PC12 Glide Approach
 

Reported in the West Australian last night that a PC12 had a total power failure and managed to make a successful glide approach into Derby.

Was it a RFDS aircraft.

Anyone have any more info?

RFDS PC12, Pan was initially called, followed by a mayday. Oil sprayed over the windscreen, followed by a shutdown or failure.

It seems the advertised statistics for single engined turbines rarely failing or shutting down in flight doesn't bare out the reality , it seems this is happening with a caravan or now PC-12 at least 3 or 4 times a year in Oz alone ?

It certainly seems like the season for single engine turbines dropping their bundle, that's for sure!

Well done to the Captain !!!.

Is it a common cause? - such as maintenance, coincidence, or age etc.?

Also, great work to the capt for getting it down almost blindly - due oil apparently! :ok:

"JC" I concur, well done Capt:D Me takes me hat off to ya!
And no I won't be brought in kicking & screaming about single V twin, those who know me know my feelings on that subject. The PC would kill the old Beech in every area.....bar 1 !!!!:}

Wmk2..............love the sound of out of sync props:}

RFDS PC12 NWO suffered a total engine failure about 20nm out of Derby, heading to Kununurra then onto Darwin. Doc, nurse and patient on board at the time. Pilot did an awesome job and got the plane back on the ground in one piece. I tip my hat to her as she kept calm under very stressful situation.

Congratulations to the skipper - good effort. Anyone know if she had to use the dv window to see or is an oiled up windshield not as bad as it sounds? We are taught to use this window (open it) as required in such instances but have I often giggled in wonder at how TF you could see anything through it. Sideslip down final? :confused:

Compared to how many hours being flown?????
If you want to look at the PT6A, start including King Airs, TBM's, PC9's...
Does it really seem that often?

That's like saying there are hundreds of accidents involving commodores and falcons. Should they be investigated?

OK how many in flight shut downs due FAILURE, not precautionary, on King airs in same time periods ??

Is this the start of a trend with this type of engine ?? as they become more widely dispersed in the < 5700 kg fleet .

I doubt it, in the 90's the manager of P&WC who was a good friend of ours living here in BNE at the time would often show me around teh workshop over a cup of coffee and they would have the odd failed PT6 from Otters and Bandits and King Airs, there was never a flood of them but they happened just like any other turbine I guess.

The difference today is and in particular on this forum you hear about them all and quickly. Just like rapes and murders, the news travels much faster these days.

If anyone knows Peter that worked during Red's days at P&WC ask him about failure rates and the causes, he would surely know.

J:ok:

Point is, as usage increases, proportionally, there are going to me more occurences.

Questioning whether they are "still" a safe powerplant was like the media suggesting there should be an investigation into the safety of PA-31's due to the Whyalla, Hotham and similar accidents.:hmm:

Out of interest, does an endorsment on say a caravan, PC12, TBM etc. go over and practice a couple glide approaches? And are the pilots always looking round for a spot to put them down?

My endorsement included quite a few forced landings without power. One from FL140 thirty miles out, one from 5000 feet five miles out and lots on downwind in the circuit. The book (from memory) says you should be able to achieve a forced landing without power from 79 miles out (nil wind) from FL300.

If you are not looking around for a spot to land SM27 you are not much of a pilot in my books!

They do glide very well. You can achieve 2:1 comfortably from most altitudes and even 2.5:1 if minimal curcuit work required ie straight in approach.
We set range rings on the ehsi according to altitude (eg 40nm @ FL200 ) and so any suitable landing sites on the screen are fair game.

Turnbacks from >1000' are easily achieved - a common error in training is underestimating glide ability and a tendency to over-run. With zero thrust set they just keep floating down the runway! At airfields wiith cross strips, even an engine failure turning crosswind usually means you can continue the turn and land on the adjacent runway.

Cloud breaks are fun too - 1:1 descent from 7nm just below vne giving max inertia for arrival in the curcuit - once again plenty of options (if visual:sad:)

This is all well and good in training that I hope to never use.

It sounds like a good glider to me and well done to the captain, outstanding effort. Me personally, if an engine fails I want to be diverting to the most suitable aerodrome, not any suitable landing site :sad:. Two donk's are much more fun. Just out of interest, AD-PLC is the PC12 always within a gliding distance of somewhere safe to land? Just curious is all.

Fourballs
 

Is 2:1 a good glide??? does not sound to good to me. From 20000' doesnt that mean you can only go about 8 NM??. 2.5:1 is not much better.I would have thought a PC12 would have a glide around, say, 6-7.5:1 I could be wrong ofcourse.

Yes. From FL180, glide range is re 40-45nm. ie. 80nm between suitable sites is fine.
YMLD (Maitland) - YSPY (Spilsby Island) is 69nm, with YPLC a further 23nm away. And there are plenty of perfectly acceptable landing areas on Yorke Peninsula that would be closer than that.

Just to get Wally excited, one of our aircraft went YPAD - YWYY (Wynyard, TAS) earlier this week. From FL270 / 280 the aircraft is always within glide range of an airport or suitable site, even on that flight.

:}