. Admitting negligence after an insured PL event is not necessarily a bad thing, it saves a lot of costs involved in arguing and determining fault. If you are covered properly by an adequate PL policy, you should not fear repercussions by admitting negligence, when you are clearly at fault. Aviation Insurance | Airport & Aviation Liability | QBE AU WWW.QBE.COM Get aviation insurance for aircraft owners, pilots, operators, maintenance organisations, airports, aviation businesses and more with QBE. Find out more.

In that case, the answer is simple, your aircraft is not insured if you're not in the act of flying it. If you want to cover the chances of your aircraft catching fire while you're nowhere near it, you need hull insurance. If you want to insure it against being picked up by a storm gust, you would need storm damage insurance. All policies must have a clear insurance PDS that comes with them - this document includes information regarding your policies key features, what is covered, what is excluded, claims information, and the companies complaints handling procedures.

Click on the fuzzy photo in my last post above, and it brings up the Channel 9 news site, and the first video is a clear video of the belly landing and crash through the brick wall. Marty is correct, there's only 2 survivors, both crew members.

Number 2 would be correctly interpreted by reading the fine print in the policy. It would have to state whether the members aircraft was insured (or not) when he/she wasn't in it.

As I understand it, the passenger is only entitled to a claim of compensation in a crash if the pilot failed in his duty of care, or was outright negligent. The placarded warning simply advises that the RA aircraft is not built to the same standards of safety or scrutiny as a certified aircraft. The passenger is deemed to accept the risk of aircraft failure accordingly. If a wing parted company with the rest of the aircraft in normal flight, with the pilot doing everything correctly, then I'd surmise the passenger would have very little legal standing to mount a claim for compensation.

I wonder what kind of idiocy prevailed for the Koreans to construct a brick wall at the end of the runway? The aircraft looked like it would've made a relatively good belly landing if it wasn't for that brick wall. It just exploded into a fireball the instant it hit it. The death toll is currently 62 and still rising - like PMC, I'll be surprised if there's any survivors. A South Korean airliner has reportedly crashed WWW.9NEWS.COM.AU A South Korean airliner flying from Bangkok has reportedly crashed during landing.

I'd opine that anything you can do to enhance your conspicuity - no matter how small the effect - has to be worthwhile, despite Skippys opinion that most lighting is worthless.

All part of the experimenting of the time, I guess.

De Havilland D.H. 71 Tiger Moth race aircraft.

........you know that auto-dig mining software for excavators and trucks that you developed, that's in wide use in mining today? - do you think you could adapt it to aircraft, so no pilot is needed and the aircraft all automatically take off and land themselves? I can put the learner pilots in the aircraft and they'll think they're piloting with skill on the first day, with no idea the planes are flying themselves!" "Yeah, I reckon I can do that", said OT, and he went straight to his computer and pulled up the programmes, and got right into the software modifications. Within 3 days, he had the programmes sorted, and he sent them off to Turbo to fit to his recently Govt-funded fleet of Drifters and Thrusters. A week later, OT got a call from Turbo. "I haven't heard from you since you fitted up all the aircraft, how's it all going?", said OT. Turbo said through gritted teeth, "Nothing like what I expected. The aircraft are digging holes in the tarmac, and the pilots are being ejected on a regular basis, as the software identifies "foreign object found in cabin", and is the programme supposed to............

.......there was more to be gained by re-directing the discussion to increased funding for airports, aviation in general, subsidies for kit-builders, and Govt funding for RA-Aus. After he'd made his pitch to Jac, she retorted, "You've got to be XXXXXXXX me, surely? I'm not handing out money willy-nilly to an exclusive group who are in such a minority, they're basically only a blip on the radar!" Turbo responded with soothing words. "You don't understand what I'm getting at, do you? This proposal of mine is all about promoting yourself, by doing a little promoting of a small group, who possess the ability to project your image with an aerial display, that would be so effective, it makes your spending on Saatchi and Saatchi look like the equivalent of burning a full Armaguard truck!" "Well, I never thought of it, that way!", said Jac. "Tell me more about this proposal of yours". Turbo replied, "I have this company set up, it's called Turbine Aviation Promotions, and all we need is.........

I will be as old as Methuselah before I see a European-built aircraft that can be described as "affordable" in Australia. A lot of people forget there's a thing called "old money" in Europe, where a substantial number of the population have pocket money to burn on "toys", that would buy a luxury waterfront mansion on the Gold Coast. This market is very attractive to small aircraft manufacturers, where the primary input is what we called "cubic dollars" (not cubic inches) in speedway racing.

It is a copy of a Messerschmitt Bf 109G, manufactured by La Hispano Aviacion S.A. in Spain from 1945 to 1961. The model number is HA-1112. Nine different versions were produced, and as Germany was unable to supply the Bf 109 Daimler Benz engines, HA initially utilised Hispano-Suiza 12z engines. This early version was called the HA-1109. However, the H-S engines proved to be unreliable and the H-S manufacturing operations was also unable to produce enough engines to fulfil contracts with LHA, so LHA went over to using RR Merlin engines. The HA-1109 was designated the "Tripala" ("Three-bladed") and the Merlin-powered HA-1112 was designated the "Buchon" ("Pigeon"). Spain used the HA-1112 up until its official Spanish Air Force retirement in 1967, and it was still being used by them as late as 1969. Surplus HA-1112's have been purchased by aviation enthusiasts and most notably, a film production company purchased a number for use in the film "Battle of Britain". https://planesoffame.org/aircraft/plane-HA-1112-M1L Hispano-Suiza 12Z - Wikipedia EN.WIKIPEDIA.ORG

Two things - 1. The number of "news" websites that are simply there to entertain or extract views from you, are in the millions. You need to be very selective in what you read and look at. So much of the Internet is simply dross. There are useful sites in amongst it all, that will give you useful information - but you need to seek them out, and the results are highly dependent on the browser you use. You get very little of accurate information value from the MS browser, Edge. 2. If the Chinese produce a new defence item, they will not be broadcasting accurate details re the design and performance - the same as any other country. Here is possibly the most useful site for information on the two new Chinese defence aircraft sighted in recent days - Yes, China Just Flew Another Tailless Next-Generation Stealth Combat Aircraft WWW.TWZ.COM In less than 24 hours, two previously unseen Chinese advanced combat jet designs have broken cover and both are already undergoing flight testing. In less than 24 hours, two previously unseen Chinese...

A fabulous photo below (by Isabelle Beauvais) of the Renault Bengali, the 6 cyl engine that powered the Caudron Simoun, throttled up! It's got an interesting setup of downdraught carburettors on an inverted engine. https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=3482877135089940

You need to keep in mind that if the manure hits the rotating blades, and you end up involved in lengthy trials and lawsuits, the legal costs can often be ruinous - besides any payout you're deemed responsible for. Even when someone else has done something wrong (such as locating a Ferris Wheel inside a flight path splay), the pilot can still be found partly responsible for losses/damages/injury or death. In the Ferris Wheel case, the Council was found largely responsible, but the pilot was still deemed to be 35% responsible (for the crash) as well. The payout to the girl trapped on the Ferris Wheel was well over $1.5M and I hate to think what the legal costs were in total. The legal profession often charge daily rates that exceed monthly earnings for many people. Plane crashes into Ferris Wheel at Festival – child riding successfully sues Council and Pilot for damages | McAuley Lawyers MCAULEYLAWYERS.COM.AU On 1 October 2011, at the Old Bar Festival in Old Bar NSW a pilot of a light aircraft travelled from Taree Airport, to the Old Bar Airstrip, which lays adjacent to the land on which the Festival was taking place. While... The bloke who had the Ball Bay (Qld) crash that killed his mate and passenger, has narrowly avoided a manslaughter charge, but he still faces a handful of aviation law infringement charges next year - and the daughters of the bloke killed are very angry just at the dropping of the manslaughter charge, and no doubt they're planning a lawsuit that will possibly result in a major payout. But even if they fail in acquiring a payout for their fathers death, the legal costs are going to make this pilot wish he'd never taken to the skies. Queensland pilot avoids manslaughter charge over fatal Ball Bay plane crash - ABC News WWW.ABC.NET.AU Nearly three years after a fatal plane crash near Mackay, the Department of Public Prosecutions has decided not to formally charge the aircraft's pilot with manslaughter. www.couriermail.com.au%2Fnews%2Fqueensland%2Fmackay%2Ffamily-of-gerardus-miltenburg-angry-as-manslaughter-case-dropped-in-fatal-plane-crash-case ATSB discontinues investigation into fatal Ball Bay light aircraft accident | Mirage News WWW.MIRAGENEWS.COM The Australian Transport Safety Bureau has discontinued its investigation into a light aircraft accident in which a passenger was fatally injured

......Lake Boga, so they could practise their night ditchings, as well as their BFSL. Bull was wrapped, he always loved the water, and it wouldn't be the first time he managed to catch a bucket of prawns at the same time as he managed a successful night ditching. However, this time was going to be different. This time, there was no...........

.....this, along with still wearing the gumboots he usually wore on the trawler, made controlling the aircraft and landing a little more "tricky" (bull's words, not mine) than usual. However, after bull finally recognised that a hedge of large hibiscus bushes made for a soft landing, he finally plonked the aircraft down in the hibiscus and came to a stop so fast, Turbo and the committee awarded him a special trophy for the Shortest of the Short. As bull was height-challenged, he took offence at being given the award, and in the best bull fashion, he wasted no time in telling Turbo and the committee, "where they could shove their f$#@# Short award!!" Turbo was a little upset at bull taking this award the wrong way, and set out to...........

I think Phil has found other things to do with his time, and aviation and forums no longer takes up a big portion of his life. I expect advancing age has also slowed him down somewhat, and perhaps refocused his aims.

The latest information, direct from Malaysia, is that the Malaysian Cabinet has only agreed in principle to finance this next search. There is a draft agreement in place, and negotiations with Ocean Infinity are still ongoing - but the Malaysian Transport Ministry is expecting a final agreement will be thrashed out and signed, "early in 2025". It appears things only happen slowly in Malaysian political circles. Interestingly, the second unsuccessful search carried out by Ocean Infinity in 2018 was also subject to a US$70M "finders fee" - which of course, wasn't paid. So the US$70M the Cabinet previously reserved for the 2018 search payout, must have been spent elsewhere since 2018, and they must be looking to see where they can find the money again. Everything you need to know about Ocean Infinity’s ‘no find, no fee’ deal for Malaysia’s missing MH370 WWW.MALAYMAIL.COM KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 26 — Flight MH370 “disappeared” on March 8, 2014 with 239 people on board while flying from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing. Despite past searches covering over...

Reports are, the Embraer was to land in Grozny, but ended up seriously off course, likely due to Russian GPS jamming. Grozny was under attack from Ukrainian drones at the time, and it appears Russian air defences incorrectly ID-ed the Embraer as another Ukrainian drone, and launched a ground-to-air missile at it, which exploded close to the tail. The crew reported an in-flight explosion, and this seems likely to have been an oxygen bottle exploding after being hit by shrapnel. You wouldn't want to be airborne anywhere in that region at present, the Russians are more trigger-happy than anyone around.

.......in the earliest days of the world, when aircraft were made of rag and tube, and all recreational aircraft engines were 2 strokes started with a pull cord, there camest out of the East, Wise Men calling themselves Recreational Aviation Australia. These Wise Men came bearing gifts and promises to the AUF stable, inside which place they prophesied that the RA-A would lead the world out of aviation darkness, and into the aviation light of the coming centuries. The AUF was taken in by these prophecies, and looked for............