@Mr Milk - what red dye in the hub do you mean?

There seemed to be a trail of similar fluid on the ground. The only fluids I can think of in a Cessna are Avgas, engine oil and brake fluid?

The fluid was red (wrong colour for oil), to heavy for fuel and appeared to be the right consistency for hydraulic fluid. The trail on the ground were blobs about the size of 50 cent coins spaced about 30cm apart for maybe 50 metres.

The fluid seems the same color as the stuff on the front of the cowl.

Not a big deal, just curious.

@gerry111 - I've got no idea who this squawk person is and don't care.

"red dye"? Mil - H - ????? Hydraulic mineral oil. Its in my brakes as well.

As pointed out previously it is not MIL-H-5606, most McCauley Propellers are dye filled .....

http://www.mccauley.textron.com/MPC26OWrev1.pdf

On oil-filled propellers, the hub cavity is partially filled with red dyed engine type oil which is sealed in the hub and isolated from engine oil. This oil provides lubrication and corrosion protection to blade bearings and other internal parts. The oil is dyed red to aid in the troubleshooting of suspected propeller leaks

Learnt something new. thanks for the reply.

Squawk7700 - Are you saying there was only a 12kt wind from 090 or was it 12kts of xwind at the time..? (It was a fairly stiff easterly where I was further down the peninsula).


Either way, certainly not beyond the capabilities of the aircraft. Its hard to understand how things could go so wrong, although there's no doubt that executing xwing landings is a degradable skill, which you can get pretty rusty at if not practiced regularly. (Unless he did in fact get hit by a 'freak' gust of wind as reported).


So lucky they all escaped relatively unharmed. Shame to see PCO gone, it was a nice A/C, but at least no one was seriously hurt or worse.

Geez, lucky it didn't catch fire. AirServices put the Fire station at Ballina, not bloody Tooradin!

A couple of us estimated 12 knots from 090 degrees, so a 50 degree crosswind from the right (you can do the numbers on the actual crosswind component).

The nearest weather station is Cerberus and the observation for there was as follows:,

http://members.iinet.net.au/~bc75/wind.jpg

Therefore, 7 knots gusting 12, although it felt like a consistent 12 at the airfield. I don't recall it lulling to 7 knots; you'd notice that. Albiet, Cerberus is not Tooradin.

Credit should go to the local CFA; a dedicated station may be a little OTT. They were there very quickly and when I say quickly, I mean less than 10 minutes and it's a 4 kilometre drive. Being a Sunday I suspect they were already at the station for training. They were very professional, took the wind into account, cleared non-essential personnel, set up a crime scene, worked with pilots to get the fuel and power off, covered up fuel etc and it all went on from there. It was all an interesting experience to watch the pieces come together.

AMSA were also on the phone within minutes as the beacon went off due to the impact. (Where's Leadsled, this one actually worked!!!) 3 ambulances arrived one by one within 20 minutes or so. It's good to know that the system works should you need it.!

Yair but like most things electrical/ electronic it took three whacks to get it going.:} Most crashes don't get that chance.:{

Video here.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ZsyPIkcGjE

Thanks Mick,

Interesting....

Cheers:ok:

Very confusing video, aircraft totally out of control spearing into the parking area at high speed.
Never been there so cannot figure out where a runway is?

In the background is an old ship - the runway is pretty much halfway between the ship and where the a/c came to rest. It's track, as opposed to heading, looks to be along the runway 04.

Lucky escape for the skydivers sitting in the aircraft with prop turning - one to the right and theyd have been in trouble.

ahh the sudden wind gust. still a very lucky result.

Had a look at Tooradin on GE, and could not see a windsock...

Where is it please?

There is almost always xwind at Tooradin.
I reckon this is all bull****. A poorly executed xwind landing with a belated attempt to go around far too late is my guess. No way to get that far left to smash through the ramp area at Tooradin without lots going pear shaped well before the event.

In a C182 with some mass and inertia xwind landings would be far easier than a Aeroprakt Foxbat or a Texan, two LSA's that regularly operate at Tooradin with no problems.

I say the PIC simply screwed the pooch, plain and simple.

Glad everyone got out ok.

Sad for the aircraft owners who got their aircraft wrecked.

Griffo, maybe a yellow one, just right and forward of the Edwina May wreck. The ERSA suggest that's about where it should be.

"Had a look at Tooradin on GE, and could not see a windsock..."


ERSA shows one roughly half way, along a line drawn between the thresholds of 04 and 32.

The two main wind socks at Tooraddin are either side of the runway, about half way down.

One is near the sky divers office, the other towards the old ship. Both are yellow. The one near the ship is worn and half-missing.

Wonder if the tattered windsock and proximity of the parked planes to the runway will be a liability issue?

What about big yellow windsock right next to the runway adjacent the Bristow helicopter terminal taxiway, right there on the right-hand side of runway 04, perhaps 300 metres down the runway?

You could not have a better placed windsock for an informed landing on 04.