Cirrus down in Kefallinia Greece - 2 dead

[Kyprianos Biris]

A couple of Israeli Cirrus aircraft flew yesterday afternoon (for an evening landing) from Kos LGKO to Kerkira LGKR, Greece.

Departure was at 1644z from Kos (sunset at 1711z).

Cirrus reg. 4X-CWN got (presumably) in to weather trouble in the area of Kefalonia LGKF and crash landed in the mountain of the island.

The other aircraft (reg. 4X-CWO) diverted due to weather to Athens LGAV.

The wreckage with the 2 deceased was found early today morning by SAR helicopter.

Yesterday's weather for Ionian sea islands:

METAR's:
LGKF 281900Z 32009KT 8000 FEW015 SCT018TCU BKN020 16/12 Q1010=
LGKF 281800Z 20010KT 6000 FEW015 SCT018TCU BKN020 17/14 Q1009=
LGKF 281700Z 19012KT 5000 BR FEW015 SCT018TCU BKN025 17/14 Q1009=
LGKF 281600Z 18012KT 9999 FEW018 SCT020 BKN080 17/14 Q1009=
LGKF 281500Z 16015KT 9999 SCT018 BKN080 17/13 Q1009=

LGZA 281850Z 20010KT 7000 SCT008 FEW018TCU BKN030 16/14 Q1009=
LGZA 281750Z 18012KT 7000 SCT008 FEW018TCU BKN030 16/13 Q1009=
LGZA 281650Z 19018KT 8000 SCT010 SCT018TCU BKN030 17/12 Q1009=
LGZA 281550Z 18016G27KT 9999 FEW010 SCT018 18/13 Q1009=

LGKR 281850Z 12004KT 9999 FEW012 SCT160 13/10 Q1009 NOSIG=
LGKR 281820Z 16004KT 9999 FEW012 SCT160 13/10 Q1009 NOSIG=
LGKR 281750Z 16004KT 9999 FEW012 SCT160 13/10 Q1009 NOSIG=
LGKR 281720Z 14006KT 9999 FEW008 SCT080 14/10 Q1009 NOSIG=
LGKR 281620Z 07008KT 9999 SCT008 FEW018CB SCT025 BKN080 13/11 Q1009 BECMG TSRA=
LGKR 281550Z 06008KT 6000 -RA SCT008 FEW018CB SCT025 BKN080 12/11 Q1009 BECMG TSRA=
LGKR 281520Z 05005KT 8000 -TSRA FEW007 FEW018CB BKN025 12/11 Q1009 NOSIG=

TAF's:
LGKF 281700Z 2818/2903 16015G25KT 9999 SCT020 BKN080
PROB40 TEMPO 2815/2824 6000 RA
PROB30 TEMPO 2815/2821 3000 TSRA SCT010 FEW018CB
BKN020 BECMG 2816/2818 27015KT=

LGZA 281700Z 2818/2903 20015G25KT 9999 FEW015 SCT025 BKN070
PROB40 TEMPO 2815/2824 6000 RA SCT015 BKN025
PROB30 TEMPO 2815/2821 3000 TSRA SCT010 FEW018CB
BKN020 BECMG 2816/2818 27015KT=

LGKR 281700Z 2818/2918 15020KT 9999 FEW020 SCT030
PROB40 TEMPO 2818/2824 6000 RA SCT015 BKN025
PROB30 TEMPO 2818/2824 3000 TSRA SCT010 FEW018CB
BKN020
PROB40 TEMPO 2910/2915 6000 RA SCT015 BKN025
BECMG 2910/2912 22010KT=

[Kyprianos Biris]

An article on the accident
Israeli couple found dead after light plane crash in Greece - Haaretz - Israel News

[vanHorck]

I wonder if they used the CAPS chute at all.

Inclement weather, other plane diverted..... CFIT ?

Go on, shoot me for asking the question.....

[Fuji Abound]

BAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAANG

[Kyprianos Biris]

VH I don't believe you're asking anything more than the obvious but as usual it is too early to tell and it would be unwise for someone to answer on them at a so early stage

I just got some more info. on the incidents:
No night flight was involved.
The 2 a/c departed IFR from LGKO, destination LGKR.
4XCWO near Korinthos reported urgency and asked permission to return and land in Athens LGAV International which was done with success.
4XCWN continued, and managed to cross Peloponnese with inclement weather conditions though. When CWN was in the area of Kefalonia, it was decided to return and land at Zakinthos LGZA due to weather.
After an hour though the aircraft departed VFR for the 120nm flight to Kerkira LGKR. The departure was at 16.44Z radio contact was lost 7 minutes later and the crash site is some 30nm NW of LGZA inside a ravine of Kefalonia's ~5,600ft high Ainos mountain which rises steeply up from the seashore

Ainos mountain is right on the LGZA-LGKR (direct) route.

Kefalonia has also other rising terrain (of lower peaks) that can "trap" you if you go inland scud running below low cloud on a bad weather day and don't stay over the sea. Even with a route above the sea, but close to the island, there are still terrain traps because of the large Argostoli bay and Ithaka island to the east.

http://www.kefalonia-ithaca-hotels.g..._Map_final.jpg

The weather yesterday was comprising of a NE moving front from SW.
The humidity of the Ionian sea rises on the mountains of the islands, cools and hence brings adverse effects both on the windward & leeward sides.

Greece from above yesterday:
MODIS Rapid Response System Subset - Europe_3_03: 2009/118 - 04/28/09
The front can be clearly seen to the NW over the Ionian sea.

Something else ...
LGZA had the following operations hours for Tuesday 28/4:
03:30-04:30, 07:30-09:00 & 15:00-17:30 UTC
I can only guess that a "contributing factor" for the pilot to depart Zakinthos LGZA is that he did not want to get stranded there because the next day (today) LGZA is open only between 15:30-17:00z (18:30-20:00L) whereas Kerkira LGKR is H24.

[IO540]

The 1200Z ascent data from Brindisi (nearest I can get to Corfu) suggests more or less IMC up to a few thousand feet.

Put this together with the embedded nasties in the weather data posted, this could have been another N2195B i.e. a plane probably getting out of hand in an embedded TS.

It could also be a straight CFIT resulting from a poorly planned VFR flight in IMC but - assuming the pilot actually got the weather - would one fly in IMC with this stuff around? I guess some people do.

[007helicopter]

May have been En Route to the Cirrus European Fly in at Elba this weekend which I will be attending, very bad news and week either way. The weather so often seems to be the dominant factor.

[A and C]

The whole area did not look to bad yesterday afternoon but the view from FL370 might not show the whole picture.

As for Elba........... a wonderfull island but don't go in high summer, the island might sink under the weight of all the tourists.

[007helicopter]

Confirmed that sadly they were en route to Elba

[Kyprianos Biris]

Further info. from Ionian islands local (Greek) blogs:

http://atsarantos.*************/2009...-post_257.html
http://atsarantos.*************/2009...post_5946.html

???????? ?????? ?? ??? ???????????? ??? ???????? ??????????? ??? ?????????… ??????? ???????? - Nikiana Lefkada

http://mpostani.*************/2009/0...post_2590.html

The image you see is the predicted path of the aircraft according to witness reports.

Residents of Kefalonia villages Simotata, Lourdata & Mousata west abeam the Ainos highest peak of 1620m (see map above) heard the aircraft and the subsequent crash sound. They reported it to the authorities and volunteers went up the mountain for search in adverse weather conditions.

While SAR aircraft (C-130 & Super Puma helicopter) kept searching in other areas, the wreckage and the deceased were later found by the pedestrian volunteers up in the mountain in an area to the west of - and just below of - the mountain's peak. The aircraft did not make it (to cross the mountain) just for a few meters.

Also from a friend ATC with information from Athens ACC: Both aircraft encountered (and reported) icing at FL100 during their IFR flight from LGKO to LGKR. The one diverted to Athens, the other pursued for Kerkira LGKR. The one which continued, descended below airway MEA (10,000ft) declaring urgency. In the lower altitude it crossed mountainous Peloponnese and abeam Zakinthos through bad weather.
In Kefalonia area they decided to divert for Zakinthos. The rest is as reported in the other post further up.

[IO540]

The 3 shorter links are not working for me.

I guess several things could have contributed to this:

One should not fly these types (or my TB20) in IMC below 0C for extended periods enroute. Eventually you will pick up ice, and around Greece they get some serious embedded convective stuff. This is why I bang on about getting cloud tops and scrapping the flight if they are likely to be above the aircraft ceiling, and this applies to both VFR on top, and IFR. A lot of pilots do fly through fronts and just get chucked about but some don't make it.

No VFR aviation charts are available for Greece - apart from the 1998 U.S. ONC G3 etc series. Of course these will show terrain. But you have to buy them from specialist outlets. It would not totally suprise me if some pilots don't carry them.

The majority of pilots even today don't know about the wide range of internet weather sources.

There are also pilots who - and this is very evident to me from some crashes we talked about here in the past - probably did not look at the weather before they went.

[Fuji Abound]

Eventually you will pick up ice

I agree, but dont forget unlike almost all the TBs these aircraft may well have been fitted with ice protection. While Cirrus now supply an approved system for FIKI the system on these aircraft would have been designed for inadvertent ice encounter. However, comparing the two systems, so long as the encounter is not protracted and the pump is working the system will do a pretty good job of keeping the ice at bay. Of course if the encoutner was severe and protracted it would have been a different matter.

[IO540]

The average Cirrus has zero ice protection - as has the average TB20. I have a TKS prop but that was a (regularly fitted) factory option only on the GTs (year 2000+). It works jolly well in keeping the prop and the front window clear but flying in IMC for long periods enroute is still not my view of fun.

I think in this accident something rather more basic happened.

[Kyprianos Biris]

The 3 shorter links are not working for me.

Yeap pprune adds asterisks to the b l o g s p o t . com part (without the spaces)

[dirkdj]

Just one week ago there was a fatal SR22 crash in Morocco, 4 belgians died. Likely bad weather too.

[Fuji Abound]

The average Cirrus has zero ice protection - as has the average TB20.

I am not sure you are correct.

Since Cirrus introduced wet wings, tail and prop. apparently very few owners havent taken them up on this option. You see few SR22s in particular without this system fitted. Whilst until recently it was non approved (and the approved system has a larger tank, dual pumps, screen spray bar and a high speed flow setting) the previous system worked very well for "inadvertent" encounters; I have no doubt more than a few pilots use it when they expect to encounter ice. Of course whether or not these particular aircraft had it fitted I dont yet know.

A wet prop would clearly be inadequate and is really not very much help in the sort of conditions that might have been prevailing at the time but Cirrus have never gone the route of offering stand alone prop. protection - it is either full airframe or nothing.

When I have encountered ice a wet prop. is of very little help reducing only the time in which to make your escape, however the Cirrus wet wing system works very well. Diamond use an identical certified system on the 42. I had occasion to remain in icing for well over an hour and the sytem dealt with the ice that accumulated before it was turned on very well indeed and prevented any accretion what so ever - just dont forget to turn off the bar before starting the approach!

[Pace]

Fuji

A wet prop would clearly be inadequate and is really not very much help in the sort of conditions that might have been prevailing at the time but Cirrus have never gone the route of offering stand alone prop. protection - it is either full airframe or nothing.

Fuji

A wet prop is of vital importance especially in a low powered aircraft. The loss of thrust in an iced up prop is a major factor in icing accidents.

I may be wrong but I do not believe the Cirrus is approved for flying in icing conditions.

The system is a get you out of trouble addon rather than an approved for icing package offered on the Cirrus.

Pace

[Turnberry]

Heard Athens ATC attempting to get two-way with the aircraft on 121.5 while we were returning from Sharm el Sheikh Tuesday evening.

Western Greece/Ionian was pretty unstable with isolated CB stretching from Kalamata to Brindisi, Italy.

[Kyprianos Biris]

kefaloniapress.gr - ? ???????? ??? ???????? ??????... ???? ????

Some pictures from the crash site.

[Fuji Abound]

Pace

A wet prop is of vital importance especially in a low powered aircraft. The loss of thrust in an iced up prop is a major factor in icing accidents.

Forgive the frustration, but I think we have grasped that much. A wet prop. may well save you in icing until you can escape the conditions but, (and this was the point I made) it is not a lot of help when the ice starts to rapidly accumulate elsewhere.

I may be wrong but I do not believe the Cirrus is approved for flying in icing conditions.

You are wrong.

Cirrus now have full approval for their system albiet in the variant now fitted. As I said, there are a number of differences between the approved package and the non approved package - the ability to select a higher flow rate, a larger reservoir, a contents guage, and a screen spray bar.

I have not used the approved system on the Cirrus, only the non approved variant, but the Cirrus approved system is identical to that fitted to the 42 which I have also used. You would not want to be in the type of icing conditions which required the use of full flow for long whatever system you had, personally I can tell very little difference between the spray bar and the prop. slinger in actually use, and while a contents guage is more than useful, we seem to manage with contents guages that dont work on another vital components of aircraft without too many problems! The smaller reservoir on the non approved version is an issue, but otherwise I suspect the non approved system works very nearly as well in the type of conditions that you owuld be prepared to accept - not that I am recommending using any non approved system for intentional ice encounter. I suspect the size of the reservoir was the single most limiting factor between the two systems.

Edited to add:

Difficult to tell whether the aircraft had the tell tale titanium strips from the photo. In any event I suspect if icing had been the only cause of this accident the chute would have been deployed - but that is purely speculation, which I am against.

In general the chance of ending up on a high peek surrounded by low terrain following a loss of control due to ice or for any other reason is statistically remote compared with CFIT.