Interesting video of a small plane crash.

[Divalent 89]

Overloaded for the conditions. (All survived.)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yDu0jYiz-v8

[jetbox 0]

Nothing to do with skydiving but I'll bite. What the hell was the pilot thinking? All that room and no bail. It was obvious she wasn't going to climb why continue to push it. Some of the people on youtube apparently don't know that the ipad can be used as a cluster and a gps.

Glad everyone survived, the pilot looks pretty beat up though.

[Rickendiver 6]

Yeah, looks like it might have been a Stinson Voyager with a 165hp Franklin engine. Guessing from sectional charts in the area that the field elevation was around 4,000', and on maybe a 90 degree day would put DA up around 6800'. Even with half tanks, it wouldn't have made it anywhere with 4 people on board. Don't know why he didn't shut down when he couldn't achieve a positive ROC, even in ground effect - Those guys were lucky to walk (limp?) away from this one.

I sometimes work out density altitude when sitting in the back of the jump plane, taking off downwind at max gross wt on a 100 degree day- Gotta love turbines!

[darkwing 4]

An appalling length of time and opportunity to fix the problem went by.

It is interesting for me to reflect on the number of similarly bad decisions that have been made by pilots when I have been in the aircraft. It can be fun if you live through it, although it isn't always. One pilot I said I'd never fly with again, and I didn't. Another I should have told the same thing, but didn't. He's dead now, and took some with him. Nobody was surprised.

-- Jeff
My Skydiving History

[theplummeter 14]

That pilot was awesome. He made it almost 700 yards further than the pilot who tried it right before him with a better plane and less weight.