What you're about to witness a plane crash as it was experienced from the right seat inside
the cockpit?
The accident took place on Saturday June 30th 2012.
The aircraft was a Stinson model 108-3 generally a 165 horsepower single-engine high wing
propeller driven aircraft, capable of carrying 4 plus full fuel and light baggage.
This video already has more than 1 644,000 views.
An aircraft's performance is dependent among other things on the density of the air it moves through.
The aircraft appears to be operating from Bruce Meadows airstrip. A 5000 ft. long dirt and grass airstrip situated at an elevation of 6,370 ft, surrounded by 8 and 9 thousand ft mountain peaks near the town of Stanley, Idaho.
That may be important watch what happens here.
What you just saw was the aircraft skipping off the ground after having previously become airborne.
Only after prolonged ground run aircraft seems unwilling to climb.
Not speculate as to the cause of the crash, but it may provide a good example of what pilots call a high-density altitude takeoff.
Cold low altitude air is more dense, it's thicker than air found at higher altitudes and/or higher temperatures.
Moisture in the air, humidity, displaces air molecules and also acts to thin the air for the pilot of a propeller driven aircraft.
Thick air has its benefits, it gives the surfaces of the aircraft, the wings and propeller
more to push against air.
It gives non turbocharged engine more air molecules to mix with fuel and that results in higher power output.
Relevant to what you're seeing here the NTSB has collected air data including barometric pressure, temperature and moisture for the accidents location on the day of the
crash. Figures show that while the aircraft was physically located at an elevation of 6,370 ft. The air around it was as thin as that found at 9,167 ft on a standard day.
In other words compared with a cooler day at a lower altitude the engine of this aircraft had less air to mix with fuel.
It put out less power while the propeller moved less air and produced less thrust meanwhile the wings produced less lift for any given speed over the ground.
In practice that means the aircraft needed more land to get to speed and more speed to create lift.
While working with less available power it means it was harder for the aircraft to start to fly. Assuming that the pilot was attempting to climb this particular aircraft appears strained at best and unwilling at worst.
Whatever the cause this was the result, all four men involved in this accident
walked away. Early reports state that the pilot suffered the worst injury, including a broken jaw.
Shown in slow motion you can get a sense of how the airframe absorbed energy.
Each impact with the tree lessens the amount of energy, left for the final impact with
the ground.
The occupants were lucky one over the trees.
There was very little the pilot could do, faced with low airspeed and rising terrain, the turn was out of the question.
At that point riding it in might have been their best and only option.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OVM3RRd1vf0
