Air Caraibes Twin Otter crash
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TowerDog and Q400,
The one time I flew in as a pax was in 1981 or thereabouts and the pilot was a big (6'2" 130kg guy with blazing orange hair (based on which I assumed he was Dutch) and sweating so hard my main innocent worry was that he'd short half the electrics in the cockpit once he'd wedged himself in there.
The respectometer went right off the scale when it struck me, after landing (grass/gravel stip then) that he did this several times a day, day after day.
I see from the photos that the runway's now been paved and extended right to the base of the hill to accomodate even more optimistic takeoffs.
The Twin Otter is in a league by itself. I lived in Eastern Peru, flew on float models during the oil boom there in the seventies, and my blood is permanently curdled.
The one time I flew in as a pax was in 1981 or thereabouts and the pilot was a big (6'2" 130kg guy with blazing orange hair (based on which I assumed he was Dutch) and sweating so hard my main innocent worry was that he'd short half the electrics in the cockpit once he'd wedged himself in there.
The respectometer went right off the scale when it struck me, after landing (grass/gravel stip then) that he did this several times a day, day after day.
I see from the photos that the runway's now been paved and extended right to the base of the hill to accomodate even more optimistic takeoffs.
The Twin Otter is in a league by itself. I lived in Eastern Peru, flew on float models during the oil boom there in the seventies, and my blood is permanently curdled.
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Working for Winair was fine. The pilots are in the Dutch pilots' union and the scheduling was pretty good. The aircraft are probably getting tired (50,000+ hrs) but I recently saw an ex Transport Canada machine (5,000 hrs)being readied in Columbus,OH for the trip down there. I was there on a 6 month contract over the winter. My training/line check mainly consisted of circuits at St. Barts for an hour or two. Good luck down there, you'll enjoy it.
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From what I understand there has not been a fatal accident involving passengers at St Barth's for a long time. Actually, because of the high number of small commuter flights from St Martin it is one of France's busiest airports in terms of take-offs and landings !
The point made by Q400 about the age of the aircraft (and the high number of rotations it must have flown)is worrying because mechanical failure does look a strong possibility. I still cannot understand why there was no black box and why the airline does not keep a full passenger list. It might strictly have been a domestic flight but most of the passengers are on through tickets from Paris or the States. Could be a bun-fight for the lawyers.
The point made by Q400 about the age of the aircraft (and the high number of rotations it must have flown)is worrying because mechanical failure does look a strong possibility. I still cannot understand why there was no black box and why the airline does not keep a full passenger list. It might strictly have been a domestic flight but most of the passengers are on through tickets from Paris or the States. Could be a bun-fight for the lawyers.
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For Pete the Travel Agent:
Just so you're aware, when I was flying for Winair I had no concerns about the age of the aircraft. They had all been updated accordingly (including new wings in one case) and the maintenance was top notch. As a Captain, I wouldn't have flown them otherwise.
Just so you're aware, when I was flying for Winair I had no concerns about the age of the aircraft. They had all been updated accordingly (including new wings in one case) and the maintenance was top notch. As a Captain, I wouldn't have flown them otherwise.
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The report is out. Looks like it was a high time Twin Otter captain who decided to use a little inflight reverse beta, a definite no-no.
http://www.bea-fr.org/docspa/2001/f-...-es010324a.pdf
http://www.bea-fr.org/docspa/2001/f-...-es010324a.pdf
Thanks for posting the update - lots of interesting points in it, issues over currency on type, CRM, type technical knowledge, etc I have printed it off for all on our operation to read........
