Close to home, a C310, apparently had an EFATO at Enstone and appears to have had a classic low speed loss of control trying to circle back to land – this based on witnesses, so too early to tell the real nature of the accident – while the aircraft went up in flames and crashed wing low, nose down, the pilot and ‘co-pilot’ (sic) only had minor injuries.
http://www.oxfordmail.co.uk/news/16316580.plane-crashes-into-farm-building-near-enstone-oxfordshire/
Elsewhere reported as a C414 Chancellor N414FZ
Thankfully only minor injuries, so cue jokes about feathering the prop.
Poor hens. Just as they get their first ever glimpse of daylight…….
As it happens I know who the pilot was, although I don’t know him very well. He apparently visited my home base in that aircraft earlier that day.
According to pilots who have flown other 414s this type has a very low Vmca (good) but very poor OEI climb performance (not so good)
These parameters gave a single-engine climb performance of 173 ft/min at maximum takeoff weight (6,350 lb) and a single-engine climb performance for the accident flight (6,066 lb) of 250 ft/min.
This quote from the aaib is interesting – most MEPs (some exceptions, for example the Beech D and E55) seem to have a OEI climb performance of around 200 feet per minute, give or take. The Seneca V in similar atmospheric conditions as in the accident, reports around 200fpm gear retracted etc
The following is from the excellent FAA MEP manual
The regulations do not specifically require that the runway length be equal to or greater than the accelerate-stop distance. Most AFM/POHs publish accelerate-stop distances only as an advisory. It becomes a limitation only when published in the limitations section of the AFM/POH. Experienced multiengine pilots, however, recognize the safety margin of runway lengths in excess of the bare minimum required for normal takeoff. They insist on runway lengths of at least accelerate-stop distance as a matter of safety and good operating practice.
The multiengine pilot must keep in mind that the accelerate-go distance, as long as it is, has only brought the airplane, under ideal circumstances, to a point a mere 50 feet above the takeoff elevation. To achieve even this meager climb, the pilot had to instantaneously recognize and react to an unanticipated engine failure, retract the landing gear, identify and feather the correct engine, all the while maintaining precise airspeed control and bank angle as the airspeed is nursed to VYSE. Assuming flawless airmanship thus far, the airplane has now arrived at a point little more than one wingspan above the terrain, assuming it was absolutely level and without obstructions.
For the purpose of illustration, with a near 150 fpm rate of climb at a 90-knot VYSE, it takes approximately 3 minutes to climb an additional 450 feet to reach 500 feet AGL. In doing so, the airplane has traveled an additional 5 NM beyond
VR / VLOF
the original accelerate-go distance, with a climb gradient of about 1.6 percent. Any turn, such as to return to the airport, seriously degrades the already marginal climb performance of the airplane.
To reach a reasonable 500 feet agl a Vyse of 90 KIAS, around 95KTAS in the accident conditions, at 200 fpm would require nearly 5nm of wings level climb, gear up.
Not very common to see someone survive this kind of crash in a MEP. Great to hear!
The EGTN 08 is 3,600 feet, a 414 might require 4,500 foot ASDA without factoring, more in the accident conditions.
The pilot and passenger should provide us with lottery numbers, survival was a miracle.
To reach a reasonable 500 feet agl a Vyse of 90 KIAS, around 95KTAS in the accident conditions, at 200 fpm would require nearly 5nm of wings level climb, gear up.
Yep, hence the reason my eyes glaze over when Biggles Jr gives me a thorough brief on what he’s going to do after an EFATO; he’s going to try and fly straight ahead for quite a while, certainly long enough to figure his next action. I don’t really need to know about the left hand circuit and the vacate at the end after landing as part of the departure brief.
Dave_Phillips wrote:
he’s going to try and fly straight ahead for quite a while
If there is a straight. If he is pointing towards rising ground, it is a very good idea to know where you are going to go.
Student to Instructor: “Do you want the BS departure briefing, or the real one”
Instructor to Student: “The real one”.
Student: “[XXX departure, xxx], any failure before lift off – stop; engine failure after lift-off below 400ft – I’ll never clear that ridge so will reduce power and pick one of these nice fields and land there, if higher – failure drills and circuit back to land”
Instructor to Student: “Finally something sensible. Just remember that in the test, you are expected to brief to fly the circuit, or die trying, like a real man.”
