Originally Posted by
biscuit74
Slightly puzzled having looked at the video; that appears to be a downwind landing. At what height did the engine failure happen ? - to my thinking unless it was at very low height, attempting a downwind landing seems odd, unless the beach is far too crowded or stops to the upwind side.
An unusually nose high attitude too, though the aircraft had not touched down by the time it went out of sight.
I was always told that if any chance & control existed we should ensure our accidents don't involve other folk; that was part of the risk we took. Sadly it looks very much from that short piece of video as if the pilot thought he saw a safe spot which in fact didn't exist. (Or possibly overshot, as someone else said. Easy to do if attempting downwind.)
It all smacks just a bit of panic, not the cool thinking we'd all like to believe in and hope we'd be capable of.
A very sad event.
Yes, does look like downwind. I posted earlier that there was an after-the-event photo of the airplane on the beach with a windsurfer in the background and also a video of police barrier tape, which pointed to a downwind landing. The way that beach tent is flapping around, it was definitely a downwind landing.
Looks like a bit of a stiffer breeze than from the video taken after the landing too. They had apparently only been flying for only a few mins, so the wind speed/direction would likely have been about the same as at the airfield from which they departed. I wonder if they had sufficient height to turn the airplne around for an upwind landing?