3 Surdex aerial mappers killed in Eagle River plane crash

[Oxman]

RIP.

FAA: 3 killed in Eagle River plane crash

The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating a plane crash in northern Wisconsin.

www.wsaw.com

EAGLE RIVER, Wis. (WSAW) - The cause of a fatal plane crash in northern Wisconsin is under investigation by the National Transportation Safety Board.

Federal Aviation Administration spokeswoman Emma Duncan said on Tuesday three people were on board the twin-engine Rockwell 690B when it crashed in a swamp 12 miles east of Eagle River just before noon. The FAA’s website reports the pilot and two passengers died in the crash.

The FAA and NTSB will investigate the crash. Duncan said the NTSB will be in charge of the investigation and will provide additional updates.

The Associated Press reports Flight-tracking company FlightAware says the plane is registered to Chesterfield, Missouri-based Surdex Corp., a mapping and data services provider. The company did not immediately return a call seeking information.

Loss of control Accident Rockwell 690B Turbo Commander N690LS,

On September 28, 2021, about 0900 central daylight time, a Rockwell International 690B airplane, N690LS, was destroyed when it was involved in an accident near Hiles, Wisconsin. The pilot...

aviation-safety.net

According to ADS-B data, the airplane climbed to 15,600' pressure altitude and leveled off at 08:58:53L. Over the next 68 seconds, altitude was constant as groundspeed decreased from 209 knots to 125 knots. At 09:00:01 a descent had begun (15,500 pressure altitude and 125 knots groundspeed). Shortly after 09:00:54 the final data point was received which indicated an extrapolated descent rate of over -21,000 feet per minute at 12,300' pressure altitude and 58Kt groundspeed.

 

[FlyingAccountant]

Man, whatever happened, happened quick according to ADSB. They dropped like a rock.

 

[Oxman]

Man, whatever happened, happened quick according to ADSB. They dropped like a rock.

I'm betting structural collapse.

 

[CFI A&P]

I'm betting structural collapse.

Two different debris fields usually indicate separation, and a rapid decent would be imminent if the tail departed the airframe.

 

[Roger Roger]

Two different debris fields usually indicate separation, and a rapid decent would be imminent if the tail departed the airframe.

On a commander it’s usually the wings.

 

[CFI A&P]

On a commander it’s usually the wings.

Didn’t even think about the model airplane. Yes, I agree. I did a wing spar inspection on one once and the owner was sweating it. Any crack found and it would’ve been BER.

 

[CFI A&P]

From a Facebook group:

“mayday, mayday, mayday…we’re in a spin”, NTSB Issue the preliminary report into the fatal accident involving a Rockwell 690B Turbo Commander, N690LS, that occurred on September 28th, 2021, near Hiles, Wisconsin:

On September 28, 2021, about 0900 central daylight time, a Rockwell International 690B airplane, N690LS, was destroyed when it was involved in an accident near Hiles, Wisconsin. The pilot and two passengers sustained fatal injuries. The airplane was operated as a Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 aerial imagery survey flight.

According to the operator, the flight mission was to obtain aerial imagery of the forest vegetation for the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources.

Preliminary automatic dependent surveillance-broadcast information (ADS-B) revealed the airplane departed the Rhinelander-Oneida County Airport, Rhinelander, Wisconsin, about 0850. About 0858, the airplane began to level off about 15,600 ft with a maximum groundspeed of 209 knots (kts). Between 0858 and 0900, the airplane continued level flight; however, the groundspeed decreased to about 93 kts. The ADS-B data ended at 0900:56 (see Figure 1.). According to air traffic control, a “mayday, mayday, mayday…we’re in a spin” transmission was broadcast. The airplane was not under air traffic control during the flight or at the time of the accident.

A witness, located about one mile from the accident site, reported he heard a “loud, strange sounding airplane.” He looked up and noticed an airplane “nose down at high rate of speed spinning about its longitudinal axis at about 30 to 60 rpm.” The witness lost sight of the airplane behind some trees and then heard an impact.

The airplane wreckage was located during an aerial and ground search in wetlands and wooded terrain about 10 miles east of Eagle River, Wisconsin, and 1 mile west of Butternut Lake, in the Chequamegon-Nicolet National Forest. The wreckage was distributed in a diameter of about 50 yards. A majority of the main wreckage was found beneath the water surface with some debris located in the trees. The airplane wreckage was recovered for further examination.

Figure 1. Airplane Flight Path and Accident Site Location

 

[DropTank]

Very likely a wing spar failure.
If it is found that the company DID comply with the existing AD's there will likely a whole new set of AD's in the near future possibly putting the future of the type into question.

 

[mightynimbus]

Very likely a wing spar failure.
If it is found that the company DID comply with the existing AD's there will likely a whole new set of AD's in the near future possibly putting the future of the type into question.

That seems pretty premature.

 

[Roger Roger]

Very likely a wing spar failure.
If it is found that the company DID comply with the existing AD's there will likely a whole new set of AD's in the near future possibly putting the future of the type into question.

Lots of planes will fail the wing spar if you get into an unusual attitude and pull too hard. Not saying that happened here, but if they got in a spin or thought they did as the audio seems to indicate…

 

[Boris Badenov]

Kind of weird if, as the data appears to indicate, they reached cruise, slowed down to at or near stall speed, and THEN the wing spar just broke.

 

[mightynimbus]

Kind of weird if, as the data appears to indicate, they reached cruise, slowed down to at or near stall speed, and THEN the wing spar just broke.

Has a spar failure been confirmed, or elevated as a probability?
I may have missed that.
The supposed radio call, (confirmed?) could have been a spin brought about by who knows what sequence of events, commanded or respnded to poorly.
I am curious what comes out in the next while.

 

[DropTank]

Lots of planes will fail the wing spar if you get into an unusual attitude and pull too hard. Not saying that happened here, but if they got in a spin or thought they did as the audio seems to indicate…

15K isn't exactly max altitude for the 690, even an engine failure with a slow pilot would still have a hard time going wing over.
If it was an MU-2, I'd say, "yeah sure, wing over"

But a spinning 690 tells me that something came off.

That seems pretty premature.

I'll speculate if I want to.

(you can't stop me)