Pilot escapes Melbourne crash unhurt

[Apgrau]

"Tuesday Jan 2 11:37 AEDT
A pilot walked away unhurt after his light aircraft crashed into a ditch at Melbourne's Moorabbin Airport.
The pilot was the only person aboard a Cessna 172 training aircraft and was performing a touch-and-go circuit when the plane veered into a ditch shortly after 11am (AEDT), Moorabbin Airport manager Phil McConnell told AAP.
The aircraft was substantially damaged.
Fire and ambulance crews rushed to the scene, but the pilot was not injured, Mr McConnell said."
Hot off the press from ninemsn.com.au
Anybody know anything more about this?
I hope its not one of those brand new C-172S with a G1000...
Sounds like a write-off to me.
Cheers

[Diatryma]

VH-EUC

Yes - it's not looking too good - but probably repairable.

Di

[Spelunker]

from the report it sounds like a repeat of the 2005 incident, where a C172R (from the same school) crashed into a ditch at threshold of 17L.

[Spodman]

Heard the results of this as I reported at BTO this morning, hope I didn't add to the trauma too much. First fire truck was arriving as I landed. He was a LOOONNNG way over to the left of 13L, and most of the way down the runway. I really wonder how he got there.

Glad to hear he's OK.

[bentleg]

Originally Posted by Spodman

He was a LOOONNNG way over to the left of 13L, and most of the way down the runway. I really wonder how he got there.

One can speculate - so here goes. BoM website says wind was gusting to 20 kts from SE at 1100 at Moorabbin. Landing in crosswind, crabbing into the wind, forgot to take the left rudder off after touchdown.

[QNIM]

Gday
Just arrived after the event, saw the result when carted back to the hangar, brand new all glass only 160 hrs enough to make you cry even though it’s a Cessna.
Cheers Q

[VH-XXX]

Pic from the paper... ouch!

[Feather #3]

How about "didn't retract the flap after touchdown?"

G'day

[Aerodynamisist]

I would have thought a 172 would still climb away from the runway with full flap (30 degs) particularly a new one with one pob. could just be a handling error or combination of little troubles. I understand GFS flys allot of hours every year, incidents will happen.

[bushy]

Accidents will happen??

You say accidents will happen, as though this is normal and reasonable. It is not.
And the fancy glass obviously did not prevent this either.

[NAMPS]

I may be wrong but it seems to me to be a pretty major excursion from runway to ditch, looking at that pic.

[VH-XXX]

Perhaps the flaps were down a little far on the touch and go and when power was applied the nose probably pitched up at low speed. Saw this at Latrobe Valley that day when the guy did the not-so-merry-go-around (refer FS magazine) and died after stalling some distance from the runway. Probably just a poor sequencing of actions resulting in catastrophy. Something like that anyway... but agreed, this isn't the "norm" even if the school is "busy." I know of a school in Melb that's clocked up 5,500 ab-initio hours in 3 years with absolutely nil incidents. I'd be surprised if they were clocking up that many at GFS.

[Soulman]

Originally Posted by VH-XXX

I know of a school in Melb that's clocked up 5,500 ab-initio hours in 3 years with absolutely nil incidents. I'd be surprised if they were clocking up that many at GFS.

One only has to look at the flightline at MB to realise how much flying Generals are doing. Truth be known - they're probably doing more than 5500 over three years.

[AlJassmi]

Originally Posted by Spelunker

from the report it sounds like a repeat of the 2005 incident, where a C172R (from the same school) crashed into a ditch at threshold of 17L.

Certainly a very similar result, though the 2005 one veered to the right during a touch and go on 35R while this one was off to the left from 13L.

[Sunfish]

The Latrobe Valley incident was not about a stuffed up go around or take off - it was about the infamous cessna seat unlocking and no stops in place.

[ABX]

5500

I recently did a lot of research into GFS and the courses they run, including those done in conjunction with Swinburne Uni.

Some well founded assumptions:
Swin Dip course 20 students x 250 hours per year = 5000 hrs
Swin Deg course 30 students x 250 hours per year = 7500 hrs
QF Cadets course 20 cadets x 250 hours per year = 5000 hrs
HK ATC PPL course 50 students x 50 (?) hours per year = 2500 hrs
Plus a further 180 graduates per year x ? hours = Unspecified hrs

Total hours per year, well in excess of 20,000 hours per annum.

And that is for training hours only, not including charter, SAR etc., etc.

All figures taken from GFS printed and online media, see links above, my numbers are estimations only, the results may turn out to be higher.

Before you ask, I decided against GFS and am hoping to enrol in a local FTO's diploma (CPL/MECIR) course this year.

Would be interested to see if there is someone here who knows the actual numbers of training hours GFS does every year, but you don't get to own 10 or 15 brand new 172s with G1000 glass if you aren't putting through those kinds of numbers.

Standing by and waiting for correction.

[travmason]

I saw the remains of the 172 in the afternoon. Was the wind that bad at 11am local? At 1pm I went up doing my Taildragger endorsment and it was VRB at 5kts straight down 13. I don't remember it being gusty in the morning.

O, and it was the guys first or second solo flight. 13 at YMMB isn't used all that often and it's shorter by far than the typically used 17/35 combo. Maybe he floated a little more than he should have and paniced. ATSB will tell all in a few years (snipe).

[VH-XXX]

Sunfish,

I was there when it happened and helped in the effort to retrieve the gentleman doctor from his aircraft. I can assure you his seat stops were in working order. He later died upside down in the aircraft. His seat stops were retro-fitted and not the original Cessna type; however ATSB decided that it was probably the stops because they weren't "genuine."

[Tee Emm]

Sunfish and VH-XXX. That was indeed a sad ending at Latrobe Valley. The pilot was an acquaintance of mine and it was his own aircraft. Unfortunately he was not only very inexperienced but if I can word this delicately his training record varied significantly. He was not a medical doctor but was a carpet layer. Although ATSB hinted that his seat may have slipped back during the go-around, it was only a guess. He may have used improper go-around procedure for the Cessna 172 but again this could not be proved. Anecdotal evidence revealed after the accident that some flying instructors taught a generic personal go-around technique rather than the recommended procedure published in the various Cessna singles Pilot Information Manuals. Whether or not this was a factor in the accident sequence is not known.

Flight Safety Australia magazine later highlighted this in an article on the importance of instructors teaching manufacturer's recommended procedures rather than personal opinions.

[Spelunker]

Some well founded assumptions:
Swin Dip course 20 students x 250 hours per year = 5000 hrs
Swin Deg course 30 students x 250 hours per year = 7500 hrs
QF Cadets course 20 cadets x 250 hours per year = 5000 hrs
HK ATC PPL course 50 students x 50 (?) hours per year = 2500 hrs
Plus a further 180 graduates per year x ? hours = Unspecified hrs
Total hours per year, well in excess of 20,000 hours per annum.

Standing by and waiting for correction.

Here comes the correction ABX...

Looks like you didn't do very well with the "lot of research" you did.
GFS does the 150 hour CPL syllabus .SWIN DEG = 50 students, and Im sure the DIP is more than 20 people.

Furthermore, 1 student takes 3 years to complete their CPL, hence your "30 x 250 hours per year" is way way off. Your figure of 20,000 hours per annum is incorrect, and a more accurate estimate would be a third of your 20,000 hours.

Also, the link to the swin website is a little old, and I wouldn't believe all that it says.
"Conducting Flight Engineer to Pilot training conversion for Ansett Airlines" . I thought Ansett ceased flying in 2001


All the best with your future training,

Now Im standing by for any correction..


P.S. you forgot the China Airlines Cadets that GFS teaches