C130 down NE Cooma
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I don't know, but I'd expect EGPWS would be useless in such a situation. The very nature of aerial firefighting is that you're maneuvering in close proximity to the terrain, away from charted airports. Unless you had inhibited it, it would be giving terrain alerts continuously.
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I am with A Squared on that - I believe it would have been off.
These aircraft fly IFR enroute, and once arriving at the fire ground operate exclusively VFR until picking up an IFR clearance again on returning to the aerodrome.
I fear that in the pursuit for a successful retardant drop, the crew might have inadvertently blurred the lines of what 'visual' meant. Perhaps this is an absolutely extreme case of 'get-there-itis' but in a far different circumstance where the result of aborting the operation is far different.
These aircraft fly IFR enroute, and once arriving at the fire ground operate exclusively VFR until picking up an IFR clearance again on returning to the aerodrome.
I fear that in the pursuit for a successful retardant drop, the crew might have inadvertently blurred the lines of what 'visual' meant. Perhaps this is an absolutely extreme case of 'get-there-itis' but in a far different circumstance where the result of aborting the operation is far different.
It won't be classed as a CFIT because the ICAO ADREP definition specifically excludes intentional low-altitude operations: Aviation Occurrence Categories
It won't be found to be CFIT anyway because some complete f*tard with an SCPL and a keyboard already identified the cause as the wings separating inflight and others agreed.
Now we have people "fearing" publicly about the competence of the crew. You guys are awesome.
Now we have people "fearing" publicly about the competence of the crew. You guys are awesome.
Just an observation: it’s a little strange that some of the same people who completely lost the plot at (and continue to ridicule) one or two previous posters speculating on the cause of this awful accident seem to be perfectly fine with the more recent speculation.
So, are we waiting for the official report or does it depend on who it is doing the speculating as to whether it’s ok or not?
So, are we waiting for the official report or does it depend on who it is doing the speculating as to whether it’s ok or not?
Do you have other images that support your observation? The images on this forum show a shallow impact angle at a moderate speed in a near wings level attitude. It is inferable that the body attitude was nose up relative to the terrain at impact, but that is also open to interpretation, the debris field will determine that. As the terrain along the slope has an upslope angle, the "nasty rate of descent" does not correlate with the images at low resolution. As far as speed goes, the tail staying on the aircraft, and being within the wreckage trail doesn't support a very high speed impact event. From prior C130 losses, this would not be much greater than the flap limit speed.
Not sure I agree with your assessment.
What is indicated is that the aircraft was likely in one piece and under control up to impact. There is a very low likelihood of an inflight breakup event here, or loss of a primary flight control. Whether the engines were producing thrust would be determined by the wreckage scars and the direction of bending of the propeller blades, and detail within the compressor and turbine.
Low flying over undulating terrain in poor visibility carries a high operational risk, and the guys that do that should be respected for their turning up day after day in challenging conditions to go and do the task.
Just an observation: it’s a little strange that some of the same people who completely lost the plot at (and continue to ridicule) one or two previous posters speculating on the cause of this awful accident seem to be perfectly fine with the more recent speculation.
So, are we waiting for the official report or does it depend on who it is doing the speculating as to whether it’s ok or not?
So, are we waiting for the official report or does it depend on who it is doing the speculating as to whether it’s ok or not?
”It was an accident waiting to happen”
“When you take into account this aircrafts chequered history.”
Pretty different story to, hey, here’s my opinion on these images of the accident site.
So yeah, really not that strange.
and, on the other hand, bald assertions that the accident was caused by (for example) an inflight breakup, based on dodgy data analysis that doesn't stand up to scrutiny.
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Despite not having block numbers, the 16 EC-130Qs built for the TACAMO mission (plus two conversions from KC-130Ts) were delivered in 3 separate batches, with differences in spec.
The last five aircraft, including the two that ended up with Coulson, were lighter and had improved pressurisation and ECS. It seems likely that they were built with blanked-off chin windows.
The last five aircraft, including the two that ended up with Coulson, were lighter and had improved pressurisation and ECS. It seems likely that they were built with blanked-off chin windows.
Mainly because the previous speculation and discussion contained such brilliantly eloquent statements of fact such as:
”It was an accident waiting to happen”
“When you take into account this aircrafts chequered history.”
Pretty different story to, hey, here’s my opinion on these images of the accident site.
So yeah, really not that strange.
”It was an accident waiting to happen”
“When you take into account this aircrafts chequered history.”
Pretty different story to, hey, here’s my opinion on these images of the accident site.
So yeah, really not that strange.
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I think the distinction that's being made is the difference between, on one hand, simple speculation along the lines of "do you think xxx might have been a factor in the accident?"
and, on the other hand, bald assertions that the accident was caused by (for example) an inflight breakup, based on dodgy data analysis that doesn't stand up to scrutiny.
and, on the other hand, bald assertions that the accident was caused by (for example) an inflight breakup, based on dodgy data analysis that doesn't stand up to scrutiny.
That said, what SCPL_1988 was posting was not intelligent, reasoned, fact based speculation. Quite the contrary, it was accusatory ranting that disregarded the very facts he claims as support. For whatever reason, he jumped to the conclusion, without any supporting evidence at all , that this accident was due to structural failure involving wing separation, then he went on for pages, insisting that the flight tracking data demonstrated wing separation, even claiming that you could tell from the data when the wing separated. In fact the tracking data shows pretty clearly that the wing did not separate, as he claimed. In my previous post responding to him, you can see the kind of ridiculous claims he was making. (clicking the little arrow icon after my name in the quote box will take you to that post)
So, according to your wing failure theory, the wing came off at that point, but the plane continued to remain airborne for another 1 minute, 45 seconds after losing a wing, and during that time, only descending 1200 feet, at no more than 960 feet per minute. That, to you, seems like the trajectory of an airplane which has lost a wing?
OK all you whingers, Sunfish, grizzley, what sort of experience or knowledge is acceptable on prune to be allowed to comment?
Can only prune regulars comment on topics?
Do you need to have over 1000 posts?
Is it not being employed as a pilot or flown commercially but to have flown privately a posting prerequisite?
Is it just calling yourself an aviation expert? (expurt more likely).
Do you need to have actual experience in the topic being posted?
Or is it you can just dial up the moral indignation like the last post and pat all your mates on the back?
Some of you blokes need to take stock of what you posted, maybe the people you slag off at are due an apology because of your language?
I made the post I did on page 1 of this thread because I was flying fires the day before in Vic, the conditions were very rough. That's why I bought up the topic of structural failure.
Can only prune regulars comment on topics?
Do you need to have over 1000 posts?
Is it not being employed as a pilot or flown commercially but to have flown privately a posting prerequisite?
Is it just calling yourself an aviation expert? (expurt more likely).
Do you need to have actual experience in the topic being posted?
Or is it you can just dial up the moral indignation like the last post and pat all your mates on the back?
Some of you blokes need to take stock of what you posted, maybe the people you slag off at are due an apology because of your language?
I made the post I did on page 1 of this thread because I was flying fires the day before in Vic, the conditions were very rough. That's why I bought up the topic of structural failure.
First, the post of mine to which you refer (Jan 24, permalink #139) was not directed at you. I was speaking of the posts by the now infamous SCPL_1988 but I intentionally left out his identity so as not to provoke a mod into deleting my message as a personal attack. Now that many others have taken him to task for his antagonistic, insulting and ill-informed posts, which were excellent examples of how to lower a professional discussion into a "fake news" style bar-fight, I suppose it's been agreed that his rants were atrocious enough that mentioning his name is acceptable, as an example of how not to behave on a professional site such as pprune.
In any event, in the past two days, other people, more patient than myself (such as A Squared, DavidReidUK, Squawk7700, and junior.VH-LFA) have succinctly and professionally explained why the likes of SCPL_1988 need to be called out if we hope to keep pprune as good as it can be. And it can be superb.
Sidebar to A Squared: Based on your location (per your profile) and your Herc experience, I'm thinking there's a good chance we've chatted over a beer at Happy Hour at Airways in the past couple of years.
Stay safe, mates
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There is video running around of the last minute of flight which indicates the aircraft was operating normally. I am sure it will assist the ATSB in their investigation.
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Whatever went wrong still a sad day for aviation in Australia
The point of impact appears to be significantly lower than their last observed altitude. If the fireball shown in the video is at the start of the 200 metre uphill “scrape” then it is even more puzzling.
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