Pilatus with 7 Aboard Down Off The Coast of NC

Conrad

Conrad

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bnonews.com

Plane carrying 8 people crashes off North Carolina

One body has been recovered after a small plane carrying eight people crashed in the Atlantic Ocean off North Carolina, according to the U.S. Coast Guard and local officials. The plane was “behaving erratically” just before the crash. The accident happened at around 2 p.m. on Sunday when the...
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Loss of control Accident Pilatus PC-12/47E N79NX, Sunday 13 February 2022

A Pilatus PC-12, N79NX, was destroyed when it impacted the water of the North Atlantic Ocean off Beaufort, North Carolina, USA. The commercial pilot and 7 passengers were fatally injured....
aviation-safety.net

A small plane carrying seven people has crashed in the Atlantic Ocean off North Carolina, according to the U.S. Coast Guard and federal officials. It was seen “behaving erratically” just before the crash.

The accident happened at around 2 p.m. on Sunday when the aircraft, a single-engine Pilatus PC-12/47, went into the ocean about 4 miles (6.5 kilometers) east of Drum Inlet on the Outer Banks of North Carolina.

Seven people, including 4 teenagers, are believed to have been on board the plane, according to officials in Carteret County. Their identities were not immediately released.

“The aircraft was seen behaving erratically on radar and then disappeared from the radar screen,” the U.S. Coast Guard said in a statement, citing an account from an air traffic controller who reported the crash.

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) issued an Alert Notice to inform public safety agencies about the missing plane, but search operations were continuing on Sunday night.

The Coast Guard said it launched multiple boats and an MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter to search the area. Local fire departments and beach crews from the National Park Service are also assisting.

The cause of the crash was not immediately known. Both the FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) have launched an investigation.
 
That’s a weird track for sure. It looks like they went into a restricted area, did a 180 and then flew over Ocracoke and down the coast (which would be the normal route).

My in-laws live about 2 miles from MRH and we spend a lot of time on the beaches…it’s not unusual to see aircraft doing creative sightseeing.
 
Posted to the Carolina Aviation Network FB page with photos of two gentlemen with a bunch of ducks they had just shot ...

I’m struggling to sleep. I’m struggling with the reality of the tragic news about a plane crash yesterday afternoon that took the lives of 7 people, including 4 youth and one of my Mattamuskeet Ventures businesses partners, Hunter Parks. Hunter, his girlfriend, Stephanie Fulcher and 4 boys plus the pilot crashed into the Atlantic Ocean 4 miles east of their destination near Cedar Island, NC about 2pm Sunday.
Hunter Parks was one of my 3 partners in Mattamuskeet Ventures, a large Hyde County property we have owned for 30 years. His Dad, Chip, was one of our original partners. Hunter took over the role of Executive Manager of MV a couple years ago and did an outstanding job. He also individually owned and generously shared one of the best duck hunting properties in Hyde County, called Green Hill. Hunter was kind, generous, a good businessman, partner and friend. He will be deeply missed.
Please pray for his Mom, Janet, his brother Toliver and all the the families effected by this horrible tragedy.
 
Ugh, it sounds like the four teenagers all went to the same small rural high school and had been on a hunting trip. It’s a super tight-knit community where everyone knows everyone.
 
Was going to post the photos the above mentioned girlfriend put on FB at 11am yesterday, but then decided against it - some people might not want to be hit with the photos of a group of teens whose lives came to an end a few hours later. But if you search out Stephanie Fulcher on FB you can find her public post with photos from inside the aircraft.
 
NovemberEcho said:
would 6 people say moving to the back for a picture be enough to do this?
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I personally don’t see it, could be wrong. Maybe the pilot pitched up super steep to excite his pax and ran out of energy? Maybe the data isn’t correct? Regardless it’s just terrible
 
DropTank said:
Behaving erratically

Someone did a maneuver to impress the passengers then something important fell off.
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Kinda looks like that. It looks like he was heading south down the coast line(for sightseeing?) instead of flying due west to his destination. Maybe he was showing off a bit while sightseeing and something went sideways? Dunno.

It looks like the pilot flew inbound to pick up the pax before the accident flight, which would seem to make a mechanical issue less likely.
 
NovemberEcho said:
would 6 people say moving to the back for a picture be enough to do this?
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Not sure, I'm not familiar with the W&B envelope for the type. Plus that calculation might require a little math to determine how far it would have to go before it was problematic. Maybe one of the resident PC12 drivers could chime in.

CG shift is a major problem, if it is large enough relative to the equipment size. The 747 at Bagram comes to mind. 6 people at say 150lbs, is a 900 pound shift which in an 757 may won't impact CG, but the PC12 is a much smaller envelope.
 
CFI A&P said:
Not sure, I'm not familiar with the W&B envelope for the type. Plus that calculation might require a little math to determine how far it would have to go before it was problematic. Maybe one of the resident PC12 drivers could chime in.

CG shift is a major problem, if it is large enough relative to the equipment size. The 747 at Bagram comes to mind. 6 people at say 150lbs, is a 900 pound shift which in an 757 may won't impact CG, but the PC12 is a much smaller envelope.
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The PC-12 is pretty much if it fits it ships. But, when you only have 3 seats and a med bed you don’t exactly experience the full spectrum of the balance envelope. So I can’t say what it’s like near/at aft CG. I used to not trust flightaware data as far as I could throw it but since pretty much everything uses ADSB now I put more stock in it.
 
Roger Roger said:
The PC-12 is pretty much if it fits it ships. But, when you only have 3 seats and a med bed you don’t exactly experience the full spectrum of the balance envelope. So I can’t say what it’s like near/at aft CG. I used to not trust flightaware data as far as I could throw it but since pretty much everything uses ADSB now I put more stock in it.
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I’ve been at the aft end of the envelope probably hundreds of times? It’s a little bit more pitch sensitive, but it is fine.

A former coworker put so much in the thing it fell on its tail and only came off the tail with someone in the copilot seat. That was probably way out of the envelope - he was stupid for doing that, but he mentioned that it flew just fine. I remain incredulous. He was fired later for other shenanigans.
 
ppragman said:
I’ve been at the aft end of the envelope probably hundreds of times? It’s a little bit more pitch sensitive, but it is fine.

A former coworker put so much in the thing it fell on its tail and only came off the tail with someone in the copilot seat. That was probably way out of the envelope - he was stupid for doing that, but he mentioned that it flew just fine. I remain incredulous. He was fired later for other shenanigans.
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I don’t know (or want to know) how far out it was but both the Cherokee and the Navajo were terrifying if loaded too far aft
 
Roger Roger said:
I don’t know (or want to know) how far out it was but both the Cherokee and the Navajo were terrifying if loaded too far aft
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207 for the win. That airplane was damn near neutrally stable at the aft end of the envelope.

The scare-akee and the Navajo were spooky, but nothing like the sled... and guys were flying it like that professionally day after day (smh)
 
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