Stolen plane crashes in Jasper, US

[DavidWoodward]

From Sky News. Utterly stupid to even consider doing this.

Alabama: 'Joyride' Plane Crash Kills Teens

Authorities say the Piper PA 30 came down in a wooded area near Jasper, northwest of Birmingham, on Tuesday night.
Walker County Airport manager Edwin Banks said: "It was a student pilot flying an airplane without permission, an airplane that he was not qualified to fly at night."
The teenage pilot had flown a single-engine airplane in the past, and the plane that crashed was a double-engine one, Mr Banks said.
Walker County sheriff's Chief Deputy James Painter said investigators believe the "teenagers who stole the plane and were sort of joyriding it".
"I think they were just looking for a thrill and they had their last one," he said.
Federal Aviation Administration spokeswoman Kathleen Bergen said the plane crashed less than a mile from the Walker County Airport.
The names of the three occupants of the plane have not been released.
The Piper PA 30 is also called a Piper Twin Comanche. It is a low-wing plane with two propellers and can seat four to six, depending on the model.
The planes were built from 1963 until 1972, and were popular with flight schools because of their fuel efficiency and relatively inexpensive price tags, according to the International Comanche Society, an enthusiasts' group.

[JimNtexas]

A teen pilot killed along with two friends in an Alabama plane crash had his own key to the aircraft and had flown it many times, his mother said Wednesday, denying authorities' assertion that the plane had been taken without permission.

Sherrie Smith said her 17-year-old son Jordan Smith was the one flying the plane that went down in the Alabama woods Tuesday night. The Federal Aviation Administration said the Piper PA 30 crashed less than a mile from the Walker County Airport in Jasper, which is northwest of Birmingham.

Smith says the owner of the plane had let her son fly it many other times and had given him his own key. Her son was a high school junior who fell in love with flying at an early age and was one test short of earning his private pilot's license.

ABC News (http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/deadly-ala-plane-crash-joyride-18113447#.UOULEYnjnVQ)

[Blind Squirrel]

A teen pilot killed along with two friends in an Alabama plane crash had his own key to the aircraft and had flown it many times, his mother said Wednesday, denying authorities' assertion that the plane had been taken without permission.

God love the mother, but I very much doubt the owner gave a student pilot permission to fly his aeroplane in night IMC with two passengers on board.

Even so, the generous owner might have some questions of his own to answer. Does the FAA even issue SPLs for twin-engined aircraft? My understanding is that the U.S. aeroplane SPL is exclusively for single-engined aircraft under 12,500 lb. Once the PPL has been gained, one can then add the twin rating, if one likes. If this is so, why were the keys to the aircraft given to the teenager, if not to enable him to fly the Comanche solo at a time when he was not licenced to do so under any circumstances?

A sad story all round. One doesn't expect a lot of maturity of a seventeen-year-old, but if he was as close to the PPL as is claimed, how could he not have known that the chances of his own and his friends' survival were almost zero?

[B2N2]

There is no regulation stopping you from solo-ing in a Twin engine airplane.
Highly unlikely as no insurance company would allow this so unless it is your own airplane it's not gonna happen.

Probably the owner let him fly the airplane under supervision.
Maybe his mother does not know which airplane he flew for training.
My mother for sure did not know what type I was flying.

Anyway, concur with

chances of his own and his friends' survival were almost zero

[chevvron]

Just a guess, but what if he had a games console with 'Flight Simulator' software; having flown this he might be misled into thinking he could fly the real thing. But why the hell he had keys to the aircraft I don't know; maybe he used to clean it for the owner in return for flights.

[Pace]

Most twins do not have keys other than for locking the doors and nose holds.
A lot do not bother even locking the doors! But most do not use a key start

Pace

[Blind Squirrel]

B2N2 is correct. Looking up FAR Part 61, I find that not only is it legal to do one's ab initio training in a multi-engined aircraft, but it's also legal for a student pilot to fly a multi solo at night, if he can find an instructor unhinged enough to endorse his certificate authorising him to do it.

Which leads to the next question: did the deceased have an instructor endorsement permitting him to fly the Comanche? If not, then the owner would seem to come back into the regulatory cross hairs.

[BoKu]

In the latest news reports, the airplane owner has denied giving the young man permission to fly the airplane, and has said that the airplane was stolen:

The plane's owner confirmed on Wednesday that the plane had been stolen, Walker County Sheriff's Chief Deputy James Painter said.

Three teens die in plane crash while "joyriding" near Jasper, authorities say (updated gallery and video) | al.com (http://blog.al.com/spotnews/2013/01/three_die_in_plane_crash_near.html)

[RatherBeFlying]

The first plane I took lessons in was based at a small field and run by a freelance instructor who had a difficult relationship with Transport Canada that was not apparent to me at the time.

I had booked a lesson on the weekend, but got a call from the instructor asking if I knew where a workmate who was also taking lessons was -- and was also told that the plane was missing; so the lesson had to be postponed.

That evening I was having a coffee with my sis and looking at the late night paper when I spotted a piccie of "my" plane in a ball on a flatbed trailer. The registration was visible.

One of his students was a young fella with a couple kids already who at a party one dark and stormy night, persuaded a buddy or two to go flying with him. They ended up not far away in a ball of metal that you could put your arms around.

The instructor was phoning his student list to see who was alive to pick up the phone.

[Newforest2]

In the latest news reports, the airplane owner has denied giving the young man permission to fly the airplane, and has said that the airplane was stolen:

What would you expect him to tell the insurance company? :D

[Bill Harris]

This mishap is local to me and I'm interested to see the discussion here. Officially, y'all know as much as we do...:eek:

I heard today that the tail number of the aircraft is N7700Y.

AviationDB.com:
AviationDB - Aviation Database - N7700Y (http://www.aviationdb.com/Aviation/Aircraft/7/N7700Y.shtm)

FAA Registry:
FAA Registry - Aircraft - N-Number Inquiry (http://registry.faa.gov/aircraftinquiry/NNum_Results.aspx?NNumbertxt=N7700Y)

This N-number was deregistered at the time of the crash. A friend of mine put the number into a "flight tracker database" online (I disremember which one) and it suggested that the last flightplan was March 2012 from central Florida (Orlando??) to Jasper, Alabama and presumably the aircraft has been inactive since then. I speculate that the aircraft was purchased in Florida and flown up to Jasper where it was stored at Walker County Airport (AKA Bevill Field).

I did a quick look atthe NTSB database on this N-number for this accident and came up with nothing. It may be too early, or I may have been looking at the wrong thing (not a pilot, just "interested SLF" :) ).

--Bill

[MarkerInbound]

It usually takes the NTSB about a week to enter prelim data on their web page.

[BoKu]

I did a quick look atthe NTSB database on this N-number for this accident and came up with nothing. It may be too early, or I may have been looking at the wrong thing

It usually takes the NTSB about a week to post a Factual Synopsis. That report will have only the information they're sure about; the time of takeoff, the time the crash was reported and the wreckage discovered, the location of the crash, and whether all of the aircraft was present at the crash site. It will also probably give weather conditions prevailing at the presumed time of the crash.

For a fatal accident, and especially one like this where certain facts are in dispute, the final synopsis and the statement of probable cause will probably not be posted for about a year.

My interest in this crash is almost entirely because it appears to have achieved the trifecta of bad judgement: A student pilot and his friends joyriding in a complex twin-engined airplane at night and in bad weather. There is virtually no chance that it could have turned out anything but badly.

[B2N2]

Bill,

Duration: 3 hours 8 minutes
Wednesday, March 28, 2012


FlightAware (http://flightaware.com/live/flight/N7700Y)

FYI Flightaware generally does not show VFR flights.
Depends on how the tailnumber is put into the system by the ATC controller who handles it I guess.
So it could have flown every day since, just not on an IFR flight plan.
Instrument flight rules - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Instrument_flight_rules)

As far as the registration is concerned, that one appears to be pending due to a change of ownership.
It can take either 90 or 120 days for new registered owners to make it through the system.

[Bill Harris]

From the Daily Mountain Eagle (Jasper newspaper):

According to FAA records, the plane had its registration canceled in 2010.

The FAA released information Thursday afternoon that the plane’s last owner was HiFlight Aviation, LLC, of Jasper. Sale documents and a registration application with the FAA were dated May 2010.

The FAA said the application was returned to HiFlight for corrections on June 28, 2010, and the registration was placed in pending status.

After receiving no response from HiFlight Aviation, the FAA canceled the registration and put a five-year hold on the aircraft’s N-number, which is a code used by the FAA to license an airplane.

Daily Mountain Eagle - Investigation into deadly plane crash continues (http://www.mountaineagle.com/view/full_story/21309495/article-Investigation-into-deadly-plane-crash-continues?instance=main_article)

--Bill

[B2N2]

Thanks.
It keeps getting better.
Obviously not relevant to the accident pilot but if the airplane does not have a valid registration certificate it may not be flown.
So curious how many flights the airplane owner has made since June, 2010.
Or any other licensed pilot in that plane for that matter.
To be continued.......

[BoKu]

MONTGOMERY — An attorney for the owner of a plane in Jasper said Friday he never gave approval for a late-night flight that crashed and killed three teenagers.

Lawyer: Plane owner didn (http://www.cullmantimes.com/local/x2056574907/Lawyer-Plane-owner-didn-t-approve-deadly-Jasper-Ala-flight)

So the airplane owner is lawyered up, and pretty soon the mom probably will be too. He will argue that the boy had been given neither a key to the airplane nor permission to fly it. The mom will argue otherwise, and her attorney will probably also assert that the inadequately-secured airplane constituted an "attractive nuisance." It will become a big he-said-she-said in court, and the prime evidence will be forensic analysis of the keys (if any) recovered from the crash site and their correspondence (or lack thereof) to the airplanes locks.

[Bill Harris]

Here is the news of the preliminary NTSB report, from a local (B'ham) TV station:

NTSB report: Jasper pilot took plane without permission before crash

JASPER, AL (WBRC) -
A report filed by the NTSB says an airplane that crashed on January 1 was taken without permission from the Walker County Airport by a student pilot. The crash claimed the life of the 17-year-old pilot and two passengers.

According to the report, the owner of the airplane told investigators that he knew the student pilot from his work at the airport. He said that he never gave permission to the pilot to fly the airplane nor did he ever take the pilot flying in the airplane. The plane's owner says that the plane was kept unlocked, but the 17-year-old did not have a key.

The manager of the Walker County Airport says the pilot had been working as a cleanup worker at the airport in exchange for flying lessons. The 17-year-old had completed his first solo flight on April 27, 2012 and did not received any more flight lessons from the manager after that flight. The plane used to train the student pilot was said to be a single engine Cessna C-172.


Here is the transcript of the full report:

*** Note: NTSB investigators either traveled in support of this investigation or conducted a significant amount of investigative work without any travel, and used data obtained from various sources to prepare this aircraft accident report. ***

On January 1, 2013, about 2240 central standard time, a twin engine Piper PA-30, N7700Y, collided with terrain during an uncontrolled descent in Jasper, Alabama. The student pilot and two passengers were fatally injured, and the airplane was destroyed. The airplane was unregistered, and is owned by a private individual. The unauthorized flight was conducted in night, instrument meteorological conditions and no flight plan was filed. The flight departed from Walker County Airport-Bevill Field, Jasper, Alabama, at 2235.

Witnesses stated that on the night of the accident, it was dark and raining. They heard the airplane flying very low and, shortly thereafter they heard a loud crash. The witnesses called 911 and reported that the airplane had crashed.

According to the airport manager/instructor, the pilot worked as a cleanup person at the airport in trade for flight lessons. The airport manager said that student pilot completed his first solo flight on April 27, 2012. He also said that the student pilot received his flight lessons in a single engine Cessna C-172 airplane. After the student pilot's solo, he no longer received lessons from the airport manager.

The owner of the airplane stated that he knew the student pilot from his work at the airport. He went on to say that he never gave permission to the student pilot to fly his airplane. The owner was asked if he ever took the student pilot flying in his airplane and he responded "no." He said that the student pilot did not have a key for his airplane and it was not typically locked. On the night of the accident, the owner was informed that his airplane was missing from the airport. When he arrived at the airport, he verified that his airplane was missing and reported that it was last seen on December 23, 2012.

According to preliminary information obtained from the Federal Aviation Administration, no air traffic control assistance and no radio transmissions were made by the pilot prior to the accident.
NTSB report: Jasper pilot took plane without permission before c (http://www.myfoxal.com/story/20553270/ntsb-report-jasper-pilot-took-plane-without-permission-before-crash)
The story has developed pretty much as "knowledgeable local people" had speculated.


--Bill

[Abbey Road]

So the airplane owner is lawyered up, and pretty soon the mom probably will be too. He will argue that the boy had been given neither a key to the airplane nor permission to fly it. The mom will argue otherwise, and her attorney will probably also assert that the inadequately-secured airplane constituted an "attractive nuisance." It will become a big he-said-she-said in court, and the prime evidence will be forensic analysis of the keys (if any) recovered from the crash site and their correspondence (or lack thereof) to the airplanes locks.
It would be pretty sad if it came to this sort of scenario! Take that to it's 'logical' conclusion and you might have a lawyer trying to sue the aircraft manufacturer for building the aircraft.

This event seems to (tragically) be little more than a teenage show-off and his unthinking friends doing something extremely stupid.

[Gertrude the Wombat]

Take that to it's 'logical' conclusion and you might have a lawyer trying to sue the aircraft manufacturer for building the aircraft.

Well, that is why Cessna et al stopped building SEPs for a couple of decades, isn't it?

[Bill Harris]

It is fairly sad, but you could easily tell where this incident was going from the comments the pilot's family made the day after the crash. And the aircraft owner is a local businessman with, "by definition", deep pockets and very sue-able.

The actual circumstances behind this crash are clear and understandable, but this drama is going to end up being played out in the courtroom.

--Bill

[chevvron]

And as usual it'll be the lawyers who make a massive profit out of other's misdeeds.

[BoKu]

This event seems to (tragically) be little more than a teenage show-off and his unthinking friends doing something extremely stupid.

What I wonder is, how could the boy not understand how incredibly stupid his actions were. Isn't it typical to do some hood work in the pre-solo training?

Having done the usual hood work for my PPSEL, and having subsequently commuted to work for a dozen years with an instrument-qualified friend in his Cessna 206, I know exactly what it is like to climb straight into clouds in the dark. One moment there is the familiar lights of the airport environment, and the next there is nothing but the glow of the nav lights and the dim cone of the landing lights.

And soon after there is the feel of the inner ear tumbling. With practice, you take it in stride. The instruments are right, the inner ear is wrong. But the first few times, it is almost debilitating. Did this boy never before experience the feel of looking at the instruments and not comprehending how they came to disagree so alarmingly with his sense of balance?

Or maybe did he not understand that he was taking off into IMC? Was he so taken up by the lark of getting both engines started and navigating to the runway that he never looked up at what he was to climb into? Did he think it would be a clear night flight with the twinkle of lights on the ground below to navigate by?

Did the presence of his two friends add that measure of peer pressure that made it impossible to back down once the adventure had been proposed and set in motion? Was there some point where all the knowledge of his meager training, and all his sense of self-preservation was screaming for him to stop, but unthinking and unyielding teenage bravado extended his right hand to advance the throttles?

[RatherBeFlying]

One possibility is that as the boy spent considerable time at the airport, he may have been invited to sit alongside while a runup was being done for maintenance purposes.

That would give him the knowledge of how to get inside and start the engines.

One day I took one of my sons, then in his early twenties to a glider field. He asked for the keys to the car to get something. Sometime later I went back to the car to see what was happening. He had been trying to start the car, but the key I gave him did not have the fob required by antitheft system:E

His dad was once a teenager;)

[Bill Harris]

My take (and I'm not a full-scale pilot)? The most dangerous time in a career is just after your first solo. Confidence is high from the accomplishment and you think you know more that you actually do. But you can be wrong. Dead wrong. The air is a harsh mistress.

--Bill

[BoKu]

Update: The NTSB recently posted the Probable Cause for this accident (http://www.ntsb.gov/_layouts/ntsb.aviation/brief.aspx?ev_id=20130102X72037&key=1) on their accident synopsis page:

The National Transportation Safety Board determines the probable cause(s) of this accident as follows:

The student pilot’s poor judgment to take a multiengine airplane for which he did not have experience or permission to operate and depart into night instrument meteorological conditions, which resulted in a loss of airplane control and impact with terrain.

It appears that the mom's assertion that her son had been given a key to the airplane and permission to use it was, if not false, at least not supported by the preponderance of evidence. From what I can tell, it does not appear that there was ever any civil action against the airplane owner. I was worried that there might have been grounds for an "attractive nuisance" case that would have set an uncomfortable precedent.

The whole thing was a very sad episode, and I hope this report puts it to rest.

Thanks, Bob K.