King Air emergency (video)

Ralliart · Post by **Ralliart** » Sun Feb 04, 2007 8:18 pm

I saw this on another site:

http://www.kfvs12.com/

Wow

Good job getting it on the ground!

2milefinal · Post by **2milefinal** » Sun Feb 04, 2007 9:23 pm

UMM ...bent wings tail all but gone. WOW!

Rowdy · Post by **Rowdy** » Sun Feb 04, 2007 10:11 pm

YIKES!

What could cause a windshield to come apart like that?

Also curious how long you'd have before losing consciousness at those alts... Aren;t they required to have quick donning masks?

Amazing they got it on the ground safely

looproll · Post by **looproll** » Sun Feb 04, 2007 10:44 pm

What could cause a windshield to come apart like that?

Also curious how long you'd have before losing consciousness at those alts... Aren;t they required to have quick donning masks?

King Air windshields sometimes crack. Could be the windshield heat having an influence, maybe it was in part due to static discharge.

They'd have about 1-3 minutes at most before going to sleep at 27 000ft.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Time_of_Us ... sciousness

Rowdy · Post by **Rowdy** » Sun Feb 04, 2007 11:46 pm

for once s'n'j I think you are right..

Something just seems mighty off about that..

What the hell were they doing?

Ralliart · Post by **Ralliart** » Mon Feb 05, 2007 12:41 am

Here's some more info:

http://www.semissourian.com/story/1188041.html

Looks like the O2 wasn't working properly when they needed it.

looproll · Post by **looproll** » Mon Feb 05, 2007 4:02 am

Listen to this, it's an account of what happened, from a guy in a helicopter that saw parts falling from the King Air in flight:

http://www.avweb.com/other/JohnTaylor.mp3

Nightflight · Post by **Nightflight** » Mon Feb 05, 2007 7:50 am

Ralliart wrote:Here's some more info:

http://www.semissourian.com/story/1188041.html

You know you are in Bible country when you hear, "That plane has Christian background".

Quite the story. Glad they are all OK!

Concestor 0 · Post by **Concestor 0** » Mon Feb 05, 2007 8:14 am

The 02 valve may have been frozen. Our SOP's on the '200 require us to turn on the 02 above 10,000 before there is a chance of it freezing shut when you need it.

In any case my FO and I where sailing along at FL260 yesterday and discussing how strong the '200's actually are - I guess I know now!

"The plane's former owner was an Assembly of God Christian association. Its registration number, N777AG, had biblical significance combining a holy number and an abbreviation for Assembly of God."

God: You say that the pilots passed out at FL270 and you had to take control for them between FL270 and roughly 7,000' AGL because they're Christians?

Angels: Thats right sir.

God: I had a look at that plane after it landed and it's a mess!!

Angels: (looking sheepish) Well sir it was like this...

God: You can't fly worth shit... I'm taking your wings (tearing sound)

Sorry, I couldn't resist.

. ._ · Post by **. ._** » Mon Feb 05, 2007 12:50 pm

Human "oops" or not, it was still a great landing, all things considered.

-istp

Cat Driver · Post by **Cat Driver** » Mon Feb 05, 2007 2:24 pm

It's to bad they were not awake to note how high the A/S was when flutter started and tore that T tail all to garbage.

I bet Beech would love to know also.

Amazing they lived.

ahramin · Post by **ahramin** » Mon Feb 05, 2007 3:28 pm

http://216.52.171.98/live/flight/N777AJ ... I/tracklog
He is the track log from flightaware.

We will have to wait until the NTSB report comes out to have the facts on this one. However, i know some King Air operators are flying around with the oxygen off to save $5 a flight "We'll turn it on if we need it". I have yet to see a king air manual that does not have "Oxygen - On" in the pre-takeoffs. Concestor, granted you have little chance of needing it, and even less chance of needing it below 10 000', but why not just turn it on before start and turn it off after landing? Do your guys remember to turn the oxygen on through 10 000' every single time? Is this a checklist item? I know i forget the occasional thing. Today it was mushrooms

. I would not want oxygen on the list of things i might forget.

bobm · Post by **bobm** » Mon Feb 05, 2007 4:41 pm

They screwed up. Period. Pilot error. King Air windows crack or shatter (as in the pictures) and that is not new. Last year there were at least 4 in NW Ontario with different operators (CADORS).

We had one go last night

on our King Air and it was a non event...except to buy the new one at $16,500 USD. That price is not B.S.

Our Captain saw what this guy wrote and here is what he emailed me today.......I am sure he won't mind. BTW....20,000 hours so he has been around a while.

"
AVwebFlash Complete Issue: Volume 13, Number 6a Issue Archives | Printer-Friendly Version »
February 5, 2007

Bob:

That windshield looks identical to ours. Exactly the same thing happened to these guys. Except they opted to depressurize and consequently passed out in the descent. Nearly tore the wings off in the descent. The whole spin in the article is these a$$holes had to blow the cabin cause the glass would have blown out. What a load of horse shi!!. Then they say God was flying the airplane and saved their dumb assess to fu## something else up down the road. Problem with pilots is they've never seen a windshield when its removed. There are several layers of glass there and just because one layer shatters doesn't mean its necessarily going to cave in. Makes sense to slowly reduce speed and differential but outright panic and a sudden depressuration is likely the worst thing you can do. And as you can see the article makes them out like heroes. "

Turkey · Post by **Turkey** » Mon Feb 05, 2007 5:47 pm

I'm not a King Air pilot. But I HAVE read the Flight Manuals. Is there not an abnormal checklist for this event? Wouldn't THAT have been the appropriate thing to do? -Run the checklist? These guys are lucky to be alive. They turned a non-emergency situation into a life threatening event. By not following the checklist.

bobm · Post by **bobm** » Mon Feb 05, 2007 6:20 pm

Lucky to be alive...you bet. These guys made a mistake and are here to talk about it. The press reminds me of a A330 landing deadstick somewhere……heroes initially but…..

Checklist? B200 says,

"Outer panel cracked...NO ACTION REQUIRED"

"CAUTION - Windshield wipers may be damaged if used on cracked outer panel. Heating elements may be inoperative in area of crack" (OK...is that ever helpfull!!)

"IF determined that the crack is on the outer panel, descend or reset the pressurization controller to achieve 4 PSI diff within 10 minutes. Visibility through the windshield may be significantly impaired."

That’s it folks!

How can you tell if it is the inner pane?? Run your hand on it and you will know.

Turkey · Post by **Turkey** » Mon Feb 05, 2007 6:31 pm

I'm curious. What does it say to do if it's the inner pane? Anything different? (I would run a pen across the inner pane, not my hand. No need for glass cuts...)

bobm · Post by **bobm** » Mon Feb 05, 2007 7:15 pm

Sorry but that was my mistake.

"IF determined that the crack is on the outer panel, descend or reset the pressurization controller to achieve 4 PSI diff within 10 minutes. Visibility through the windshield may be significantly impaired."

That should have been the INNER PANE.

looproll · Post by **looproll** » Tue Feb 06, 2007 12:12 am

10:22AM 37.12 -89.78 102 27000
10:23AM 37.15 -89.82 125 7800 descending
10:24AM 37.18 -89.75 120 7800

wow, one minute from 27000 to 7800

Rowdy · Post by **Rowdy** » Tue Feb 06, 2007 12:29 am

Now for all you math wizz's out there.. How fast would you have to be travelling to descend 20,000f in 1 minute?

RatherBeFlyingInCanada · Tue Feb 06, 2007 1:25 am

Rowdy wrote:Now for all you math wizz's out there.. How fast would you have to be travelling to descend 20,000f in 1 minute?

20,000ft=3.291576674 nm
1 minute=0.0166666666666666666666666666 hr
Velocity=Distance/Time

V=D/T
V=3.291576674 nm/0.0166666666666666666666666666 hr
V=197.454nm/hr

I've never flown a King Air but my guess is the damage came from the sharp pull up.

looproll · Post by **looproll** » Tue Feb 06, 2007 2:56 am

Keep in mind that was their vertical velocity and not necessarily their IAS. It becomes more complex when you look at their change in position as indicated by the lat/long in the log and take into account their groundspeed. After being at 400+ for cruise, it got down to 44KT. Stall/spin?

glorifiedtaxidriver · Post by **glorifiedtaxidriver** » Tue Feb 06, 2007 3:10 am

that speed would be vertical speed with no lateral motion. If they were diving at 45 degrees, say, the airspeed would have to be twice that ie 380 kts. if in a spin, well i don't know the physics for figuring that out but my guess is a lot higher.

RatherBeFlyingInCanada · Tue Feb 06, 2007 3:11 am

looproll wrote:Keep in mind that was their vertical velocity and not necessarily their IAS. It becomes more complex when you look at their change in position as indicated by the lat/long in the log and take into account their groundspeed. After being at 400+ for cruise, it got down to 44KT. Stall/spin?

Good point.

Mig29 · Post by **Mig29** » Tue Feb 06, 2007 8:46 am

Pretty crazey stuff!!
btw...since the windshield cracked...how come they didn't react sooner...I mean, I would have to look at some charts, but reaction time at 20,000' is is quite long (5 min), so I don't know why they passed out so quick??

Anyways...glad they woke up in time and got down safe!

RFN · Post by **RFN** » Tue Feb 06, 2007 2:23 pm

If they were in a spin, the airspeed would have been at or below stall.
Those wings sure look like somebody pulled too hard.
It's common for King Air windshields to spider like that; it's never happened to me, but I understand it comes with a loud "crack". Maybe if one was scared enough and went for the dump switch without actually thinking it through... that's what checklists are for.