Warrior Down in Danbury, CT

I flew in to Danbury yesterday morning and had to hold for 15 minutes
because the field was closed due to "an incident". After landing I
found out from my A&P that a Warrior had lost power on takeoff and spun
in when the pilot attempted to return to the field. A witness I spoke
with described the engine missing after rotation at about 100 - 200'
AGL, with backfires and black puffs of smoke coming from the exhaust.
The engine faltered, then quit at low altitude. The airplane entered a
turn in an attempt to return to the runway then got slow, stalled, and
went in. The solo pilot was seriously injured in a post-crash fire.

This accident has not yet appeared in the NTSB database at
http://www.ntsb.gov/NTSB/query.asp.

Tom Fleischman wrote:
I flew in to Danbury yesterday morning and had to hold for 15 minutes
because the field was closed due to "an incident". After landing I
found out from my A&P that a Warrior had lost power on takeoff and spun
in when the pilot attempted to return to the field. A witness I spoke
with described the engine missing after rotation at about 100 - 200'
AGL, with backfires and black puffs of smoke coming from the exhaust.
The engine faltered, then quit at low altitude. The airplane entered a
turn in an attempt to return to the runway then got slow, stalled, and
went in. The solo pilot was seriously injured in a post-crash fire.

This accident has not yet appeared in the NTSB database at
http://www.ntsb.gov/NTSB/query.asp.



http://www2.faa.gov/avr/aai/A_0108_N.txt

The return to the field after an engine loss is one of the toughest decisions a
pilot will ever have to make. My personal minimum will be 800' AGL; or it's
straight ahead into the sod farm.

Hank

"HankPilot2002" wrote in message ...
The return to the field after an engine loss is one of the toughest decisions a
pilot will ever have to make. My personal minimum will be 800' AGL; or it's
straight ahead into the sod farm.

I turned around from about 500 feet. First, there was NOWHERE to go straight
ahead (short of landing on the roof of the Costco). Second, I still had partial power
but I'd throttled way back because of the intense vibration. Third, I didn't have
to make a return to the runway. When I started the turn, my intent was to land
on the airport access road, which parallels the runway. Anyhow I made it
back to the runway, mostly because I had gotten the aircraft cleaned up before
the engine conked, so my glide was a lot better. It wasn't until I was
back over the runway at 100' or so that I remembered to drop the gear.
Fortunately, they come down quick in the Navion.

(HankPilot2002) wrote in message ...
The return to the field after an engine loss is one of the toughest decisions a
pilot will ever have to make. My personal minimum will be 800' AGL; or it's
straight ahead into the sod farm.

Hank

Wish I had a sod farm at the end. I am doomed. Depending on the
runway I have an 8 lane freeway, a neighborhood (with million dollar
homes I might add...I opt for a little extra propert damage coverage
on my insurance :-)), a park with way to many people to land witout
killing someone, and a country club with lots of trees and more
million dollar homes along the course. As far as I know everyone who
has lost an engine on takeoff at my airport has attempted a turn
around. One didn't make the runway, but made the airport property
(ended in a big crash/fire at the national guard base...pilot
survived). I guess it beats killing other people. I was always
taught to just go straight ahead when the engine quits...I've picked
out a few "bald spots" but they're not very flat and not staraight
ahead. I am sure I would be tempted to turn around as the alternative
seems like certain death to myself and others.

Look for the par 5's - seriously, a golf course isn't a bad option.

Michael

"Greg" wrote in message
om...
(HankPilot2002) wrote in message
...
The return to the field after an engine loss is one of the toughest
decisions a
pilot will ever have to make. My personal minimum will be 800' AGL; or
it's
straight ahead into the sod farm.

Hank

Wish I had a sod farm at the end. I am doomed. ... and a country club
with lots of trees and more
million dollar homes along the course.

Michael 182 ) wrote:

Look for the par 5's - seriously, a golf course isn't a bad option.

Depending, or course, on whether the course is a pro or an amateur course.
A pro course is bound to have very narrow fairways, doglegs, bodies of
water and sand, and undulations.

But given a choice of a dogleg left or a Wal-mart roof during engine
failure on TO, I'll pull out my 3 iron and aim for the Par 5!

--
Peter












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"Michael 182"
Look for the par 5's - seriously, a golf course isn't a bad option.

Agreed. Go for golf course. If you fly it on and stay in play, you'll walk
away.

Done it twice in those engineless things. Yes, it's a bit easier.

On Thu, 08 Jan 2004 20:24:50 GMT "Michael 182" wrote:

Look for the par 5's - seriously, a golf course isn't a bad option.


It's a great option! Just make sure to let othesr play through once
you've landed. And then you might need to head for the 19th.



R. Hubbell


Michael

"Greg" wrote in message
om...
(HankPilot2002) wrote in message
...
The return to the field after an engine loss is one of the toughest
decisions a
pilot will ever have to make. My personal minimum will be 800' AGL; or
it's
straight ahead into the sod farm.

Hank

Wish I had a sod farm at the end. I am doomed. ... and a country club
with lots of trees and more
million dollar homes along the course.

HankPilot2002 wrote:
The return to the field after an engine loss is one of the toughest
decisions a
pilot will ever have to make.

Actually Hank, it's one of the easiest - just make sure you do it on the
ground before you take off while you have all the time in the world.

Hilton