Thats not something you ever want to have happen..i'm guessing a lot of stress on the main spar and no inspections / maintenance leading to eventual failure.
The Youtube version has a few helpful comments. Apparently he did survive with relatively little damage. The failure is not unknown in that type - there is a corrosion issue where the spar passes beneath the chemical hopper.
The exact same thing happened to a Forest Service C-130 after a retardant drop in 2002 near Walker, California. Pilot, co-pilot and flight engineer all perished.
I heard about this prang a couple weeks ago. Brasil. Embraer aerial applicator, local manufactured since early-1970s, sold globally. Winglets show this was probably a post-1982 version. Grossly under-powered in my opinion. . Pilot survived with a broken shoulder. Aircraft is a t/l, total loss. . I suspect a single spar, wing-tip to wing-tip, corroded. Yes, years of maneuvering stressed it, but it could just as easily snap while loading product. Oddly, the ATSB report mentioned the pilot "...dumped a load of water on the roadway..." before coming in for landing.
You cannot land one of them safety with the tank full. They likely selected the road because of the weather cancellation, a dump in a field would have effects on crops, the road not so much, assuming the load was premixed.
I have seen that maneuver many times (with no ill effect) when spraying fields that are bordered by electric utilities so I don't believe the pilot was showing off .....perhaps just poor maintenance?
That's gotta suck.
ReplyDeleteThats not something you ever want to have happen..i'm guessing a lot of stress on the main spar and no inspections / maintenance leading to eventual failure.
ReplyDeleteExile1981
What just happened??
ReplyDeleteStructural failure due to repeated sudden release of 8000 pounds of water/retardant and its subsequent effects on the wing box of the airframe.
DeleteI'm not an aeronautical engineer or an FAA investigator but I play one on Knuckledraggin My Life Away.
None of todays videos will play for some reason. They always have before.
ReplyDeleteSad. Hadn’t even started the high-G move. Overspeed failure in all probability
ReplyDeleteWow. The wings both buckled? Not at all expected.
ReplyDeleteOver stressed both wings pulling up. Wow! The laws of physics can be very unforgiving.
ReplyDeleteQuestion: How far can a plane fly when it's wings break off?
ReplyDeleteAnswer: All the way to the crash site....
A crop duster ain't a dive bomber, no surprise on my part. He was attempting to show off, FOAFO!
ReplyDeleteThat's a SEAT (Single Engine Air Tanker), not a crop duster. Big difference.
DeleteI have watched too many crop dusters here in Central Florida (Orange Groves), they NEVER do that shit. Apparently for a reason?!
ReplyDeleteWhat did he do that no one ever does?
DeleteUhmmm, maybe pushing their planes beyond their limits, only once though, it would appear.
DeleteA real day ruiner. Eh. It'll buff out.......
ReplyDeleteDumped the load too quickly causing a rapid change in pitch overloading the wings? Why did he dump the load on the road? Lots of questions here.
ReplyDeleteI wish these guys could hold the camera steady so others could see the death and destruction too.
ReplyDeleteI'm betting he did not walk away from that one.
ReplyDeleteThe Youtube version has a few helpful comments. Apparently he did survive with relatively little damage. The failure is not unknown in that type - there is a corrosion issue where the spar passes beneath the chemical hopper.
DeleteThe exact same thing happened to a Forest Service C-130 after a retardant drop in 2002 near Walker, California. Pilot, co-pilot and flight engineer all perished.
ReplyDeletehttps://aviation-safety.net/wikibase/270409
ReplyDeleteI heard about this prang a couple weeks ago.
ReplyDeleteBrasil.
Embraer aerial applicator, local manufactured since early-1970s, sold globally.
Winglets show this was probably a post-1982 version.
Grossly under-powered in my opinion.
.
Pilot survived with a broken shoulder.
Aircraft is a t/l, total loss.
.
I suspect a single spar, wing-tip to wing-tip, corroded.
Yes, years of maneuvering stressed it, but it could just as easily snap while loading product.
Oddly, the ATSB report mentioned the pilot "...dumped a load of water on the roadway..." before coming in for landing.
You cannot land one of them safety with the tank full. They likely selected the road because of the weather cancellation, a dump in a field would have effects on crops, the road not so much, assuming the load was premixed.
DeleteI have seen that maneuver many times (with no ill effect) when spraying fields that are bordered by electric utilities so I don't believe the pilot was showing off .....perhaps just poor maintenance?
ReplyDelete