Cessna down after stalling on take off

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morleyz

Pre-takeoff checklist
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Jeff
I saw a reel this morning on Instagram. I can't find any information on this crash and I'm wondering if all you experts might recall if this is an older incident or new or ???

Reel is only about 30 seconds long. It's a high wing aircraft, single engine, poster said it was a Cessna. Poster also said she was on the plane with her husband who is a videographer and a commercial pilot who was taking them up to film. The wife was filming in the back seat. She originally shows the front view and the right side door is tied open to the strut. The video then shifts out the left side window showing the plane maybe 50-100ft AGL over a nice grassy field. The stall horn keeps chirping and then as they get closer to the ground, full stall and spin to the right into the ground from a very low altitude. She says her husband is hurt pretty badly, but everyone survived. Of course, when I switched over to try and find out more on Google, then switched back to Instagram, the feed refreshed and I cannot find the reel again or anything on Google.

Anyone familiar with this incident? It appears that they were probably on climb out and just never climbed and the pilot wouldn't let the nose drop to get some airspeed, but it's not clear if they were overweight or COG issuees, or DA issues, or drag issues from the door being tied open. I'm just curious what the real story was.
 
Wouldn’t that have a similar affect to right rudder plus drag? Yeah, sounds scary


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MIFlyer said:
Wouldn’t that have a similar affect to right rudder plus drag? Yeah, sounds scary


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I didn't even think of this until you said that. I wonder if the door would be enough to disrupt airflow over the elevator.
 
morleyz said:
I didn't even think of this until you said that. I wonder if the door would be enough to disrupt airflow over the elevator.
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I know a CFI that was flying with another student that opened the door on a long final and demonstrated that you can yaw a Cessna with the door. He was crazy but spent his life crop dusting. He was exactly who I wanted to teach me "stay alive" flying. I went elsewhere for the "by the book" stuff.
 
Here's a quote from the pilot in the article linked above:

“When I came over the corner over the lake, there was a lot of wind coming at me, which isn’t normally a big deal,” Feild said. “My plane — a turbocharged 210 — has plenty of horsepower.”​

Is it just me, or does this seem like an odd thing for an experienced pilot to say...?
 
MIFlyer said:
Wouldn’t that have a similar affect to right rudder plus drag? Yeah, sounds scary
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Yep, even pushing the door open an inch or two yaws the aircraft noticeably.

AviationObserver said:
Here's a quote from the pilot in the article linked above:

“When I came over the corner over the lake, there was a lot of wind coming at me, which isn’t normally a big deal,” Feild said. “My plane — a turbocharged 210 — has plenty of horsepower.”​

Is it just me, or does this seem like an odd thing for an experienced pilot to say...?
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That guy has said a lot of odd things, total nut.
 
StraightnLevel said:
Yes. My CFI opened the door on our taxi back to the ramp the other day, and the effect was significant even for a partially open door.
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I went to one of those so called ''puppy mill'' flight school. You know, one of those flight schools where the instructors don't know anything.

My CFI for private had me take my feet hands off the yoke and feet off the rudder pedals, then turn the plane using the doors. Also control descent with elevator trim.

It wasn't pretty but I would have landed on, or at least near the runway...
 
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Removing the door for filming is one thing and not unusual. Having the door open and tied to the strut is quite another, it would be like taking off with drag brakes, not to mention the yaw effect and the possibility of blanking half the stabilizer. I can't imagine any pilot with half a brain trying this.
 
Agronomist said:
I know a CFI that was flying with another student that opened the door on a long final and demonstrated that you can yaw a Cessna with the door. He was crazy but spent his life crop dusting. He was exactly who I wanted to teach me "stay alive" flying. I went elsewhere for the "by the book" stuff.
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We learned that as an actual technique. Works perfectly.
 
Racerx said:
210 doesn't have a strut to hold the door open.
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They did up until 1966 or so.
1710526461678.png
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cessna_210_Centurion

The airplane in this crash was a new, cantilevered-wing airplane, and the door was probably tied to the wing-mounted doorstop. Still a very stupid idea. Even if they had gotten away with it, the wind at even 100 knots would have twisted that door, maybe enough to tear it off its hinges and send it into the horizontal stab.
 
Dana said:
Removing the door for filming is one thing and not unusual. Having the door open and tied to the strut is quite another, it would be like taking off with drag brakes, not to mention the yaw effect and the possibility of blanking half the stabilizer. I can't imagine any pilot with half a brain trying this.
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I've been in many planes with the doors removed, or the window open. One of the 182s I fly was a former skydive plane and the door opens upward. The STC only allows it to be open at a pretty low speed (can't remember right now). I won't even open it it flight because I know a skydive pilot who had one come off and hit the tail. I'd rather remove it.

I can't imagine trying to tie the door open! Even if the plane would fly, If the rope failed, it would probably be a fatal blow if you weren't completely inside the plane.

Can't add this one to the Darwin awards if he survives, but he sure tried.
 
Racerx said:
210 doesn't have a strut to hold the door open.
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210s evolved more than most Cessnas! The first 210s were just 182s with retractable gear. Then they made them bigger, adding two seats, but they had struts until 1966. The early 210s are a bargain if you don't need the extra seats.
 
I saw the video clip a week or so ago. Just another example for a Darwin Award, sadly.
 
Don’t recognize the accident as described. I’ve had posts or reels disappear when trying to return to them so I’ve learned it’s best to use whatever feature is offered to remember the link. With reels it’s more challenging.
 
When towing gliders on hot days in the 1970s, I took both doors off the Auster. Lost two cowboy hats when I slipped down after glider release. I used to toss the hat into the back while I flew, but in the slip the gale through the cabin cleaned out all the dirt. And my hat. Twice. Slow learner.
 
I wonder when Cessna designed the airframe there was a reason they didn’t add asymmetrical, draggy things all over the thing? Glad everyone made it but seriously Dude, you never stepped back after binding that door open and said, “that just might not be a good idea!”!!
 
Zeldman said:
My CFI for private had me take my feet hands off the yoke and feet off the rudder pedals, then turn the plane using the doors. Also control descent with elevator trim.

It wasn't pretty but I would have landed on, or at least near the runway...
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Same here; I was taught the same technique. Was able to get it directly over the centerline on a calm day.
 
Agronomist said:
I know a CFI that was flying with another student that opened the door on a long final and demonstrated that you can yaw a Cessna with the door. He was crazy but spent his life crop dusting. He was exactly who I wanted to teach me "stay alive" flying. I went elsewhere for the "by the book" stuff.
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Yes I flew with a test pilot a few times in my plane and it was certainly eye opening
 
I saw the reel in question last week, maybe the week before. I don't recall whether they were in South America or Europe, but they were somewhere outside the US, so it might be tricky to find a report on the incident.

They used almost the entire runway to become airborne, and then staggered into the air with the stall horn chirping. It was hard to watch.
 
Joepilotmsp said:
I wonder when Cessna designed the airframe there was a reason they didn’t add asymmetrical, draggy things all over the thing? Glad everyone made it but seriously Dude, you never stepped back after binding that door open and said, “that just might not be a good idea!”!!
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More likely he stepped back to look at it, spit on the ground, and hollered: “That looks about right! Hop in, let’s go!”

-Skip
 
ColinD said:
I saw the reel in question last week, maybe the week before. I don't recall whether they were in South America or Europe, but they were somewhere outside the US, so it might be tricky to find a report on the incident.

They used almost the entire runway to become airborne, and then staggered into the air with the stall horn chirping. It was hard to watch.
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That makes sense. I thought it was US based so I've been surprised I couldn't find the incident anywhere.
 
Hoover made a video on this. Anyone badmouthing the conclusions of the NTSB will be appalled.
 
Kenny Phillips said:
Hoover made a video on this. Anyone badmouthing the conclusions of the NTSB will be appalled.
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Unfathomably stupid from that pilot, wow. And yeah the investigation was a joke too
 
Accident happened in South Africa. Young pilot had just gotten his commercial with the minimum time and had only flown around 3 hours in the last 90 daya. Besides the tied open door, factors included density altitude > 6000 feet, 10 degrees of flaps, three people in a 172E. The accident investigation was exceedingly poor not even bothering to calculate the actual takeoff data for the conditions present.
 
It would be quite interesting to hear the pilot’s thought process for planning this flight and accident narrative.
 
Kenny Phillips said:
Hoover made a video on this. Anyone badmouthing the conclusions of the NTSB will be appalled.
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Awesome. Thanks for finding this. THAT is definitely the video I was referring to in my initial post.
 
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