Nothing too special here, just sliding down the ILS back into Toronto.  It was approaching dusk, so the lighting was pretty cool. 1080p makes it look better-er.

Even though I have done this at least a thousand times, I still love it.  It's also sometimes a bit of a challenge finding the freakin' airport in the field of lights that is Toronto.

Also, I'm still getting used to landing this airplane, but I lucked out on this particular one.  I think the trick is not to try to flare as I touch down - when I try to flare, it feels like the ass end of the plane is about to fall out, and we usually arrive with a little more 'thunk' than I'd prefer.  You can hear a short discussion between me and the other guy about my good luck right after the landing.  Nothing like aviation to keep a person humble :)

PS: Right at touchdown (around 3:44) you can kinda hear me say "That's bull-puckey", or words to that effect - despite my greaser of a landing,  I set the master caution lights off (red flashing lights on our panel) because I deployed the thrust reversers a half-second before the weight-on-wheels microswitches were fully engaged, which made the plane think we might have had an airborne deployment.  That'll teach me to be eager ;)

ILS into KTRI Aug 22 2012

Riding the ILS into KTRI Tri-Cities TN this morning. Vis was fine at 4 miles, and the morning ground fog made everything look a little more special. If the temperature had dropped a degree or two more, the fog would have been a solid wall, so we got kinda lucky. Notice how we are landing under a layer :)

Our itin today is here for Customs, then south, then south, then west, then home. Long day, but the weather is perfect and I love this plane, so there's that :)

Interesting plane crash video, filmed inside the cockpit from 2 different angles. According to the original post, this took place in the Idaho wilderness.  720p and fullscreen for maximum 'whoa'.

 Hmm...watch how long the ground roll was.

First of all, everyone survives. That being said, the pilot got a bloody nose so avoid watching beyond 3 minutes if that disturbs you.  No screaming or anything, so at least there's that.  Crash at 2:44, watch til the end for the second camera view.

Original description: "This is unprecedented footage of a small airplane crash from inside the cockpit from two different views. Miraculously, everyone survived. The pilot will make a full recovery and the rest of us escaped with superficial injuries and feel very lucky to be alive . This trip was much anticipated and due to our excitement we had our Gopro cameras filming at various times. After flying up into the mountains for a hike in the Frank Church River of No Return Wilderness we were planning on flying to a small mountain town for dinner. Due to warming temperatures we had a hard time gaining altitude. After taking off we hit an air pocket that made us rapidly loose altitude, pushing us down into the trees."

I'm not sure if I agree with the 'air pocket made us crash' explanation - I think they were hot n' heavy and ended up flying into an area of rising terrain beyond the climb capabilities of the airplane.   I'm sure the pilot wishes he had made 2 trips instead of attempting all the pax in 1 load...


I posted this on AvCanada, and got some interesting comments:

-----------------------------
"Given the weather of the day from the nearest station:

http://i.wund.com/auto/iphone/weatherst ... &year=2012

Elevation is 6,370 ft.

No pressure provided, going with 29.92.

Density Alt for 20° C would be 8,500 feet. If it was the hottest point of the day, 9,500ft"
 ---------------------------
 At 00:13 you can see the mixture is full rich for taxi.....at 6300 feet I wonder if he had it leaned for the takeoff. Over trees without shoulder harnesses is also slightly less than ideal. Even with hindsight being what it is.....he had SO MANY options for aborting that takeoff.

In the hills/mountains (in the summer especially) you need to keep some money in the bank (excess altitude, airspeed, or aircraft performance), and this guy had none.
--------------------------------------

 Nope, not a downdraft. The air was too stable... hence the reason why they weren't able to pick up a thermal somewhere in that field.

It was at or above its absolute altitude for the weight and DA, flying along in ground effect or just slightly higher. Vy and Vx are the same at absolute altitude and the only speed you can remain airborne out of ground effect. Sees trees, pulls up, loses speed.... it becomes a mathematical certainty that you are going down.

There probably was no stall horn on this aircraft or the pilot was smart enough to realize that pulling further back wouldn't do anything... which is probably why they lived.

---------------------------------------------------

Oh, the pilot in question had previously crashed a plane a couple of years before.  I'm sure that's not relevant.  Here's the accident synopsis on that one:

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident The pilot reported that he intended to fly his airplane on a cross-country flight over high mountainous terrain. After takeoff, the pilot climbed to 9,500 feet mean sea level (msl) in order to fly over mountains. He subsequently descended to 8,500 feet msl, and then he attempted to climb back to 9,500 feet to clear additional mountains. This second climbing effort diminished his fuel reserve, so the pilot opted to divert to a 7,160-foot msl uncontrolled airport short of his destination. While flying over the airport to evaluate its runway's condition, the pilot noted that the runway was covered with snow. The pilot opined that because of the airplane's low fuel state, it was prudent for him to land. The pilot made a soft-field landing on the runway. During rollout, the airplane's wheels penetrated the snow-covered surface, the airplane nosed over, and both wings and the empennage broke. NTSB Probable Cause Narrative The pilot's encounter with soft, snow-covered terrain while executing a precautionary landing.

-------------

Yeah, the pilot nearly ran out of fuel attempting to outclimb mountains that were between point A and point B.  Last time I checked, mountains don't move around much, I wonder why that was a surprise to him.