Cape to Cairo homemade plane project creators die in Tanzania crash

[planedriver]

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-49226128

 

Very sad outcome for all concerned, as Sling 4 being flown by students from Cape to Cairo crashes.

 

 

[Old Koreelah]

What a tragedy. Let's hope their impressive kids don't lose heart.

 

 

[Thruster88]

The report in post  #1 saying the pilots were reporting engine failure. Why does it end like this? 

 

[facthunter]

Just to be clear, it's a support plane not the one the Kids are involved with. and that area looks very suitable (obviously mown) did they lose control?  Nev

 

 

[onetrack]

Yes, that is very puzzling. But the wreckage appears to reflect a stall, leading to an unsurvivable high RoD in a flat spin, ending in a pancake into the ground. 

 

The pilot and co-pilot may have potentially survived - but when a full load of fuel catches fire, with stunned or unconscious victims trapped (before any rescuers can reach them), then the end result is what you see.

 

 

[Teckair]

Why I always did glide approaches. Which in turn is how I survived a lot of engine failures (probably about 20). 

 

 

[old man emu]

I agree that it looks like a stall/spin result. And sort of happily, it wasn't the kids who went in. An EFOTO, no doubt and an attempt to turn back seems to be a logical conclusion at this time.

 

In the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa, they could not get fuel.

 

"When we eventually got it, the support aircraft started leaking fuel so they couldn't fly with us and only two people - Driaan van den Heever, the safety pilot, and I carried on," Megan said.

 

 

[APenNameAndThatA]

So many people turn back after an engine failure shortly after takeoff and crash. They are better pilots than me and would have known that lots of people die after attempting to turn back after an early engine failure. The temptation to turn back must be overwhelming, and not something that is/can be trained for. 

 

 

[turboplanner]

So many people turn back after an engine failure shortly after takeoff and crash. They are better pilots than me and would have known that lots of people die after attempting to turn back after an early engine failure. The temptation to turn back must be overwhelming, and not something that is/can be trained for. 

 

My instructor prefaced the  EFATO lesson with, "whatever we do we are going down straight ahead whether we damage the aircraft or not!" (having already explained to me on a whiteboard the improbability of making a 180 turn plus turning to regain the centreline plus turning to line up from a max of 500' if I was lucky, but most likely half that). So as he pulled the throttle and I responded, I drilled into my subconscious to focus on a landing spot ahead, not behind. It never occurred to me to do anything else until I started reading the accident reports of people who thought they could land behind themselves.