Yak accident at Feilding NZ

[gulfairs]

I seem to be out of the loop some where.
In the days when we all flew with reckless abandon, we were not permitted to do aerobatics below 3000 feet, not over a built up area and not over a crowd of people.
Has all those restrictions now been replaced?
After watching Tele last nite the P I C of the Yak was a "safety concious" pilot, better than average pilot and an expert aerobatic display pilot.
Do these ego producing statements give one a carte blanch right to contravene the basic minimum safe heights rules?

I am perplexed.

George Richardson

BBG

[Squeegee Longtail]

Any details of the incident?

[nweald]

Here is the link to the accident:-

Feilding air crash pair 'wouldn't have had a chance'... | Stuff.co.nz (http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/6301976/Feilding-air-crash-victims-mourned)

[flyinkiwi]

Crash pair 'well-known' - manawatu-standard | Stuff.co.nz (http://www.stuff.co.nz/manawatu-standard/6302854/Crash-pair-well-known)

The media is very adept at sensationalism and blowing facts out of proportion.

My thoughts are with the victims families at this time.

[S-Works]

Where does it say they were doing aeros?

[B2N2]

It doesn't but this saw the plane hurtle towards the ground at a 45-degree angle and hit with tremendous force does suggest some flight control issues, but that is as far as I want to go.

[Ds3]

Actually one of the eye witnesses states it was:

Joanne Cameron and her husband, Dean, had been watching the aeroplane perform aerobatics above Mr Cameron's parents' home when it got into trouble.

[Yankee_Doodle_Floppy_Disk]

From the NZ Herald website:

Suspicious screwdriver found in plane wreckage (http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10782969)

[frontlefthamster]

Here is the 2003 AAIB report:

http://www.aaib.gov.uk/cms_resources.cfm?file=/dft_avsafety_pdf_024587.pdf

[stickandrudderman]

That accident report has nothing to do with the NZ accident.

[27/09]

That accident report has nothing to do with the NZ accident.

Perhaps it has, this quote from the AAIB report

Synopsis
After a series of aerobatic manoeuvres the aircraft completed a stall turn and entered a vertical dive
from which it did not recover. Examination of the wreckage revealed the presence of a short-handled
flat bladed screwdriver that had jammed the elevator control such that the elevator control surface
could not be moved beyond neutral in the nose-up direction.

and this comment

A "stubby-type" screwdriver found in the wreckage of plane which crashed in Feilding last month, killing two men, may have caused the crash, investigators say............

.........The crash mirrored one in Britain in 2003 which also claimed two lives; a stubby-type screwdriver became lodge in the tail of the Yak 52 aircraft in that crash, affecting its controls.

[frontlefthamster]

On the contrary, stickandrudderman, the news report states (with my bold):


The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) is investigating the crash and today said it was "following a line of inquiry that points toward a mechanical issue".
"Investigators found a stubby-type screwdriver amongst the wreckage, which may have rendered the aircraft unflyable," the CAA said.
"While this cannot yet be concluded as the cause of the accident, it is of grave concern."
The crash mirrored one in Britain in 2003 which also claimed two lives; a stubby-type screwdriver became lodge in the tail of the Yak 52 aircraft in that crash, affecting its controls.
The CAA had contacted all Yak 52 owners in New Zealand to advise them of the finding and to recommend a thorough inspection for foreign objects.
"Foreign object damage is a known risk to aerobatic aircraft. Any loose material, even a paper clip, can shift during aerobatics and affect the aircraft's controls," the CAA said.


The AAIB report I linked to relates to the 2003 accident mentioned above.

[27/09]

In the days when we all flew with reckless abandon, we were not permitted to do aerobatics below 3000 feet, not over a built up area and not over a crowd of people.
Has all those restrictions now been replaced?

No they haven't, and we were never reckless......;)