Sedona Crash

MissedApproach

Well-Known Member
Plane crash in Sedona leaves three dead
Associated Press
Apr. 14, 2003 07:40 AM

SEDONA - A small airplane crashed Sunday near the Sedona airport, killing three people, according to the Federal Aviation Administration.

The plane, which was in Arizona State University East's professional flight program, crashed on departure at 12:35 p.m.

The plane was headed to Williams Gateway Airport in Mesa, FAA spokeswoman Diana Joubert said.

A student pilot, Christopher Matthew Anderson, of Olive Branch, Miss., and flight instructor Angela Renee LaClair, of Mesa, were on board the plane. Identification of the third person, also believed to be an ASU student, had not been identified, ASU East spokesman Jeff Holeman said.

The plane, an A-36 Beechcraft Bonanza, was destroyed by fire, Joubert said.

The plane appears to have lost power as it was taking off and crashed into a runway fence, said Will Loesch, Sedona's fire marshal.

The plane was owned by Mesa Pilot Development, an affiliate of Mesa Air Group. It was used in the Aeronautical Management Technology Department's professional flight program.
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This is concerning because I'm planning on going through this program next year. So what usually happens after an incident such as this and how will it effect the program? Is there a chance that ASU could be sued if it was a maintenance issue? I guess these things can happen but if it is a maintenance issue it's especially concerning.
 
SEZ is a bad airport for a power failure on takeoff because it's literally built on the plateau of a mesa.
 
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SEZ is a bad airport for a power failure on takeoff because it's literally built on the plateau of a mesa.

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Yeah, the USS Sedona is no joke.

If anyone goes to the Dairy Queen in town at the right time of day, they can check out the rock face above and behind the place and see the leftover wreckage of the A-10 that smacked into the face in Feb 1985.

MD
 
Well our mechanic here just said the engine stopped after takeoff because the fuel selector valve was turned off.
frown.gif
Guess it will go in the category "accidents caused by pilot error."
 
[ QUOTE ]
Well our mechanic here just said the engine stopped after takeoff because the fuel selector valve was turned off.
frown.gif
Guess it will go in the category "accidents caused by pilot error."

[/ QUOTE ]

Well, I guess that's a bit of a relief that it was pilot error and not a mechanical issue. Apparently the planes will resume flying tomorrow. Very sad, especially because everyone seemed to know everyone out there. There's 11 PhD.'s split among 150-some flight students between 10 (9 now) planes.

BTW...How did he know the fuel selector valve was off?
 
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"accidents caused by pilot error."

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Not necessarily. A couple years ago one of our airplanes went down in a vineyard because the fuel selector was in the "off" position. But it wasn't pilot error. They had switched tanks before takeoff, but in doing so the bolt in the lever stripped and stuck in the "off" position, which in the Tomahawk is between L and R. So, the selector read "R" but was actually shut off. Fuel starvation killed the engine at about 300 feet, I think. Everybody walked away from that one.
 
Perhaps the pilot secured the engine (turned off the fuel selector) before going down. Just a thought!
 
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