Vh-tnp

[muddergoose]

I have heard TNP had a new GPS fitted that the pilot may not have been conversant with. Can anyone debunk this or have you heard anything else? A good mate was on board.:{

[planecrazi]

I'm extremely lost by this opening paragraph, any chance of filling in the huge gaps of what this is about!:confused:

[eal401]

From the NTSB site:

On July 28, 2004, at 1100 local time, an Australian registered Piper PA-31T (Cheyenne), was destroyed when it collided with rugged terrain approximately 18 nautical miles southeast of Benalla Airport, Victoria, Australia. The accident occurred during a GPS approach to the airport in low clouds and rain. The six occupants aboard the airplane were fatally injured in the accident. The cross-country flight originated from Bankstown Airport, Sydney, Australia, with a planned destination of Benalla.

The above aircraft was VH-TNP.


Muddergoose, a liitle more background would have been appreciated.

[air-hag]

do you mean the Australian TSB, eel???

eel if you'd bothered to look around earlier instead of just breezing through and mouthing off you'd see there are a couple of threads on this tragedy. The pilot was known to some of the posters around here.

Now shut ya cake hole. :mad:

[eal401]

air-hag, I put the aircraft's registration into Google. The link I used was

http://www2.ntsb.gov/ntsb/brief.asp?ev_id=20040803X01134&key=1

As you are not capable of reading a simple user name (it's eAl) I'll assume you are also unable to spot the "ntsb" in the above address which stands for the National Transportation Safety Board, so no NOT the Australian TSB.

I posted to assist the second poster and to request some better clarification if people are asking for information.

If you are going to have a go at people for not getting their "facts" straight, try and get your own house in order first.

[air-hag]

eel it's obvious you're a slimy muck-raker.

This topic is a sensitive issue. Take your irritation down the street.

[dingo084]

hag

I suggest you tone things down a bit. I know some people in the home of pprune get a bit precious, but there is no need to be abusive. The head pprune posted quite a reasoned argument against such posts a few weeks ago.

I have just read an e-mailed copy of a post made by a good friend that is perhaps the reason he is now banned. His post was far less 'abusive' than yours.

Tread carefully, very carefully. :oh:

ding

[air-hag]

Yeah I know Dingo. I just get cheesed off with people who go around looking for someone to jump on.

At least eel had the decency to go back and calm his hysterics down a little.

I just like to have a bit of fun around here and try not to take anything too seriously as you can probably tell but some people seem to have genuine interest in bagging others to big-note themselves, especially people whose normal "residence" is jetblast. A bit hard to "get" the quaint eccentricities over there sometimes.

But this topic affected a lot of people around here and it's easy to get all emotional when people shoot their mouths before they load their brains.

Thanks for the advice.

[dingo084]

hag, I understand. I knew the 2 associated with the 'Green Machine' aboard TNP.

It is quite apparent some from the northern hemisphere do not appreciate us colonials, neither do they understand the way we think or in the way we will seriously take the p1ss out of any seemingly pompous appearances.

From reading what Woomera has said about some of your other thread posts, I would not push them too far or too hard, the Woomeri are far more liberal and accomodating than some.

Like I said, tread carefully.

ding

[Capt Fathom]

I think you'll find that the initial query was posted in another forum. Hence the first couple of responses from our international readers, who were not aware of this accident.

[eal401]

eel it's obvious you're a slimy muck-raker.
I'd respond, but I don't have any particular desire to join you in the gutter.

[Duff Man]

Not sure if it's worth bringing some facts to this thread but the preliminary factual report (http://www.atsb.gov.au/aviation/occurs/occurs_detail.cfm?ID=660) has just been released.On 28 July 2004, a Piper PA31T Cheyenne, registered VH-TNP, was reported missing after the pilot failed to report arriving at Benalla, Victoria. The aircraft was on a private Instrument Flight Rules (IFR) flight from Bankstown, NSW with the pilot and five passengers on board.

The aircraft departed Bankstown at 0906 EST. The pilot requested and was cleared by air traffic control (ATC) to track via Jervis Bay. From a position abeam Ulladulla, the flight was cleared direct to the global positioning system (GPS) initial approach point BLAED (ED), for the Benalla Runway 26 GPS non precision approach (NPA). Waypoint ED is the northernmost initial approach point. At 1045 the pilot reported to ATC that he was commencing a GPS approach and changing frequency to the Benalla Common Traffic Advisory Frequency (CTAF). Shortly after, the pilot was heard to broadcast on the Benalla CTAF that he was making a GPS approach. At 1103, when the pilot had not reported having landed at Benalla, the controller declared a distress phase and a search for the aircraft was started. Unfavourable weather conditions in the area delayed, and then interrupted, an aerial search. At 1720, following a report of smoke, a search helicopter located the burnt wreckage on the eastern slope of a tree covered ridge, approximately 34 km south-east of Benalla. All occupants were fatally injured and the aircraft was destroyed by impact forces and post-impact fire.

An on-site examination found that the aircraft had cut a swathe through heavy timber on the steep slope and came to rest at an elevation of 1,500 ft above mean sea level. The swathe cut through the trees was angled upwards at approximately 10 degrees and aligned on a bearing of 258 degrees. Damage to the propellers and engines was consistent with both engines delivering power at impact. The landing gear and wing flaps had been extended. An intense, fuel-fed, post-impact fire destroyed most of the aircraft fuselage, including most of the instrument panel and avionics. Initial indications are that the pilot had been seated in the left front seat and that the right front seat was occupied by a former military pilot.

Witnesses reported that at the time of the accident unbroken stratus cloud extended to well below the initial impact point. There had been rain and drizzle in the area, but forecast weather conditions were suitable for IFR flight and a GPS NPA to Benalla. Witnesses reported that the aircraft sounded very low and the engines sounded normal.

Examination of the aircraft's maintenance records has not identified any mechanical or systems defect that might have influenced the circumstances of the accident.

Recorded radar data indicated that the aircraft had tracked 250 degrees from Jervis Bay to a point near where it disappeared from radar. That track was a consistent 3.83 degrees left of the direct track from Jervis Bay to the waypoint ED. Radar data from the previous day’s flight from Bankstown to Benalla, made by the same pilot in TNP, did not indicate any track divergence. Radar data of a flight made by the pilot in TNP from Bankstown to Benalla on 6 July 2004 also did not reveal any tracking anomalies. On that occasion, the data included part of a GPS NPA to runway 26 that was flown well within tracking tolerances.