Hello!
First of all: Analysing accidents and incidents is not about blaming someone or telling him what
he could have done better. Instead it should make
us think what
we can learn from it for our flying (and for our instructing in case that we also instruct) so that a similar event will not kill us or our students.
Originally Posted by
InSoMnIaC
I think he made a very good decision.
He made a good initial decision: Get this plane on the ground.
Originally Posted by
InSoMnIaC
And had a lucky outcome.
And that's the real problem: They were saved by luck alone. Normally nosegears do not withstand the kind of "landing" he performed (seen it happen often enough...). Had the nose gear given during those bounces at 100+KT and the aircraft overturned as a result they would not have survived.
Originally Posted by
InSoMnIaC
Land the aircraft while you still Have control.
He had control all the time. If you watch the video you can see that the control wheel moves in all directions and the aircraft reacts normally to the controls. No vibration, no flutter, nothing. The elevator was not blocked at all. During those bounces he moves it almost at full travel both ways. And there can't have been excessive control forces either because in the video we can see him fly with one hand whilst pointing out landing sites to his passenger with the other hand.
Originally Posted by
InSoMnIaC
He had a door hindering pitch control and causing unwanted drag and roll which could also have weakened the aircraft structurally.
Maybe. But see below.
Originally Posted by
InSoMnIaC
Can all the CRM experts explain how DODAR Is going to Help when he loses control or the tail comes off?
No. But DODAR and CRM might prevent the tail from coming off in the first place. What we (with "we" I mean all of us who have had some CRM and (recurrent) simulator training) have been taught and re-taught is that after an initial reaction, appropriate or inappropriate as it may be, one should sit on his hands for half a minute and
think (instead of purely reactig) about what is going on. And then reiterate.
In this case: What will cause my tail to come off the plane: Rather time or rather strain? What causes the strain? Aha! Airspeed squared (even a PPL holder should know that)! So reducing the airspeed a little bit will reduce the strain a lot, thereby buying plenty of precious time. Instead he maximises the strain by flying (and landing) at maximum speed in accordance to his initial decision to minimise the time in the air. Another lucky outcome for them because had the tail been weakened by the impact of the metal piece, then his Vne dive would almost certainly have ripped it from the plane...
And what do I learn from this? That I will from now on teach my students the basics FORDEC or DODAR even if it is outside the syllabus and will be done in my unpaid free time. I do not want to see a video like this posted by one of my students. Ever.
Regards
Max