Catalina BE-55 Crash

ClearedForOption

ClearedForOption

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RIP Ali. We may have parted on not the best of terms, but the time I spent as a freelance instructor at Santa Monica Aviation was a very important part of my career development.

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Accident Beechcraft 95-B55 Baron N73WA, Tuesday 8 October 2024

A Beech 95-B55 Baron, N73WA, was destroyed when it crashed shortly after takeoff from runway 22 at Catalina Airport (AVX/AVX), Avalon, California. All occupants were fatally injured. ADS...
asn.flightsafety.org


View: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=wnMl3ppDEc0


www.latimes.com

5 dead in Catalina plane crash; owner, a former flight instructor, was reportedly on board

Crews from Avalon and the L.A. County fire and sheriff's departments found the plane about a mile west of Catalina Airport. Five people were dead at the scene.
www.latimes.com www.latimes.com
 
DE727UPS said:
One of the victims was able to send a cell phone emergency message. Wonder if it was before or after the crash. Interesting article from 2018: Santa Monica Aviation Closing Its Doors
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It was an automatic crash notification from a iPhone. It automatically calls 911 and sends your location if it thinks you are in a crash and not responding.

Here’s what the school says…
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Catalina is a private airport, while yes it was “closed” all you have to do it get permission from the owners and your good to go.

Being stranded at the airport after dark isn’t good. It’s an hour ride to town on a dirt road IF you can get someone to pick you up. So get-home-its is real

Wx was fine enough, they were above the marina layer.

I’d be real interested to know if both engines were making power or not when they hit.

Terrible way to go. Imagine a few students and CFI’s having dinner at the airport, they break down, a local respected airport businessman says I’ll come get you guys and that’s the end of that. Brutal.
 
T/O w/FSII said:
It was an automatic crash notification from a iPhone. It automatically calls 911 and sends your location if it thinks you are in a crash and not responding.

Here’s what the school says…
1b60c6919f050eff56d96c5754e45ccc.jpg



Catalina is a private airport, while yes it was “closed” all you have to do it get permission from the owners and your good to go.

Being stranded at the airport after dark isn’t good. It’s an hour ride to town on a dirt road IF you can get someone to pick you up. So get-home-its is real

Wx was fine enough, they were above the marina layer.

I’d be real interested to know if both engines were making power or not when they hit.

Terrible way to go. Imagine a few students and CFI’s having dinner at the airport, they break down, a local respected airport businessman says I’ll come get you guys and that’s the end of that. Brutal.
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Might have been a quick pickup, landed at 1820
seems ADSB exchange has blocked N-Number now, I saw it yesterday, took off 22
 
T/O w/FSII said:
Uhh, no. They landed at 6 and took off at 8. Probably tried to fix the stranded plane first.
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Last I remember, night ops were prohibited there for fixed wing. The runway lights were out of service too. Unless something changed. If it’s still the case, it leaves no return option to the airport if one launches at night.

This would just be a factor, if it’s still the rule there. Whether contributory in some way or not, would have to be determined.
 
MikeD said:
Last I remember, night ops were prohibited there for fixed wing. The runway lights were out of service too. Unless something changed. If it’s still the case, it leaves no return option to the airport if one launches at night.

This would just be a factor, if it’s still the rule there. Whether contributory in some way or not, would have to be determined.
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Yea, like I mentioned the airport is closed after 5 but the owner can waive that. No bueno.
 
T/O w/FSII said:
Yea, like I mentioned the airport is closed after 5 but the owner can waive that. No bueno.
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If I remember, the owner can waive ops after the 5pm, but before nighttime occurs. After night, no fixed wing ops are allowed? That’s how I seem to remember it.
 
MikeD said:
Last I remember, night ops were prohibited there for fixed wing. The runway lights were out of service too. Unless something changed. If it’s still the case, it leaves no return option to the airport if one launches at night.

This would just be a factor, if it’s still the rule there. Whether contributory in some way or not, would have to be determined.
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Didn’t the Seabees resurface the runway a couple years ago as an exercise? Any guesses if they put lighting in?

The again airfield lighting isn’t required under part 91.
 
CFI A&P said:
Didn’t the Seabees resurface the runway a couple years ago as an exercise? Any guesses if they put lighting in?

The again airfield lighting isn’t required under part 91.
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That’s correct. all concrete now, looks like a narrow/short version of a military runway. But I don’t think the lights have been installed or hooked up yet, as night ops are still NA for airplanes.

am reading an update that he had pre-arranged to land after closure of 5 PM. But that was it. Night takeoff would have been prohibited, but was done anyway and with no advisement to airport management. And had been reminded by airport management that night ops were prohibited. Again, merely a factor discovered; where it fits in to being a secondary or tertiary finding, will be determined.
 
I'm not entirely certain regarding the weather that night but l am familiar with flying into Catalina and if memory serves departure is always to the west. The place I used to rent airplanes from required a "checkout" with an instructor to take a plane across the 26 miles of water, and the airport was not the only peculiarity regarding flying there from Santa Monica, Burbank or Van Nuys. They wanted to make sure you comfortably knew how to operate through the VFR LAX corridor safely. Obviously I never flew to Catalina at night but I can imagine what the departure might've looked like. When I was still working on my PPL I had to do a few hours of dual night cross country so my instructor and I agreed to fly down to Palomar, land and then head back to Burbank late one night. The flight down in the 152 was spectacular with the lights from the urban sprawl spreading in all directions. I successfully navigated to and landed at Palomar at night with zero issues, I was kind of proud of myself. Here's where I suspect my instructor had a plan to humble me. As a student I'd draw up detailed flight plans using my E6-B, radials, winds and any other variable a 152 might encounter and it had to be approved by the instructor before we took off. Being full of myself that evening I stamped out my cigarette under my Nike shoe and suggested it was getting late and we ought to start heading home. I'm fairly certain I walked up to that 152 like a Spitfire pilot during the Battle of Britain. We started up, taxied out and took off to the west, my meticulous flight planning would take us over the beach and then intercept a radial a couple miles off shore that would lead us straight back to the LAX corridor and get us home. I was not training for my instrument rating, I was just checking boxes for my Private, in other words despite my fine motor skills and bravado and the fact that I had soloed I was not quite a pilot yet and I think my instructor wanted to hammer that point home. Everything was going perfectly, my trusty 152 was running perfect, the take-off was text book perfect and as we climbed we crossed the shoreline and it was as if someone tossed a blanket over the windscreen, there was no horizon or stars it was just black. I recall looking back through the back windows and feeling very melancholy about the lights behind me and being very uncertain about my future. And then I remembered I was not alone, my savior and I were actually rubbing shoulders, I quickly confessed my discomfort with our current situation. This is what leads me to believe he knew this was going to happen, he was just chilling and asked me to pay attention to the instruments and figure it out. I immediately threw my flight plan to the wind, slowly turned the airplane north and decided on a more acceptable course that would allow me to have the shoreline a bit closer as a reference as we traveled home.

It's a lot of words to say taking off to the west at night over the Pacific Ocean can be disconcerting and this person would not have had the benefit of a metropolis of lights behind him to give any reference. You can't see Hawaii from Catalina.
 
Approaching Jenny Ave while on my way to the Employee lot, some jackwagon pulled out right in front of me. I had to slam the brakes on my Bronco, hardest braking I've done. Max. Wasn't pretty, but collision avoided. My iPhone lights up and there was a message about how it looked like you were in a collision, auto dailing emergency #, and to cancel, press and hold the side button.

So I believe it. It's automatic based on some deceleration rate factor.
 
Cherokee_Cruiser said:
Approaching Jenny Ave while on my way to the Employee lot, some jackwagon pulled out right in front of me. I had to slam the brakes on my Bronco, hardest braking I've done. Max. Wasn't pretty, but collision avoided. My iPhone lights up and there was a message about how it looked like you were in a collision, auto dailing emergency #, and to cancel, press and hold the side button.

So I believe it. It's automatic based on some deceleration rate factor.
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It’s true. They are automatic. They can be disabled. We had someone’s activate unknowingly after it slipped from its vest pocket and fell out of the hekicopter while the guy was leaned out of the side of the helo on the floor, guiding an external load onto a spot on the ground. Phone fell about 60 feet onto dirt and activated. It sent out a signal and no one was able to contact him. You can imagine the issues it caused.
 
MikeD said:
It’s true. They are automatic. They can be disabled. We had someone’s activate unknowingly after it slipped from its vest pocket and fell out of the hekicopter while the guy was leaned out of the side of the helo on the floor, guiding an external load onto a spot on the ground. Phone fell about 60 feet onto dirt and activated. It sent out a signal and no one was able to contact him. You can imagine the issues it caused.
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I'd almost suggest that's the most expensive iPhone ever but if I did I'm sure someone would fact check me and provide receipts, not because they care about IPhones but because they don't like me.
 
MikeD said:
It’s true. They are automatic. They can be disabled. We had someone’s activate unknowingly after it slipped from its vest pocket and fell out of the hekicopter while the guy was leaned out of the side of the helo on the floor, guiding an external load onto a spot on the ground. Phone fell about 60 feet onto dirt and activated. It sent out a signal and no one was able to contact him. You can imagine the issues it caused.
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They caused a whole bunch of problems in ski country a few years ago when that feature came about. I think they have its sensitivity dialed down now where there are less nuisance calls.

coloradosun.com

Colorado ski town emergency dispatch centers fielding dozens of automated 911 calls from skier iPhones

Automated crash detection calls from skier iPhones are burdening resort town 911 emergency dispatch centers
coloradosun.com coloradosun.com
 
MikeD said:
It’s true. They are automatic. They can be disabled. We had someone’s activate unknowingly after it slipped from its vest pocket and fell out of the hekicopter while the guy was leaned out of the side of the helo on the floor, guiding an external load onto a spot on the ground. Phone fell about 60 feet onto dirt and activated. It sent out a signal and no one was able to contact him. You can imagine the issues it caused.
Click to expand...

One of our SAR instructors was teaching a search theory class and was moving around to demonstrate something. A few minutes later his phone rang, which in promptly ignored the call on. It rang 3 more times before he finally answered it, and had to explain to 911 dispatch why he'd kept hanging up on them.
 
BobDDuck said:
One of our SAR instructors was teaching a search theory class and was moving around to demonstrate something. A few minutes later his phone rang, which in promptly ignored the call on. It rang 3 more times before he finally answered it, and had to explain to 911 dispatch why he'd kept hanging up on them.
Click to expand...

The thing was, none of us knew this was a feature. The bird had been on a training mission, and the Sheriff’s dept was attempting to call the phone, but no one had known it had fallen out, much less than the unknown feature had activated. The helo continued its traiining work there in the very remote LZ. It’s satellite tracksr had been written up and deferred, so it didnt show up on anything.

Ironically, the Sheriffs dept assumed it was a vehicle accident, as the area in question had some trails, and they called our air unit asking for assistance with a helo if we had one airborne. As our dispatch was gathering information, they asked for any name associated; and the SO had somehow identified the name already and passed to us. The duty officer asked again for clarification on the name, and then checked his own cellphone numbers list, and checked the name to the same name in his phone, and it’s the same number. Seeing as how that guy was currently on a helo training mission somewhere in the low mountains, the situation was upgraded to a downed helicopter.

I’m airborne about 20 miles away slow rolling above Interstate 10 just on roving patrol in a scout helo, and get the call to proceed to a set of coordinates for a possible downed aircraft. As I turn that direction, and head that way, I pick up more info on a crash warning and that it’s possibly one of ours. About 5 minutes from the LZ, in the no-moon darkness, I’m fully expecting to see a glow of fire or maybe some wreckage; when I hear them make a routine radio call to TRACON checking in to return to the airport, complete with their training evolutions. The crewmember had realized his phone wasn’t on his vest when they finished up the evolutions and surmised that it had fallen out the door.. Luckily, the LZ was landable, and they had to pick up a rope anyway, so they landed and looked around. The phone’s face was cracked and unreadable, but was still working. Sp he just turned off the phone, put it in his pocket and they departed to return home. That’s when I later heard them making a routine radio call. A lot of confusion had to be sorted out on that one and a lot of notifications for cancellation of follow-on forces had to be made, including state police and USAF helo forces, all for a feature that one of us were aware of.

Talk about Swiss cheese lining up and all, haha.
 
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