Cirrus(?) Down in Boulder, CO (Parachute Video, Fire)

Definitely a Cirrus. The blue chutes are just media colors. Actual production aircraft have the red and white for visibility.

Cirrus-BRS-CAPS-LousianaDeplyment-121808a.jpg
 
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Scary video. RIP to all who were involved and effected. The Boulder, CO soaring operation is huge out there.
 
Curious question, doesn't the aircraft look flyable to you? I am only asking because I wonder why someone would pull a chute when their aircraft is on fire. Unless of course the aircraft was out of control, it would seem fire = speed up and maybe delay the use of the chute.

Not trying to pick on these guys, it is an absolutely horrible way to go. However, as with our other accident posts: What can we learn?
 
shdw said:
Curious question, doesn't the aircraft look flyable to you? I am only asking because I wonder why someone would pull a chute when their aircraft is on fire. Unless of course the aircraft was out of control, it would seem fire = speed up and maybe delay the use of the chute.

Not trying to pick on these guys, it is an absolutely horrible way to go. However, as with our other accident posts: What can we learn?
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I think that picture is of another Cirrus with CAPS deployment. The one in the video was on fire, smoking heavily, with about half of the plane missing.
 
Very sad news. The current word is that it was a tow plane from the commercial gliding operation out of KBDU. I fly gliders and power out of that airport and have towed behind that plane many times. In two years of flying this is the first accident that really sends chills up my spine and hits close to home. Terrible for everyone involved. Stay safe out there.
 
Jpax said:
Just happened: http://www.9news.com/news/article.aspx?storyid=132284&catid=339

Crazy video, looks like a Cirrus Chute.

EDIT: News article updated-- Cirrus and Tow Plane collided. Four reported dead.

EDIT: Direct video link: http://www.9news.com/video/default.aspx?bctid=65219990001
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Former NTSB investigator Greg Feith says four of the people who were killed were on a Cirrus plane that hit a tow cable that was behind another plane. That cable was pulling a glider.
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It looks like the Cirrus hit the tow cable and not the plane. How long is the tow cable between glider and tow a/c? They said the glider disengaged but it must have been a split second before the cirrus hit the cable.... do the towing a/c retract the cable after separation or just land with the trailing cable....Dumb question maybe, but I have now idea about gliders and towing....
 
BOULDER - 9NEWS has learned that five people are dead after a mid-air collision over Boulder where a plane hit a tow line that was pulling a glider.



Former NTSB investigator Greg Feith says four of the people who were killed were on a Cirrus plane that hit a tow cable that was behind another plane. That cable was pulling a glider.
At least one person on the tow plane was also killed.

Rick Brough with the Boulder County Sheriff's Office says the glider cut lose from the cable just before the crash and landed safely.

Feith says there are survivors, but it is not clear if any were on either of the planes.

The crash happened around 1:30 p.m. on Saturday.
Both planes went down in Boulder County open space, but the crash sites are separated from each other by a ridge. The debris field is over several miles and authorities are search for piece of the planes, including the sections of with the tail numbers on them.
Amateur video sent to 9NEWS shows something smoking with a parachute falling to the ground. Witnesses also report seeing fires on the ground in the area.

The video was taken by Hugh Walton of Boulder. His home is about a half mile from the crash site.
"I realized this is a plane with a person in it and I thought, 'Oh, that is not good,'" Walton told 9NEWS. "I was just leaving my neighborhood and I saw some riders, some cyclists, pull over to the side of the road and they were pointing and looking up. So I glanced over my shoulder and I saw some smoke and some flames going on way up in the sky."
Walton's wife says she heard a boom right above their house around the time of the crash.
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JEP said:
It looks like the Cirrus hit the tow cable and not the plane. How long is the tow cable between glider and tow a/c? They said the glider disengaged but it must have been a split second before the cirrus hit the cable.... do the towing a/c retract the cable after separation or just land with the trailing cable....Dumb question maybe, but I have now idea about gliders and towing....
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The distance between tow plane and glider is not far at all. (Maybe a few hundred feet max.) It would be nearly impossible to squeeze between the glider and tow plane and hit just the tow rope in flight. Any FYI, we use a weak polypropylene rope that is designed to break under stress, not a cable.

After the glider releases the tow plane lands with the rope still connected. They make a very fast and steep descent into the field and land long to avoid snagging the rope on anything. At that airport we had a tow plane snag a fence one time and have nearly hit fisherman in the lake at the end of the runway. The tow plane does have the ability to release the rope if needed however.
 
for the love of all things holy can someone explain to me how you couldnt see not one, but TWO aircraft directly in front of you?
 
I just talked to the pawnee pilot the other day, I didn't really know him at all. Not friends by any means but it is crazy for something like this to hit so close to home.

Is there any kind of auto deployment for those chutes? I don't want to think about those people pulling the chute just to go up in flames.

Time to call some friends and make sure it wasn't them....
 
TXaviator said:
for the love of all things holy can someone explain to me how you couldnt see not one, but TWO aircraft directly in front of you?
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By staring at your TIS and not looking out the window.

To be fair, a low profile white glider can be tough to see on a gray day like we had today, but you should have no problems seeing a pawnee.
 
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