brent@poseidon.UUCP (Brent P. Callaghan) (10/28/85)
> Most likely because the plane wasn't high enough. Apparently the >plane crashed shortly after takeoff, and therefore had insufficient altitude >for the jumpers to exit safely. They would have had to have several hundred >feet at least, to even consider getting out. If they were only at a couple >hundred feet or so, they didn't have a prayer anyway. I thought I read that the Caravan made it to approx 1,000 feet before it lost power. Even so, it doesn't take more than a few seconds to crash from 1,000 feet in a steep dive. It is ingrained knowledge in every pilot that engine failure after takeoff demands an IMMEDIATE nose down to maintain airspeed. I'm surprised that the pilot wasn't able to control the aeroplane and force land. I wonder if there is a pattern developing here. I can think of two other similar accidents: - Twin Beech stalls and crashes in Honolulu with a full load of skydivers. (1979?) - Lockheed Loadstar (loadstall) stalls and crashes from 10,000 with a full load of skydivers. (1983?) The ability of a stalled aeroplane to recover depends on the center of gravity. If the pilot can't get the nose down because of too much weight in the back, then there is no hope for recovery. The Beech, Loadstar and Caravan all have a rear exit. I wonder if those skydivers sealed their own fate with a mass rearward scramble for the exit ? In the same position I'm not sure what my reaction would be. -- Made in New Zealand --> Brent Callaghan AT&T Information Systems, Lincroft, NJ {ihnp4|mtuxo|pegasus}!poseidon!brent (201) 576-3475
john@gcc-milo.ARPA (John Allred) (10/30/85)
According to Aviation Week, the Beech accident was caused by a CG aft of the
limit. Perhaps all of the skydivers were piled up in the rear, waiting to go?
--
John Allred
General Computer Company
uucp: seismo!harvard!gcc-milo!john
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