DC-3 Destroyed by fire in take-off fail

[old man emu]

All 13 passengers survive WWII-era plane crash in Texas - CNN

 

I've had a look at the video of the take-off and my guess is that someone left a control lock in.

 

OME

 

 

[facthunter]

It has happened before. Do the "around the world " control column check before every take off to assure controls free.. Nev

 

 

[Phil Perry]

It has happened before. Do the "around the world " control column check before every take off to assure controls free.. Nev

Ernest K. Gann,. . .in his interesting book on the development of Civil Aviation in the USA, 'FATE IS THE HUNTER' notes a story about a particular Cargo crew, taking off in a DC3 with the elevator external gust lock in place.. . .

 

 

[boleropilot]

wow they were lucky it never got far off the ground - I remember a video I saw of an aircraft, Buffalo I think, took off, climbed straight up to about 200 feet then rolled into a steep dive - all onboard killed, tail gust lock found still attached on aircraft.

 

my CFI (Trevor Bange) would have skinned me alive if I took off without doing out a controls check - out loud it was "controls free and correct" - every now and then he would put his knee in the way of the joystick or one foot near a rudder pedal, and you had better pick up the difference in movement - or else!

 

it's called Airmanship !!!

 

 

[crashley]

I heard it got off track and was heading for a concrete culvert so it took off too early and very slow when they tried to turn the wing stalled

 

 

[facthunter]

Well, that could be. OFF track could be a swing, but that's usually only a problem with an engine failure and it can't be controlled at below VMC (a) which is well above a lift off based on stall speed alone.. Which is not normal current practice, although for some it was way back. (like the RAAF) Nev

 

 

[Callahan]

I was going to mention the Buffalo crash but Bolero beat me to it. That was terrible & scary to look at!

 

wow they were lucky it never got far off the ground - I remember a video I saw of an aircraft, Buffalo I think, took off, climbed straight up to about 200 feet then rolled into a steep dive - all onboard killed, tail gust lock found still attached on aircraft.my CFI (Trevor Bange) would have skinned me alive if I took off without doing out a controls check - out loud it was "controls free and correct" - every now and then he would put his knee in the way of the joystick or one foot near a rudder pedal, and you had better pick up the difference in movement - or else!

 

it's called Airmanship !!!

[poteroo]

There was a particularly horrible crash of a Baron at Norseman many decades back. The aircrafts original control locks,(a jumble of engine control red plastic devices plus a control column pin) had been broken, and the control lock pin was separately installed/removed..with some difficulty. The 5 passengers were footy players who arrived back late, and well after dark. The pilot took off and the aircraft climbed and rolled over to the left. No ailerons and no elevator - but in daylight the pilot might just have been quick enough to use elevator trim and assymetric power adjustment to save the day. At night - a very big ask. The lock pin was found still in place.

 

 

[facthunter]

Undercarriage pins and control locks are too often left in place. The U/C pins are not much of a problem (except for the embarrassment and the paperwork UNLESS you lose a donk. where it may just not make the climb gradient. You need a system that works. Every plane I've ever flown had such a system.. for small planes do a final check before lining up. There's also the pre flight where you must have missed THAT too. Controls "free and working in correct sense" .. I'm sure it's in the check. Skip things and ONE day mate you will pay and unfortunately frequently take others with you.. when all the dots line up. Nev

 

 

[johnm]

I've heard of 2 experienced ag pilots that lined up a DHC2 beaver for takeoff ................ after heavy maintenance

 

ailerons worked perfectly ..................... but rigged in reverse sense

 

engineers and pilots never tweaked

 

plane was rolled up in a ball just after takeoff - 1 pilot OK - 1 pilot lucky to survive

 

 

[facthunter]

I know of one airline test flight where the ailerons were reversed. It was day VFR and the pilot recognized it and flew it back adapting to the situation. Not a lot would have done that but neutral Aileron and use rudder is a way out for initial control and a bit of practice before landing helps. Better to find it out on the ground before flight. Proper design would have it that assembly incorrectly is impossible. It can easily be done by sensible design..

 

It happens a fair bit with gliders which have the wings removed to transport the aircraft. Nev

 

 

[bull]

This was a Caribou/Buffulo after extensive restoration and was first flight after restoration, end result was control locks left on ………...https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oH5hs0B5Oks