TBM down in Az? - May 2018

[CAPFlyer]

Glad to hear they're okay. There is a small airstrip in the area, but with no engine, they did the right thing to bail. The airfield is down in a valley and not that long (~3500 feet) so a deadstick with no chance of a familiarization pass would've been a pretty hairy thing.

Of all the places along that coast-to-coast route to loose an engine, the area East of Phoenix is definitely at the top or very close to it for the worst.

[Taigh Ramey]

Glad to hear they're okay. There is a small airstrip in the area, but with no engine, they did the right thing to bail. The airfield is down in a valley and not that long (~3500 feet) so a deadstick with no chance of a familiarization pass would've been a pretty hairy thing.

Of all the places along that coast-to-coast route to loose an engine, the area East of Phoenix is definitely at the top or very close to it for the worst.

That's what Ron was saying. 15 minutes before or after and things could have been quite different.

I can see the headlines when they do find it.... "Flight 19 found after nearly 75 years of searching."

My daughter Sydney found on the interweb thingy that other TBM's and a PV-2 went down in the area. Air Tankers I believe. I am thinking that a new "triangle" may be in order. Apache Triangle? Would that be politically incorrect?

[ZRX61]

I can see the headlines when they do find it.... "Flight 19 found after nearly 75 years of searching."

Assuming Gillespie wants a paid vacation to Arizona....

[Ztex]

I can see the headlines when they do find it.... "Flight 19 found after nearly 75 years of searching."

Assuming Gillespie wants a paid vacation to Arizona....

HA!

[CoastieJohn]

Yes it did. No satellite or VHF 121.5 signals have been picked up so far.

That's a good thing it had one. Absent being total demolished, I know some locating devices will still put out a signal even if the antenna has been broken off. You just might have to fly lower and slower in a search pattern to pick it up. High end, military DF's might help?

[steve dickey]

I can see the headlines when they do find it.... "Flight 19 found after nearly 75 years of searching."

"My daughter Sydney found on the interweb thingy that other TBM's and a PV-2 went down in the area. Air Tankers I believe. I am thinking that a new "triangle" may be in order. Apache Triangle? Would that be politically incorrect?"

Only bad thing I see is its on Indian land, good luck(would need a bunch) getting any permits to go even look for the stuff let alone bring anything out! Not saying impossible, just very difficult. So happy for the aforementioned outcome. Often thought of that very same thing when I used to fly in the back of a Sea Fury from Texas to Reno... glad I never had the opportunity!!
Taigh, does your daughter have locations or whereabouts of said TBM's & PV-2?

[CAPFlyer]

Yes it did. No satellite or VHF 121.5 signals have been picked up so far.

That's a good thing it had one. Absent being total demolished, I know some locating devices will still put out a signal even if the antenna has been broken off. You just might have to fly lower and slower in a search pattern to pick it up. High end, military DF's might help?

If it had a new 406MHz ELT onboard and SARSAT hasn't gotten a hit yet (and it hasn't because we don't have a mission running or closed), then it's quite likely the unit didn't trip or was destroyed in the impact. Unfortunately, there are no crashworthiness requirements for a civilian ELT unit. The units in most airplanes can be severely damaged if dropped from as little as 20 feet, which generates an impact force only a couple times greater than the normal force required to trip it. You take something as heavy as a TBM and you put it in from 12000 feet deadstick, and it's probably gonna hit more than hard enough to destroy the ELT from impact and if there was a post-impact fire, there's no hope of it working.

[Chris Brame]

and if there was a post-impact fire, there's no hope of it working.

That's what I was wondering - nobody saw a column of black smoke?

[Mark Sampson]

That's a pretty empty part of the world. Not many people in the White Mountains. Sure hope they find it... I'm remembering when there was a WWII memorial flight over the Mall in Washington a few years ago. I went out on my lunch hour to see some of it from 2-3 miles away. That day, an Avenger pilot had an engine failure over the Jefferson Memorial... declared an emergency, turned right, and immediately landed safely at Reagan National. There's an in-aircraft video out there... Great piloting that time; I wish these guys had been so lucky. Glad everyone has survived.

[mike furline]

That's a pretty empty part of the world. Not many people in the White Mountains. Sure hope they find it... I'm remembering when there was a WWII memorial flight over the Mall in Washington a few years ago. I went out on my lunch hour to see some of it from 2-3 miles away. That day, an Avenger pilot had an engine failure over the Jefferson Memorial... declared an emergency, turned right, and immediately landed safely at Reagan National. There's an in-aircraft video out there... Great piloting that time; I wish these guys had been so lucky. Glad everyone has survived.

I believe the Wash. D.C. event was a broken hydraulic line in the aircraft. When it started to mist, it looked like smoke/fire.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HkvcwXqBJDQ

[wendovertom]

Glad to hear they're okay. There is a small airstrip in the area, but with no engine, they did the right thing to bail. The airfield is down in a valley and not that long (~3500 feet) so a deadstick with no chance of a familiarization pass would've been a pretty hairy thing.

Of all the places along that coast-to-coast route to loose an engine, the area East of Phoenix is definitely at the top or very close to it for the worst.

That's what Ron was saying. 15 minutes before or after and things could have been quite different.

I can see the headlines when they do find it.... "Flight 19 found after nearly 75 years of searching."

My daughter Sydney found on the interweb thingy that other TBM's and a PV-2 went down in the area. Air Tankers I believe. I am thinking that a new "triangle" may be in order. Apache Triangle? Would that be politically incorrect?

Humm - those are the "Superstition Mountains" right ?!

Tom P.

[lmritger]

Very glad to hear the crew was able to hit the silk- if Switlik were still around, they might qualify for a Caterpillar pin. It's sad to lose the aircraft, yes, but they may be able to salvage something from it and replace it. Lives, however, cannot be replaced.

Good job to both of the crew for having the sense to get out while the getting was good.

Lynn

[kalamazookid]

Glad to hear the pilot and passenger ok. Whenever there's an incident with an aircraft under new ownership, there's a part of me that always wonders whether the incident was caused by unfamiliarity or inexperience, and that very clearly was not an issue here. The pilot deserves to be commended for having the foresight to wear a parachute, the ability to instruct the passenger to safely use the parachute, and the presence of mind to assess the situation to save both the passenger and himself. Great job to ensure safety of the crew in a situation that obviously could have been a lot worse.

It obviously stinks to lose the aircraft, particularly when so much work had recently been put into it, but pilot and crew are more important. Here's hoping for a speedy recovery for the pilot and passenger, and I hope the owner is able to eventually realize his dream of owning an Avenger for a long period of time.

[Stoney]

When I had a SNJ, I put on my chute even if I was just going to stay in the pattern

[Triplane102]

As far as WW2 Restored warbirds, didn't the same thing happened to a REALLY NICE Blue Nose P-51D (TF?) years ago ? Same Place ??
Glad folks are O.K, Bummer for the turkey Maybe, Maybe, there (Might) be some small detailed parts recovered to go to another....