Floatplane Crash off Miami

happy_flyer · Post by **happy_flyer** » Mon Dec 19, 2005 1:59 pm

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/4543932.stm

A plane carrying an estimated 16 people has crashed into water near Miami Beach in Florida, killing at least six people, US Coast Guard officials said.

Fourteen passengers and two crew were on the seaplane, believed to fly regularly to and from the Bahamas.

The craft crashed into Miami's main shipping channel shortly before 1500 local time (2000 GMT).

Boats and helicopters are sweeping the area of the crash in search of any passengers who may have survived.

Witnesses told local television that the airplane seemed to explode in the sky before it fell into Government Cut, the entry to the Port of Miami.

Seaplanes are equipped with pontoons for taking off and landing on water.

xsbank · Post by **xsbank** » Mon Dec 19, 2005 2:17 pm

Albatross? Mallard?

gig · Post by **gig** » Mon Dec 19, 2005 2:28 pm

CNN says Chalk's Ocean Airways Grumman G-73T Turbine Mallard was the aircraft.

golden hawk · Post by **golden hawk** » Mon Dec 19, 2005 3:07 pm

http://edition.cnn.com/2005/US/12/19/mi ... index.html

flyincanuck · Post by **flyincanuck** » Mon Dec 19, 2005 3:50 pm

MSNBC reporting no survivors. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10534159/

flyincanuck · Post by **flyincanuck** » Mon Dec 19, 2005 3:52 pm

MSNBC reporting no survivors. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10534159/

Someone took a quick snapshot with their cellphone camera. It certainly does not look pretty.

North Shore · Post by **North Shore** » Mon Dec 19, 2005 5:27 pm

Seaplanes are equipped with pontoons for taking off and landing on water

Errr, no, they're equipped with floats, except when they're flying boats, when they're not.

looproll · Post by **looproll** » Mon Dec 19, 2005 5:27 pm

Jesus! I'm watching the amateur video on CNN. Looks like a fire and structural failure in flight. The fuselage lawn-darted in from pretty high. No way that was survivable. Looks like the fuselage and one wing were intact and hit first followed by a ball of fire which looks to be the other wing and engine!

CP · Post by CP » Mon Dec 19, 2005 5:39 pm

CNN.... They didnt crosscheck their water before take-off ????

Airtids · Post by **Airtids** » Mon Dec 19, 2005 6:30 pm

North Shore wrote:
Seaplanes are equipped with pontoons for taking off and landing on water
Errr, no, they're equipped with floats, except when they're flying boats, when they're not.

Hey, Poppa!! Give the guy a break: There hasn't been a floatplane around here for years, up until today, that is

. Believe me, his float instructor was exceptional and at one point he knew EVERYTHING about water and aircraft and how the two mix!!

p.s.- Gettin' any sleep?

happy_flyer · Post by **happy_flyer** » Mon Dec 19, 2005 6:36 pm

Thanks Mr Tids .. just realised that it makes me look like that was my statement ! Hope everyone sees that it was quoted straight from the BBC news website...not my detailed expert description of a seaplane !!

happy_flyer · Post by **happy_flyer** » Mon Dec 19, 2005 6:37 pm

and as for my float instructor ? well...no comment

Airtids · Post by **Airtids** » Mon Dec 19, 2005 7:03 pm

That's right: "If you can't say anything bad, don't say anything at all" or something like that!

costermonger · Post by **costermonger** » Mon Dec 19, 2005 7:11 pm

Just saw some video of it, looks like the entire right wing had seperated and was on fire. The rest of the a/c hit the water first, some distance away.

Nasty looking event.

ehbuddy · Post by **ehbuddy** » Mon Dec 19, 2005 7:13 pm

From the video captured, it sure looks like the entire right wing plus the engine separated from the fuselage.

Ireton · Post by **Ireton** » Mon Dec 19, 2005 9:12 pm

My thoughts are with the crew, passengers and their families.

North Shore · Post by **North Shore** » Mon Dec 19, 2005 10:04 pm

Tids, no disrespect meant to your student, his instructor, or knowledge of floatplanes. Perhaps I should have made it clear that I was

ing at BBC's statement - got on one of my pet peeves about 'pontoons.' In retrospect, however, perhaps that was a little hard, seeing as 19 people have been killed just before Christmas - a sad thing indeed to happen.

Sleep? whazzat? He delights in filling his drawers at 0300, screaming about it and then noisily feeding until about 0430, at which time it is impossible to get back to sleep. Ahh well, at least he's a boy, so I only have to worry about one little pr!ck

walking around as a teenager!

bamboo · Post by **bamboo** » Tue Dec 20, 2005 3:19 pm

Wing Separated before Mallard Crashed
The NTSB has begun recovering the wreckage of the Chalk’s Ocean Airways Turbo Mallard that crashed off the coast of Miami yesterday afternoon, killing all 18 passengers and two crewmembers. The 1947 Grumman G-73T had taken off from the airline’s Watson Island seaplane base shortly before 2:40 p.m. for a flight to Bimini in the Bahamas, when only seconds later it broke apart in an inferno and fell into Government Cut. Amateur video appeared to show the right wing breaking away from the fuselage. Recovery crews have now turned their attention to finding the airplane’s cockpit voice recorder while investigators pore over maintenance logs and operations records. The crash ended Chalk’s 86-year record of no fatal accidents involving passengers, although two Chalk’s pilots died when their Mallard crashed during takeoff near Key West, Fla., on March 18, 1994. The NTSB determined the cause of that accident to be an excessive aft c.g. because the crew failed to ensure that the aircraft’s bilges were pumped free of water.

swede · Post by **swede** » Tue Dec 20, 2005 6:05 pm

Looks like the wing failed, not overly surprising if it turns out to be corrosion. Talk about having a bad day..

linecrew · Post by **linecrew** » Tue Dec 20, 2005 6:21 pm

It was N2969, a Mallard built in 1947 and converted to PT6 power.

Pic of the aircraft taken in September:

http://www.airliners.net/open.file/923925/L/

xsbank · Post by **xsbank** » Tue Dec 20, 2005 6:44 pm

Lovely a/c - I flew a piston Mallard once, briefly. Boats are a gas!

Cat Driver · Post by **Cat Driver** » Tue Dec 20, 2005 7:19 pm

I would be very suprised if it was a corrosion problem, Chalks Airlines have been operating Sea Planes in salt water longer than any operator on earth.

Cat

oldtimer · Post by **oldtimer** » Tue Dec 20, 2005 9:41 pm

Cat - I have to agree with you on that. Corrosion is only a problem if it is ignored or undetected. Now metal fatigue can be another can of worms. I read about Chalk and their maintenance and operation has been the best. But it is an old airplane.

Fork-Tailed Devil · Post by **Fork-Tailed Devil** » Wed Dec 21, 2005 12:24 am

My favorite news quote on this tragedy:

The plane was a twin-engine Grumman G-73T Turbine Mallard. It had a few previously reported incidents according to the FAA....

FOR CRYING OUT LOUD THE PLANE IS 58 YEARS OLD!!

Yeah she blew a couple of jugs back in '49, it could be related to mondays crash.

Hedley · Post by **Hedley** » Wed Dec 21, 2005 7:03 am

umm .... I am amazed that no one here is suspicious of an engine fire, leading to spar failure. This is not exactly a novel failure mode.

This concern ought to be first and foremost in the minds of pilots who fly aircraft with engines snuggled closely into the wing spar (eg most all piston twins).

If you've got an engine fire that doesn't go out after you shut the fuel off, you want to get on the ground NOW to avoid exactly this kind of unsurvivable structural failure: wing separation.