Merged: Mid Air Collision Near Palmerston North
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Two dead as planes 'collide' near Palmerston North
'NZ Herald'
09.02.06 10.05am
Two people are dead after two light planes collided in mid-air this morning.
The accident was reported to have happened near Palmerston North.
The two top dressing planes were reported to have crashed head on at Tokomaru.
No further details were immediately available.
Anyone know more?
09.02.06 10.05am
Two people are dead after two light planes collided in mid-air this morning.
The accident was reported to have happened near Palmerston North.
The two top dressing planes were reported to have crashed head on at Tokomaru.
No further details were immediately available.
Anyone know more?
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Two dead as planes 'collide' near Palmerston North
09.02.06 10.45am UPDATE
Two people are confirmed dead after two light planes collided near Shannon in the Manuwatu this morning.
Inspector Michael Coleman said two light planes from Massey crashed in mid air near Shannon, 33km southwest of Palmerston North.
Both the sole occupants have been confirmed dead, he said.
Police were at the two crash sites and Civil Aviation had been advised.
He did not confirm reports that the aircraft involved were top dressing planes .
No further details were immediately available.
09.02.06 10.45am UPDATE
Two people are confirmed dead after two light planes collided near Shannon in the Manuwatu this morning.
Inspector Michael Coleman said two light planes from Massey crashed in mid air near Shannon, 33km southwest of Palmerston North.
Both the sole occupants have been confirmed dead, he said.
Police were at the two crash sites and Civil Aviation had been advised.
He did not confirm reports that the aircraft involved were top dressing planes .
No further details were immediately available.
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School of Aviation planes in fatal crash
Two single engine Piper Cherokee training planes from the School of Aviation were involved in a mid-air collision near Shannon just before 10am this morning.
Both sole occupants of the planes have been confirmed dead. The pilots were both students of the school, their names have not yet been released.
Head of the School of Aviation Captain Ashok Poduval expressed his sorrow about the accident. He says the School is offering trauma counselling to staff and students who may be impacted by the accident. He says the University will be working with the Civil Aviation Authority to establish the cause of the collision.
Captain Poduval says he will be contacting their families to offer the University’s support at this very sad time.
Created: 9 February, 2006
http://masseynews.massey.ac.nz/2006/.../02-09-06.html
Two single engine Piper Cherokee training planes from the School of Aviation were involved in a mid-air collision near Shannon just before 10am this morning.
Both sole occupants of the planes have been confirmed dead. The pilots were both students of the school, their names have not yet been released.
Head of the School of Aviation Captain Ashok Poduval expressed his sorrow about the accident. He says the School is offering trauma counselling to staff and students who may be impacted by the accident. He says the University will be working with the Civil Aviation Authority to establish the cause of the collision.
Captain Poduval says he will be contacting their families to offer the University’s support at this very sad time.
Created: 9 February, 2006
http://masseynews.massey.ac.nz/2006/.../02-09-06.html
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Source www.Stuff.co.nz
Two dead in two plane collision
09 February 2006
Two people are confirmed dead after two light planes collided near Shannon in the Manawatu this morning.
Inspector Michael Coleman said two planes from Massey crashed in mid air near Shannon, 33km southwest of Palmerston North.
Both the sole occupants have been confirmed dead, he said.
Police were at the two crash sites and Civil Aviation had been advised, he said.
Local resident Brian Jones told NZPA he was outside pruning fruit when he heard a huge bang.
"I was outside when I heard a bang and that's when the plane did a whirly-down to the ground," said Mr Jones, 75, who lives near the site of the accident.
"After that I saw a wing come down."
Mr Jones, who rents a farm house in Opiki, northwest of Shannon, said the accident happened around 10am.
"All the fire service is out there. . . there are police cars in all directions and an ambulance."
Mr Jones, retired, said he only saw one plane go down.
"The plane is just lying there in a field."
The planes crashed on the Opiki farm of Rodney Hudson.
Mr Hudson said the planes were both from the Massey Aviation flight training school in Palmerston North.
The farm had been cordoned off and emergency services were on the scene, he said.
Opiki resident Rachel Taylor said she heard a "big bang" and ran out of her home to see what appeared to be tinfoil falling out of the sky.
Mrs Taylor said her home – where she and her husband are dairy farmers – was only two paddocks away from the crash site but the site was obscured by trees.
"By the time I walked outside there were already lots of tractors and motorbikes at the site and I was really amazed at how quickly all the services got there."
Mrs Taylor said she even though she was looking at the wreckage she had no idea what it was.
"It doesn't even look like a plane."
Mrs Taylor said it was not until her husband, Wayne, called her that she knew that it had been a plane crash.
"He was working on the other side of the crash site and he called to make sure I wasn't hurt or that it hadn't hit our property."
Mrs Taylor said the wreckage site was a "total mess on the ground".
The two Massey University pilots killed were believed to have been training for their commercial licenses, Civil Aviation Authority spokesman Bill Sommer said.
The New Zealand Rescue Co-ordination Centre was alerted to the crash about 10am after a report of wreckage on the ground north of Shannon.
Mr Sommer said no-one else was believed to be on either plane.
Ken Mitchell, a communications manager for Airways New Zealand, which is responsible for air traffic in controlled airspaces, said the planes were in an uncontrolled space, where pilots took responsibility for their own navigation and safety.
Mr Sommer said the Accident Investigation Commission or Civil Aviation Authority would now be investigating.
Authorities have closed the air space over the crash sites, and police are restricting ground travel in the area.
Massey University's School of Aviation started in 1990, and in 1998 expanded to Auckland.
In 2003, consultants recommended consolidating the operation on the Palmerston North campus and the Flight Systems Centre at Palmerston North Airport.
At that time its target was to graduate 40 new airline pilots a year, along with graduates in associated aviation professional fields.
A local farmer, who lives around 700m from the crash site, said he rushed to the crash site of one of the planes and saw a body in the mangled wreckage.
"The pilot in the first plane was dead. We didn't actually realise there was a second plane until a neighbour came over and said there was another plane," said the man, who didn't want to be named.
He then went to the site of the second crashed plane about 300m away.
"That plane looked like it had nosed into a drain and it was upside-down," he said.
"One of the farmers tried to climb in through the tail of the second plane to get a pulse (from the pilot) but I don't think he could actually get to him," he said.
He said both planes were mangled and there was a strong smell of fuel.
The man said two builders who were working outside on his house heard the plane go down and raised the alarm.
"I ran outside and saw the last flakes of the plane coming down," he said.
He then rang the police and went to the crash sites.
"I think the wing fell off the first one," he said.
The man said another plane was in the area spraying potatoes around the time of the crash, as well as a helicopter.
"There were a lot of aircraft in a small area and things got a bit haywire," he said.
"I think the two planes [which crashed] were practising emergency landings. . . you know when they cut the engines," he said.
09 February 2006
Two people are confirmed dead after two light planes collided near Shannon in the Manawatu this morning.
Inspector Michael Coleman said two planes from Massey crashed in mid air near Shannon, 33km southwest of Palmerston North.
Both the sole occupants have been confirmed dead, he said.
Police were at the two crash sites and Civil Aviation had been advised, he said.
Local resident Brian Jones told NZPA he was outside pruning fruit when he heard a huge bang.
"I was outside when I heard a bang and that's when the plane did a whirly-down to the ground," said Mr Jones, 75, who lives near the site of the accident.
"After that I saw a wing come down."
Mr Jones, who rents a farm house in Opiki, northwest of Shannon, said the accident happened around 10am.
"All the fire service is out there. . . there are police cars in all directions and an ambulance."
Mr Jones, retired, said he only saw one plane go down.
"The plane is just lying there in a field."
The planes crashed on the Opiki farm of Rodney Hudson.
Mr Hudson said the planes were both from the Massey Aviation flight training school in Palmerston North.
The farm had been cordoned off and emergency services were on the scene, he said.
Opiki resident Rachel Taylor said she heard a "big bang" and ran out of her home to see what appeared to be tinfoil falling out of the sky.
Mrs Taylor said her home – where she and her husband are dairy farmers – was only two paddocks away from the crash site but the site was obscured by trees.
"By the time I walked outside there were already lots of tractors and motorbikes at the site and I was really amazed at how quickly all the services got there."
Mrs Taylor said she even though she was looking at the wreckage she had no idea what it was.
"It doesn't even look like a plane."
Mrs Taylor said it was not until her husband, Wayne, called her that she knew that it had been a plane crash.
"He was working on the other side of the crash site and he called to make sure I wasn't hurt or that it hadn't hit our property."
Mrs Taylor said the wreckage site was a "total mess on the ground".
The two Massey University pilots killed were believed to have been training for their commercial licenses, Civil Aviation Authority spokesman Bill Sommer said.
The New Zealand Rescue Co-ordination Centre was alerted to the crash about 10am after a report of wreckage on the ground north of Shannon.
Mr Sommer said no-one else was believed to be on either plane.
Ken Mitchell, a communications manager for Airways New Zealand, which is responsible for air traffic in controlled airspaces, said the planes were in an uncontrolled space, where pilots took responsibility for their own navigation and safety.
Mr Sommer said the Accident Investigation Commission or Civil Aviation Authority would now be investigating.
Authorities have closed the air space over the crash sites, and police are restricting ground travel in the area.
Massey University's School of Aviation started in 1990, and in 1998 expanded to Auckland.
In 2003, consultants recommended consolidating the operation on the Palmerston North campus and the Flight Systems Centre at Palmerston North Airport.
At that time its target was to graduate 40 new airline pilots a year, along with graduates in associated aviation professional fields.
A local farmer, who lives around 700m from the crash site, said he rushed to the crash site of one of the planes and saw a body in the mangled wreckage.
"The pilot in the first plane was dead. We didn't actually realise there was a second plane until a neighbour came over and said there was another plane," said the man, who didn't want to be named.
He then went to the site of the second crashed plane about 300m away.
"That plane looked like it had nosed into a drain and it was upside-down," he said.
"One of the farmers tried to climb in through the tail of the second plane to get a pulse (from the pilot) but I don't think he could actually get to him," he said.
He said both planes were mangled and there was a strong smell of fuel.
The man said two builders who were working outside on his house heard the plane go down and raised the alarm.
"I ran outside and saw the last flakes of the plane coming down," he said.
He then rang the police and went to the crash sites.
"I think the wing fell off the first one," he said.
The man said another plane was in the area spraying potatoes around the time of the crash, as well as a helicopter.
"There were a lot of aircraft in a small area and things got a bit haywire," he said.
"I think the two planes [which crashed] were practising emergency landings. . . you know when they cut the engines," he said.
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Merged: Mid Air Collision Near Palmerston North
Trainee pilots killed in mid-air collision
09 February 2006
Two trainee pilots from Massey University's School of Aviation were killed in a mid-air collision near Shannon in the Manawatu this morning.
Two single-engine Piper Cherokee training planes from the school collided over Opiki, 18km southwest of Palmerston North, about 10am before crashing on to farm land about 100 metres apart.
Debris was scattered over a 500 square-metre area, with one wrecked plane coming down in a paddock and the second in a drain.
Police late this afternoon released the names of the pilots.
They were Brandon Gedge, 20, of Tauranga and Jong Ho Hwang, 27, of Waitakere, Auckland.
Both students were in the same intake at the aviation school.
Head of Palmerston North-based school Captain Ashok Poduval expressed his sorrow about the accident.
He said the school was offering trauma counselling to staff and students impacted by the accident.
The university would work with the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) to establish the cause of the collision, he said.
Capt Poduval said he would be contacting the families of the dead students to offer the university's support.
Opiki resident Brian Jones was pruning fruit in his garden when he heard a huge bang.
A plane did a "whirly-down" to the ground followed by a wing crashing down, the retired 75-year-old said.
"All the fire service is out there. . .there are police cars in all directions and an ambulance."
Mr Jones said he only saw one plane go down.
"The plane is just lying there in a field."
The Square Trust Rescue Helicopter was in the area on another job when the accident occurred.
The helicopter with pilot and medical personnel onboard arrived at the scene within a couple of minutes.
The crew was able to ascertain that both pilots of the crashed aircraft were dead.
The planes crashed on the Opiki farm of Rodney Hudson, which was cordoned off by police.
Another Opiki resident Rachel Taylor said she heard a "big bang" and ran out of her home to see what appeared to be tinfoil falling out of the sky.
Mrs Taylor said her home – where she and her husband are dairy farmers – was only two paddocks away from the crash site but the site was obscured by trees.
"By the time I walked outside there were already lots of tractors and motorbikes at the site and I was really amazed at how quickly all the services got there."
Mrs Taylor said she even though she was looking at the wreckage she had no idea what it was.
"It doesn't even look like a plane."
Mrs Taylor said it was not until her husband, Wayne, called her that she knew that it had been a plane crash.
"He was working on the other side of the crash site and he called to make sure I wasn't hurt or that it hadn't hit our property."
Mrs Taylor said the wreckage site was a "total mess on the ground".
Another local farmer, who lives around 700m from the crash site, said he rushed to the crash site of one of the planes and saw a body in the mangled wreckage.
"The pilot in the first plane was dead. We didn't actually realise there was a second plane until a neighbour came over and said there was another plane," the man, who didn't want to be named, told police.
He then went to the site of the second crashed plane about 300m away.
"That plane looked like it had nosed into a drain and it was upside-down," he said.
"One of the farmers tried to climb in through the tail of the second plane to get a pulse (from the pilot) but I don't think he could actually get to him," he said.
He said both planes were mangled and there was a strong smell of fuel.
The man said two builders who were working outside on his house heard the plane go down and raised the alarm.
"I ran outside and saw the last flakes of the plane coming down," he said.
He then rang the police and went to the crash sites.
"I think the wing fell off the first one," he said.
The man said a helicopter and another plane was in the area spraying potatoes around the time of the crash.
"There were a lot of aircraft in a small area and things got a bit haywire," he said.
"I think the two planes (which crashed) were practising emergency landings. . .you know when they cut the engines," he said.
The New Zealand Rescue Co-ordination Centre was alerted to the crash about 10am after a report of wreckage on the ground north of Shannon.
Ken Mitchell, a communications manager for Airways New Zealand, which is responsible for air traffic in controlled airspaces, said the planes were in an uncontrolled space, where pilots took responsibility for their own navigation and safety.
CAA spokesman Bill Sommer said the Accident Investigation Commission or CAA would now be investigating.
Authorities closed the air space over the crash sites, and police restricted ground travel in the area immediately after the crash.
Massey University's School of Aviation started in 1990, and in 1998 expanded to Auckland.
In 2003, consultants recommended consolidating the operation on the Palmerston North campus and the Flight Systems Centre at Palmerston North Airport.
At that time its target was to graduate 40 new airline pilots a year, along with graduates in associated aviation professional fields.
S2K
09 February 2006
Two trainee pilots from Massey University's School of Aviation were killed in a mid-air collision near Shannon in the Manawatu this morning.
Two single-engine Piper Cherokee training planes from the school collided over Opiki, 18km southwest of Palmerston North, about 10am before crashing on to farm land about 100 metres apart.
Debris was scattered over a 500 square-metre area, with one wrecked plane coming down in a paddock and the second in a drain.
Police late this afternoon released the names of the pilots.
They were Brandon Gedge, 20, of Tauranga and Jong Ho Hwang, 27, of Waitakere, Auckland.
Both students were in the same intake at the aviation school.
Head of Palmerston North-based school Captain Ashok Poduval expressed his sorrow about the accident.
He said the school was offering trauma counselling to staff and students impacted by the accident.
The university would work with the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) to establish the cause of the collision, he said.
Capt Poduval said he would be contacting the families of the dead students to offer the university's support.
Opiki resident Brian Jones was pruning fruit in his garden when he heard a huge bang.
A plane did a "whirly-down" to the ground followed by a wing crashing down, the retired 75-year-old said.
"All the fire service is out there. . .there are police cars in all directions and an ambulance."
Mr Jones said he only saw one plane go down.
"The plane is just lying there in a field."
The Square Trust Rescue Helicopter was in the area on another job when the accident occurred.
The helicopter with pilot and medical personnel onboard arrived at the scene within a couple of minutes.
The crew was able to ascertain that both pilots of the crashed aircraft were dead.
The planes crashed on the Opiki farm of Rodney Hudson, which was cordoned off by police.
Another Opiki resident Rachel Taylor said she heard a "big bang" and ran out of her home to see what appeared to be tinfoil falling out of the sky.
Mrs Taylor said her home – where she and her husband are dairy farmers – was only two paddocks away from the crash site but the site was obscured by trees.
"By the time I walked outside there were already lots of tractors and motorbikes at the site and I was really amazed at how quickly all the services got there."
Mrs Taylor said she even though she was looking at the wreckage she had no idea what it was.
"It doesn't even look like a plane."
Mrs Taylor said it was not until her husband, Wayne, called her that she knew that it had been a plane crash.
"He was working on the other side of the crash site and he called to make sure I wasn't hurt or that it hadn't hit our property."
Mrs Taylor said the wreckage site was a "total mess on the ground".
Another local farmer, who lives around 700m from the crash site, said he rushed to the crash site of one of the planes and saw a body in the mangled wreckage.
"The pilot in the first plane was dead. We didn't actually realise there was a second plane until a neighbour came over and said there was another plane," the man, who didn't want to be named, told police.
He then went to the site of the second crashed plane about 300m away.
"That plane looked like it had nosed into a drain and it was upside-down," he said.
"One of the farmers tried to climb in through the tail of the second plane to get a pulse (from the pilot) but I don't think he could actually get to him," he said.
He said both planes were mangled and there was a strong smell of fuel.
The man said two builders who were working outside on his house heard the plane go down and raised the alarm.
"I ran outside and saw the last flakes of the plane coming down," he said.
He then rang the police and went to the crash sites.
"I think the wing fell off the first one," he said.
The man said a helicopter and another plane was in the area spraying potatoes around the time of the crash.
"There were a lot of aircraft in a small area and things got a bit haywire," he said.
"I think the two planes (which crashed) were practising emergency landings. . .you know when they cut the engines," he said.
The New Zealand Rescue Co-ordination Centre was alerted to the crash about 10am after a report of wreckage on the ground north of Shannon.
Ken Mitchell, a communications manager for Airways New Zealand, which is responsible for air traffic in controlled airspaces, said the planes were in an uncontrolled space, where pilots took responsibility for their own navigation and safety.
CAA spokesman Bill Sommer said the Accident Investigation Commission or CAA would now be investigating.
Authorities closed the air space over the crash sites, and police restricted ground travel in the area immediately after the crash.
Massey University's School of Aviation started in 1990, and in 1998 expanded to Auckland.
In 2003, consultants recommended consolidating the operation on the Palmerston North campus and the Flight Systems Centre at Palmerston North Airport.
At that time its target was to graduate 40 new airline pilots a year, along with graduates in associated aviation professional fields.
S2K
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Let us spare a thought for the troops at Massey, and of course for the families of the two students lost.
And at last, a witness who said something highly likely to be fact: that the aircraft were practising “emergency” landings. The School’s aircraft operate regularly around there, doing just that. He’d have seen it many times.
Back in 1992 I told a certain meeting that that area was getting like Grand Central Station at times, with aircraft competing for training space in an area hemmed in by military airspace on one side, civilian controlled airspace on another (and above), ranges on yet another, and the sea. I said the risk of mid air will be decreased if the military airspace could be pushed a couple of miles to the north. But the knuckleheads wailed:
we can’t do that, it’s hard enough for A4s and Strikemasters as it is (bullshlt! I thought, or in this case Bulls’ shlt). Those turkeys always hijacked those meetings, which shall remain nameless.
Perversely, some of those turkeys became good friends of mine in the years that followed, and the lack of any accidents or reported incidents allowed the memory of that meeting, and the angst that went with it, to fade into the shadows.
Yes, I know there is another area to the north that can be used, but that has its drawbacks, too, as any local will tell you. The Air Farce’s Airtrainers now occupy all the best real estate, only a few miles to the west. They could quite easily operate in an area half the size, now that the knucks have gone.
Yes, I know too, that timely airspace reform may not have prevented this accident, but it would have mitigated the risk. There is no doubt about that.
And for all you “the pilots could have done this, they should have done that” morons, haven’t you learnt that you can not EVER SOLELY rely on a pilot’s situational awareness to avoid a midair? See and be seen, what absolute cr@p. I’ve probably just offended half the D&G readership with that, at least the pre-pubescent ones, anyway. How dare me.
This was an “aviation system” accident, pure and simple. But at least I already know what the accident report will say. And it won’t be anything helpful to pilots, either.
Am I bitter? Have I got baggage? You bet your @rse. I might not be in GA anymore, but I still care enough about it to say these things.
dh
And at last, a witness who said something highly likely to be fact: that the aircraft were practising “emergency” landings. The School’s aircraft operate regularly around there, doing just that. He’d have seen it many times.
Back in 1992 I told a certain meeting that that area was getting like Grand Central Station at times, with aircraft competing for training space in an area hemmed in by military airspace on one side, civilian controlled airspace on another (and above), ranges on yet another, and the sea. I said the risk of mid air will be decreased if the military airspace could be pushed a couple of miles to the north. But the knuckleheads wailed:
we can’t do that, it’s hard enough for A4s and Strikemasters as it is (bullshlt! I thought, or in this case Bulls’ shlt). Those turkeys always hijacked those meetings, which shall remain nameless. Perversely, some of those turkeys became good friends of mine in the years that followed, and the lack of any accidents or reported incidents allowed the memory of that meeting, and the angst that went with it, to fade into the shadows.
Yes, I know there is another area to the north that can be used, but that has its drawbacks, too, as any local will tell you. The Air Farce’s Airtrainers now occupy all the best real estate, only a few miles to the west. They could quite easily operate in an area half the size, now that the knucks have gone.
Yes, I know too, that timely airspace reform may not have prevented this accident, but it would have mitigated the risk. There is no doubt about that.
And for all you “the pilots could have done this, they should have done that” morons, haven’t you learnt that you can not EVER SOLELY rely on a pilot’s situational awareness to avoid a midair? See and be seen, what absolute cr@p. I’ve probably just offended half the D&G readership with that, at least the pre-pubescent ones, anyway. How dare me.
This was an “aviation system” accident, pure and simple. But at least I already know what the accident report will say. And it won’t be anything helpful to pilots, either.
Am I bitter? Have I got baggage? You bet your @rse. I might not be in GA anymore, but I still care enough about it to say these things.
dh
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In San Diego also:
http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercu...s/13824218.htm
Posted on Thu, Feb. 09, 2006
Three killed when two small planes collide in San Diego County
ELLIOT SPAGAT
Associated Press
EL CAJON, Calif. - Federal investigators were working Thursday to determine what caused two small planes to collide mid-flight over this east San Diego suburb, killing three people on board and leaving wreckage strewn over a wide area.
The collision occurred about 4:40 p.m. Wednesday, said city spokeswoman Monica Zech. Fire officials said no one was injured on the ground.
Two people were aboard a plane that came crashing down in a park, El Cajon Fire Chief Mike Scott said. The other person killed was aboard a plane that landed in a home, igniting a small attic fire that was quickly extinguished. No one was inside the home, Scott said.
Bryce Segaux, an 18-year-old senior at Grossmont High School, was working in the school's auto shop when he saw a small plane sputter, lose altitude and crash into another aircraft.
"There was a big old fireball," Segaux said.
Driving to nearby Harry Griffen Park in La Mesa, Segaux said he saw two bodies among the wreckage.
Chris Rohan, 29, of El Cajon was walking his dog at the park when he heard a loud explosion. Rohan said he looked up and saw three or four pieces of flaming debris falling from the sky. A wing landed about a foot away from his car, he said.
"Everyone was panicking," Rohan said.
Authorities closed the park after the crash and cordoned off the scene. Investigators also restricted the area around the home where the second plane crashed. Several nearby residents were evacuated.
The National Transportation Safety Board was handling the investigation.
It was not immediately known where the planes originated or where they were headed.
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/m...7-midair4.html
3 die as two planes collide in fireballs over El Cajon
SIGNONSANDIEGO
9:51 p.m. February 8, 2006
EL CAJON – Three people died when two small planes collided in fireballs Wednesday in the sky near Grossmont High School in El Cajon, authorities and witnesses said.
Witnesses reported seeing two bodies on the ground, believed to be from one of the aircraft. A third body was reported elsewhere, believed from the other.
Authorities confirmed three dead in the collision around 4:40 p.m., and said no injuries on the ground were reported.
“I happened to look up and saw two balls of fire,” said Rod Jeter, a real estate broker who was driving nearby at the time of the collision.
Part of a burning wing fell onto the roof and then into the front yard of a house in the 600 block of Hawthorne Avenue, igniting the roof and attic, said El Cajon Fire Chief Mike Scott. The house was unoccupied, and firefighters extinguished the flames.
Much of the debris fell along Hawthorne and Live Oak Drive, Scott said. The bulk of one of the aircraft fell, burning, into Harry Griffen Park in bordering La Mesa, where firefighters quickly extinguished the flames, he said.
A piece of wreckage that appeared to be part of a fuselage came to rest in the back yard of a home on Live Oak.
Other debris from the incident appeared scattered over a half-mile-square area of El Cajon and La Mesa, 1˝ miles south of Gillespie Field, a general aviation airport. Authorities asked anyone who found pieces of wreckage to leave them in place and telephone (619) 579-3311.
Many witnesses initially reported the collision to be between a small plane and a helicopter. One knowledgeable witness even identified the aircraft specifically as a Robinson R22, a small helicopter commonly used for flight training and photography.
But authorities later said the collision involved two Cessna fixed-wing aircraft.
Investigators from the Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board were on the scene investigating Wednesday night, with La Mesa firefighters lighting one of the debris fields at Harry Griffen Park.
Joe Delacruz was in the back yard of a friend's house on Hawthorne when the sound of a plane “popping, backfiring,” caused them to turn around and look up.
“It sounded like the plane was sputtering, like it was having a hard time flying,” Delacruz said.
The two then witnessed the collision.
“I looked up and I saw the wing and the bulk of the aircraft coming down in flames,” Delacruz said.
He said he also saw what appeared to be the bubble portion of a helicopter cockpit falling from the sky.
Jeter, who had been driving on state Route 125, said although he saw the fireballs, he saw no explosion. “First I thought maybe it was somebody's (toy) rocket, but then I said that's too big to be somebody's (toy),” Jeter said.
“That's it, they both fell. The bigger one, I think, was the helicopter. They were already on fire before they hit (the ground). I've never seen anything like that before.”
Palm Springs resident Gary Embrey was driving on state Route 125 when the accident occurred.
“I was just looking ahead and saw a big black plume of smoke, (and) flame and parts spewing out to the side,” he said. “Then it all fell to the ground. It was parts just falling.”
Another witness, a Grossmont High student, told reporters he watched part of an aircraft – which he took to be a helicopter – hit the ground, saw someone inside the wreckage and realized that person could not have survived.
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SignOnSanDiego's Jeffrey J. Rose, Steve Perez, Alan Drooz and Zachary Woodruff contributed to this story, and wire service reports were used in compiling it.
http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercu...s/13824218.htm
Posted on Thu, Feb. 09, 2006
Three killed when two small planes collide in San Diego County
ELLIOT SPAGAT
Associated Press
EL CAJON, Calif. - Federal investigators were working Thursday to determine what caused two small planes to collide mid-flight over this east San Diego suburb, killing three people on board and leaving wreckage strewn over a wide area.
The collision occurred about 4:40 p.m. Wednesday, said city spokeswoman Monica Zech. Fire officials said no one was injured on the ground.
Two people were aboard a plane that came crashing down in a park, El Cajon Fire Chief Mike Scott said. The other person killed was aboard a plane that landed in a home, igniting a small attic fire that was quickly extinguished. No one was inside the home, Scott said.
Bryce Segaux, an 18-year-old senior at Grossmont High School, was working in the school's auto shop when he saw a small plane sputter, lose altitude and crash into another aircraft.
"There was a big old fireball," Segaux said.
Driving to nearby Harry Griffen Park in La Mesa, Segaux said he saw two bodies among the wreckage.
Chris Rohan, 29, of El Cajon was walking his dog at the park when he heard a loud explosion. Rohan said he looked up and saw three or four pieces of flaming debris falling from the sky. A wing landed about a foot away from his car, he said.
"Everyone was panicking," Rohan said.
Authorities closed the park after the crash and cordoned off the scene. Investigators also restricted the area around the home where the second plane crashed. Several nearby residents were evacuated.
The National Transportation Safety Board was handling the investigation.
It was not immediately known where the planes originated or where they were headed.
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/m...7-midair4.html
3 die as two planes collide in fireballs over El Cajon
SIGNONSANDIEGO
9:51 p.m. February 8, 2006
EL CAJON – Three people died when two small planes collided in fireballs Wednesday in the sky near Grossmont High School in El Cajon, authorities and witnesses said.
Witnesses reported seeing two bodies on the ground, believed to be from one of the aircraft. A third body was reported elsewhere, believed from the other.
Authorities confirmed three dead in the collision around 4:40 p.m., and said no injuries on the ground were reported.
“I happened to look up and saw two balls of fire,” said Rod Jeter, a real estate broker who was driving nearby at the time of the collision.
Part of a burning wing fell onto the roof and then into the front yard of a house in the 600 block of Hawthorne Avenue, igniting the roof and attic, said El Cajon Fire Chief Mike Scott. The house was unoccupied, and firefighters extinguished the flames.
Much of the debris fell along Hawthorne and Live Oak Drive, Scott said. The bulk of one of the aircraft fell, burning, into Harry Griffen Park in bordering La Mesa, where firefighters quickly extinguished the flames, he said.
A piece of wreckage that appeared to be part of a fuselage came to rest in the back yard of a home on Live Oak.
Other debris from the incident appeared scattered over a half-mile-square area of El Cajon and La Mesa, 1˝ miles south of Gillespie Field, a general aviation airport. Authorities asked anyone who found pieces of wreckage to leave them in place and telephone (619) 579-3311.
Many witnesses initially reported the collision to be between a small plane and a helicopter. One knowledgeable witness even identified the aircraft specifically as a Robinson R22, a small helicopter commonly used for flight training and photography.
But authorities later said the collision involved two Cessna fixed-wing aircraft.
Investigators from the Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board were on the scene investigating Wednesday night, with La Mesa firefighters lighting one of the debris fields at Harry Griffen Park.
Joe Delacruz was in the back yard of a friend's house on Hawthorne when the sound of a plane “popping, backfiring,” caused them to turn around and look up.
“It sounded like the plane was sputtering, like it was having a hard time flying,” Delacruz said.
The two then witnessed the collision.
“I looked up and I saw the wing and the bulk of the aircraft coming down in flames,” Delacruz said.
He said he also saw what appeared to be the bubble portion of a helicopter cockpit falling from the sky.
Jeter, who had been driving on state Route 125, said although he saw the fireballs, he saw no explosion. “First I thought maybe it was somebody's (toy) rocket, but then I said that's too big to be somebody's (toy),” Jeter said.
“That's it, they both fell. The bigger one, I think, was the helicopter. They were already on fire before they hit (the ground). I've never seen anything like that before.”
Palm Springs resident Gary Embrey was driving on state Route 125 when the accident occurred.
“I was just looking ahead and saw a big black plume of smoke, (and) flame and parts spewing out to the side,” he said. “Then it all fell to the ground. It was parts just falling.”
Another witness, a Grossmont High student, told reporters he watched part of an aircraft – which he took to be a helicopter – hit the ground, saw someone inside the wreckage and realized that person could not have survived.
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SignOnSanDiego's Jeffrey J. Rose, Steve Perez, Alan Drooz and Zachary Woodruff contributed to this story, and wire service reports were used in compiling it.
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It is a real shame to hear about this. The Police and traffic spotter collision doesn't seem that far away again. Any questions we may have as to why this happened should be quickly answered by the returns from the ATC tapes that they keep for this reason.
MAPt
MAPt
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I dont think they will get much from the ATC tapes as the crash happened in uncontrolled airspace. Both were from the same intake at Massy. I hope they were not playing silly buggers. A sad blow for Massy and the industry.
Prayers to family and friends.
Prayers to family and friends.
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(ref to deadhead; as above)
Ok then, how do the stacks of AR guys simulating into pokeno or mercer not smack into each other?
Ok then, how do the stacks of AR guys simulating into pokeno or mercer not smack into each other?
Last edited by steinycans; 9th Feb 2006 at 16:45.
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Simple. They do the following:
1) make sure they are in different areas
2) look out the window
Two aircraft doing FLWOPs in the same area is just asking for it.
It does bring to mind the last time this happened around Palmy... two clowns pretending to be combat pilots. Hopefully this one will turn out to be just a tragic accident.
1) make sure they are in different areas
2) look out the window
Two aircraft doing FLWOPs in the same area is just asking for it.
It does bring to mind the last time this happened around Palmy... two clowns pretending to be combat pilots. Hopefully this one will turn out to be just a tragic accident.
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MASSEY Aviation.Advice. Get a PR/Media consultant.
Those 2 aircraft were not out practising Stalling. They were orbiting a well known Manawatu Ag pilot going about his daily chore.FACT.
Those 2 aircraft were not out practising Stalling. They were orbiting a well known Manawatu Ag pilot going about his daily chore.FACT.
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Death plane's close call with helicopter
NZ Hearald
10.02.06
By Mathew Dearnaley
One of two light aircraft which collided over Manawatu yesterday, killing both their pilots, had a close call with a rescue helicopter minutes earlier.
The two young male flyers, both mid-term students of Massey University's School of Aviation, were found dead in their cockpits after their single-engine Piper Cherokee training craft crashed into paddocks near Shannon, southwest of Palmerston North, about 10am.
The men killed were Brandon James Gedge, 20, from Tauranga, and Dae Jin Hwang, 27, from West Auckland.
Farmers who watched the tragedy unfold said the aircraft had been flying overhead for up to 15 minutes, conducting stalling manoeuvres before the wing of one of the Cherokees clipped the tail of the other.
Rodney Hudson, into whose dairy farm the planes plummeted off Ngui Rd north of Shannon, said he saw the southbound rescue helicopter climb and turn to avoid a collision with one of the aircraft several minutes before the crash.
The two training planes were flying "reasonably close together for a period of time".
The pilot of a topdressing aircraft also in the area described on television seeing the wreckage on the ground and then looking up to see debris floating to the ground like "confetti" out of a clear blue sky.
A spokesman for the Palmerston North-based Square Trust rescue helicopter confirmed to the Herald last night that it was forced to take evasive action after a northbound Cherokee turned into its path.
What ensued minutes later was New Zealand's first fatal mid-air collision since the police Eagle helicopter and a fixed-wing traffic-spotting aircraft collided over Auckland's central motorway junction in 1993, killing four people.
It is not the first time tragedy has struck the Massey aviation school, which lost a student in an air crash in the Ureweras during a navigational exercise in 1995.
Wreckage of his aircraft, which was supposed to have been flying between Gisborne and Palmerston North, was not found for several years.
Civil Aviation Authority spokesman Bill Sommer, whose agency is investigating the latest accident, said it was "obviously a high-impact crash - it was not a little nudge".
The aircraft appeared from their transponders to have collided at right angles, one while climbing on a northbound path and the other descending to the east.
He said it was possible that the pilots, both bachelor of aviation students with more than 100 flying hours under their belts, might not have seen what was in store for them.
"It's like when you are driving, you are not looking sideways," he said.
He also confirmed that the aviation authority had received a report that the rescue helicopter and a fixed-wing aircraft passed "quite close" to each other soon before the crash.
The rescue trust spokesman said the light plane made a left turn, putting it on "a conflicting path" with the helicopter, which was on a medical flight from Palmerston North to Wellington. The helicopter was forced to turn right and climb away.
It then doubled back to the area after being notified of the crash, but the pilot and a nurse on board found both students dead in their aircraft, one of which crashed upside-down into a farm drain and the other into a paddock about 200m away.
The fuselages were largely intact, but other parts were sprawled across about 500m of farmland.
Mr Sommer said it appeared the planes collided 1500ft or so above sea level, which was "not unnaturally low", but Mr Hudson said he had flying experience and they seemed to him to be no higher than 1000ft.
The 15-year-old Massey aviation school has about 460 students, all based in Palmerston North, having discontinued operations in Auckland a year ago.
General manager Captain Ashok Poduval, a veteran airline pilot and former operations and safety director for the International Air Transport Association, said he was confident of the abilities of the dead pair and their readiness for the exercises set for them yesterday.
Captain Poduval, who was appointed last year to head the school and expressed sorrow over the crash, said the pair were good students and there had been no reports of their behaving abnormally.
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Does this mean that all GA aircraft are going to require a TCAS installed in the near future?
10.02.06
By Mathew Dearnaley
One of two light aircraft which collided over Manawatu yesterday, killing both their pilots, had a close call with a rescue helicopter minutes earlier.
The two young male flyers, both mid-term students of Massey University's School of Aviation, were found dead in their cockpits after their single-engine Piper Cherokee training craft crashed into paddocks near Shannon, southwest of Palmerston North, about 10am.
The men killed were Brandon James Gedge, 20, from Tauranga, and Dae Jin Hwang, 27, from West Auckland.
Farmers who watched the tragedy unfold said the aircraft had been flying overhead for up to 15 minutes, conducting stalling manoeuvres before the wing of one of the Cherokees clipped the tail of the other.
Rodney Hudson, into whose dairy farm the planes plummeted off Ngui Rd north of Shannon, said he saw the southbound rescue helicopter climb and turn to avoid a collision with one of the aircraft several minutes before the crash.
The two training planes were flying "reasonably close together for a period of time".
The pilot of a topdressing aircraft also in the area described on television seeing the wreckage on the ground and then looking up to see debris floating to the ground like "confetti" out of a clear blue sky.
A spokesman for the Palmerston North-based Square Trust rescue helicopter confirmed to the Herald last night that it was forced to take evasive action after a northbound Cherokee turned into its path.
What ensued minutes later was New Zealand's first fatal mid-air collision since the police Eagle helicopter and a fixed-wing traffic-spotting aircraft collided over Auckland's central motorway junction in 1993, killing four people.
It is not the first time tragedy has struck the Massey aviation school, which lost a student in an air crash in the Ureweras during a navigational exercise in 1995.
Wreckage of his aircraft, which was supposed to have been flying between Gisborne and Palmerston North, was not found for several years.
Civil Aviation Authority spokesman Bill Sommer, whose agency is investigating the latest accident, said it was "obviously a high-impact crash - it was not a little nudge".
The aircraft appeared from their transponders to have collided at right angles, one while climbing on a northbound path and the other descending to the east.
He said it was possible that the pilots, both bachelor of aviation students with more than 100 flying hours under their belts, might not have seen what was in store for them.
"It's like when you are driving, you are not looking sideways," he said.
He also confirmed that the aviation authority had received a report that the rescue helicopter and a fixed-wing aircraft passed "quite close" to each other soon before the crash.
The rescue trust spokesman said the light plane made a left turn, putting it on "a conflicting path" with the helicopter, which was on a medical flight from Palmerston North to Wellington. The helicopter was forced to turn right and climb away.
It then doubled back to the area after being notified of the crash, but the pilot and a nurse on board found both students dead in their aircraft, one of which crashed upside-down into a farm drain and the other into a paddock about 200m away.
The fuselages were largely intact, but other parts were sprawled across about 500m of farmland.
Mr Sommer said it appeared the planes collided 1500ft or so above sea level, which was "not unnaturally low", but Mr Hudson said he had flying experience and they seemed to him to be no higher than 1000ft.
The 15-year-old Massey aviation school has about 460 students, all based in Palmerston North, having discontinued operations in Auckland a year ago.
General manager Captain Ashok Poduval, a veteran airline pilot and former operations and safety director for the International Air Transport Association, said he was confident of the abilities of the dead pair and their readiness for the exercises set for them yesterday.
Captain Poduval, who was appointed last year to head the school and expressed sorrow over the crash, said the pair were good students and there had been no reports of their behaving abnormally.
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Does this mean that all GA aircraft are going to require a TCAS installed in the near future?
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MOR
Not quite the case over Pokeno. Quite routine to have several aircraft operating into the same group of paddocks. In fact, I've often thought the Ardmore training area is an accident waiting to happen, particularly with such a high concentration of aircraft operating around the Pokeno paddocks.
Not quite the case over Pokeno. Quite routine to have several aircraft operating into the same group of paddocks. In fact, I've often thought the Ardmore training area is an accident waiting to happen, particularly with such a high concentration of aircraft operating around the Pokeno paddocks.
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Cloud cutter...I agree with you that AR is most definitely an accident waiting to happen. When I was instructing there I would try and conduct as much training as possible over the Firth of Thames. Sure, I was risking it being over water but after a number of scares in the AR training area it was the best of a bad situation.
Viagra, as for a TCAS on GA machines. Having used one on a light a/c it would be constantly going off in areas such as around Ardmore and it would be a waste of money.......
Viagra, as for a TCAS on GA machines. Having used one on a light a/c it would be constantly going off in areas such as around Ardmore and it would be a waste of money.......