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Oban Crash Inquest
Not good reading.Over the limit with no licence and no IMC rating.
This from the Daily Mail Family died in plane crash after pilot father and co-pilot daughter had been drinking, inquest told Chartered accountant John Smith and his daughter Jacqueline had been drinking before they flew a plane that crashed on its way back from a family holiday, also killing the pair and his wife Angela, an inquest was told. Tests revealed that John Smith, 56, who was in the commander's seat, was five times over the flying limit with a reading of 99mg of alcohol per 100ml of blood. The legal limit is 20mg of alcohol per 100ml of blood. His daughter Jacqueline, 25, who was co-pilot, was twice over with a reading of 48mg when their Piper PA plane crashed after taking off from Connel Airfield near Oban, in Scotland, at Easter last year. Mr Smith, 56, apparently became disorientated in cloud, the inquest in Chelmsford, Essex, heard. Angela, Jaqueline and John Smith were killed when the family plane crashed in 'a tragic accident', an inquest heard It was also revealed on Tuesday that the local councillor, who had been flying for 27 years, had his licence revoked by the Civil Aviation Authority earlier last year after failing to have an electro cardiogram test which he needed annually owing to a previous heart condition. Coroner's officer John Pheby said: 'John and his daughter Jacqueline were both part owners of a light aircraft. 'The three of them flew from Andrewsfield, near Great Dunmow, to Scotland for the easter holiday on the return journey John was in the commander's seat and Jacqueline in the co-pilot seat. Angela, 55, was in the rear passenger seat. 'They set off at 10.35am on the 9 April 2007 and disappeared from the radar at 10.50am. 'The next day a farmer found the wreckage and an inquiry commenced. Wreckage from the crash was spread over a 1,300sq ft area in the remote and mountainous region near Loch Scammadale, nine miles south of Oban. Police found there were no suspicious circumstances and no third party involved.' The family from Burnham-on-Crouch, Essex, were confirmed dead three days later on 12 April. The inquest heard how Mr Smith also had a medical history of coronary artery disease and chronic renal disease which could have lead to 'temporary incapacity'. The hearing was also told that neither he nor his daughter had a licence for flying in cloudy weather. At the time of takeoff the weather forecast for Oban in Scotland was cloudy and drizzly. The inquest heard how Mr Smith was 'concerned' about the weather and told an operator at the Connel Airfield that he was going to have a look at conditions before deciding to fly. John Smith with his family in 1987 - Jacqueline and her mother Angela are at the back John Smith with his family in 1987 - Jacqueline and her mother Angela are at the back The only technical problem discovered on the 30-year-old aircraft was that a vacuum pump had failed which would have caused the altitude indicator to be unreliable which could have contributed to the crash, the inquest heard. Marcus Cook, senior investor for the Air Accident Investigation Bureau based in Farnborough, Hants, said all the factors could have had a 'culminative effect' on the crash. He said: 'The weather was a reasonable factor prior to takeoff and having made the decision to fly there was a chance Mr Smith may have found fairer weather further down the coast. 'He had not been trained to fly in clouds and he might have been disorientated. We believe the vacuum pump failed at this time, the altitude indicator may not have been working and having lost instrumentation he could been disorientated and lost control of the airplane. 'Add to that the alcohol which could have been distracting and increases chances of spacial disorientation, add in the fact he didn't have experience to fly through clouds as well, it's quite difficult to regain control out of clouds but to do it in clouds is very difficult indeed unless you have had lots of training.' He also said Mr Smith's heart and kidney problems could have been exacerbated by the stress of the situation. Mr Smith's other daughter Christine, 28, a teacher said the family still did not know who was flying the plane, adding: 'My sister never flew on her own so we still don't know who was the pilot.' Coroner Caroline Beasley-Murray said the victims all died of multiple injuries as a result of the 'tragic accident' and recorded three verdicts of accidental death. She said: 'Words are quite inadequate, but I would like to assure you of the court's sympathy on the loss of your parents. I do hope you will be able to remember all the happy, positive memories that you have.' Mr Smith and his wife also had a 22-year-old son Richard, a student. Mr Smith, owned accountancy firm Harvey Smith and Co, based near the family's home in Burnham-on-Crouch, Essex. He had been a Conservative councillor on Maldon District Council in Essex since 1987 and had recently been elected chairman of the Maldon Constituency Conservative Association. |
I would be interested to know the relationship between the vacuum pump and the altimeter. More quality journalism!!!
This was a sad and needless accident and one I shall be using as a case study to re-affirm the importance of aeronautical decision, for an instructor seminar I will be running in a few months. Flying on a partial panel is something I have practiced since this incident, to a point where I can now comfortably shoot an unfamiliar NPA on pressure instruments alone. If you are not comfortable doing this and do not have a secondary AI then you really don't have too much business going into IMC in the first place. And one final thought - The AI/DI should be regularly cross checked against the pressure instruments to ensure they are in agreement with each other. Gyros tend to topple quite slowly - check them against ASI, altimeter and compass. RIX |
I would be interested to know the relationship between the vacuum pump and the altimeter. More quality journalism!!! 'He had not been trained to fly in clouds and he might have been disorientated. We believe the vacuum pump failed at this time, the altitude indicator may not have been working and having lost instrumentation he could been disorientated and lost control of the airplane. This case would most likely have been covered by a local agency or freelance reporter with no aviation knowledge. |
The only technical problem discovered on the 30-year-old aircraft was that a vacuum pump had failed which would have caused the altitude indicator |
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Instument failures asides, the levels of alcohol must have been a large contributer to this accident.
I carry an alcohol tester with me when flying or driving for any stopovers that will include alcohol the evening before as I can not trust my judgement on levels the following day and would not want to lose my licences or worse. We are quite often sensitive with our comments regarding accidents on these threads but this one seems to have been waiting to happen. My apologies if this upsets anyone and if required I can pull the post but I think its relevant. We must not ever consider flying when under the influence, there are quite often innocent parties involved who are relying on our judgement and skills. If we want to kill ourselves then fine, but this was a needless loss of life. |
Regarding alcohol presumably you apply the two very different limits depending on whether you are flying or driving?
The flying limit has had virtually no research to determine whether it is a 'safe' limit or not - it is a fairly arbitrary number whcih means 'no alcohol'. As discussed at the time it is probable that alcohol had very little to do with this accident. |
Driving I use the legal limit. Flying I will not do if any alcohol is present.
I would have thought the amount of alcohol would have had a detrimental effect on judgement, however I am no clinical expert in these matters and do not wish to involve myself in a discussion I am not equipped to win, it was purely an opinion. |
Joining the alcohol debate, I will not personally fly either privately or commercially if I have consumed alcohol within 24 hours - ANY alcohol. If I have consumed 3 or more pints/glasses of red then that goes up to 48 hours.
Like I said before, this was both sad and needless. I pray others will learn from it although I suspect few will. RIX |
Right then, I will start by saying that any death is a tragedy and I do have compassion for the families involved.................but.....
The two pilots broke 2 significant rules, the first being flying whilst under the influence of alcohol and the second flying IMC without training or qualification. The matter of vacuum pump failure is incidental. I would imagine that had the two pilots lived then they would have been charged with the manslaughter of the female passenger. She was probably not qualified to assess that the two pilots were well outside their personal and legal limitations and had to trust them completely to provide her with a safe passage. Lets not get too precious about this. They broke the rules on two significant counts and on this occasion it cost them their lives. During my flying career I have met too many people who 'get away with it'...............this proves that does not always happen. It is a salutary lesson to all. UTF |
The P-i-C also had no valid licence or medical and the aircraft took off 181 lb over weight.He also had a history of flying IMC with no rating!
Seems in this case all the holes in the cheese lined up. They used the autopilot in IMC and when the vac pump gave up they did not have the skill to recognise or recover from the problem. |
Surely there was only the one pilot, the last time I checked a PA28 is not multi crew. Just becasue two Pilot's were sat in the front does not make them both liable. Having said that, pretty poor show for either of them to allow this to happen. RIP
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As has been mentioned earlier a failure of the horizon is a very difficult thing to recognise in time and almost certainly was the primary cause, or at least started the chain of events. I was thinking they may have survived if they HAD been using the autopilot. On many aircraft of this type the autopilot gets its reference from the electrically driven turn indicator.
DO. |
Autopilots are great until like most things electronic they go wrong. Sods law says they will do this when you most need them. Although in the case of this accident it is likely the vacuum pump failure led the autopilot astray not all autopilots need a vac pump.
Worth checking out how yours works here: Autopilots: ARC, Century, King, S-Tec In the case of the accident aircraft here is further info: Century III/IV/2000 These Century Autopilot systems work much like their counter parts, the ARC 400 series and the King KFC-150/200. Roll and pitch information is again derived in the horizon indicator and sent to the computer for processing.Century 2000 Like the other two axis systems we’ve talked about, the Century has an altitude hold module also that monitors static pressure but basic pitch is still picked off the horizon indicator. The Century system can be driven from its own DG or just about any manufacturer’s HSI. It’s not uncommon to see a Century III with the heading system manufactured by King. In fact, Century even has two different HSI systems of their own; one is all electric and the other is vacuum AND electric. We will dive into HSI operation in our next session. In general, the Century autopilot isn’t a bad system; most of the problems we see with the Century are pitch oscillations and/or bad connections at the plastic connectors. What Happens if My Turn Coordinator Fails? These autopilot systems do not get any information from the turn coordinator. The Century I single axis system uses the turn coordinator; we will discuss that system later. What Happens if My Horizon Indicator Fails? The best you could hope for is the gyro would roll off to one side as it spooled down and disengage the autopilot. If you even suspect the horizon is failing, shut the autopilot off then. Fly the aircraft by hand, it’s not that hard. What Happens if My Vacuum HSI or DG fails? The Century series autopilot will still keep the wings level and the pitch/altitude hold functions will still work as advertised. I’d recommend pulling out the turn knob, this will level the wings; from there you can turn this knob in the direction you wish to go and use the heading shown on the wet compass. If you turn this knob full in either direction the aircraft will bank in a standard rate turn. Most HSI indicators have a "Heading" warning flag. Century does sell an all electric HSI; of course this keeps working if the vacuum pump fails. What Happens if I lose My Vacuum Pump? Unless the horizon gyro tumbles and disconnects the autopilot you’ve got a big problem; who knows what the aircraft will do. Monitor the vacuum warning system; at the first sign of a vacuum failure or problem, disengage the autopilot and be prepared to fly using partial panel. I bet at this point you’d wish you had that all electric HSIJ |
Thee types of people are a disgrace to the flying community. STOP
I am sorry for those they left behind. I have nothing else to say. (Anger) |
The AAIB report did refer to an alcohol study - "Medical Facts for Pilots, FAA Publication AM-400-94/2 by Guillermo Salazar, M.D. and Melchor Antuñano, M.D." from which the following extract was made:
"According to some studies, the number of serious errors committed by pilots dramatically increases at or above concentrations of 40 mg/100 ml blood alcohol. This is not to say that problems do not occur below this value. Some studies have shown decrements in pilot performance with blood alcohol concentrations as low as 25 mg/100 ml." it is probable that alcohol had very little to do with this accident Coupled with other facts from the report and, as others have alluded, it is difficult to conclude other than that the "commander" had a cavalier attitude towards flying. |
the "commander" had a cavalier attitude towards flying I totally agree with VanHorck in the previous post. In this accident the wife in the back was the innocent victim. Any insurance industry insiders able to comment on how any claim (the plane was group owned, I believe) would be affected by this absolutely proven irresponsibility / illegality ? |
To be fair though, they hadn't gone out drinking and then flying. They had drunk the night before and believed they had slept it off. I personally can't feel a pint of strong lager inside me, it takes 2 or 3 before I'm aware that I've drunk. So I do it by calculation that a can of strong lager is 3 units and you process a unit an hour.
So it's more than possible they took off feeling fine, believing they were fine, but unfortunately weren't fine. It also seems similar to the very sad Cirrus loss over the channel on the weekend. Non imc pilots relying on auto-pilot to fly IMC |
Most people who have drunk feel fine!
To go flying whilst over the drink limit and in IMC too.... Give me a break! |
To be fair though, they hadn't gone out drinking and then flying. They had drunk the night before and believed they had slept it off. I personally can't feel a pint of strong lager inside me, it takes 2 or 3 before I'm aware that I've drunk. So I do it by calculation that a can of strong lager is 3 units and you process a unit an hour. So it's more than possible they took off feeling fine, believing they were fine, but unfortunately weren't fine. It also seems similar to the very sad Cirrus loss over the channel on the weekend. Non imc pilots relying on auto-pilot to fly IMC Does anyone know the rate of dissipation of alcohol in the blood per hour after consumption and what he would have likely had the night before to have those levels the following morning. What happened to the people on the ground to even allow this guy to takeoff with NO regard for his passengers. Maybe it was better he died than have to live with what his actions caused. Pace |
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