Piper PA-46 down in North Carolina

Video doesn’t look like they’re doing an aggressive search.
 
Looks like there was a lot of torque pressure on the wing where it was attached to the plane...or it just landed on its edge.
 
There were a lot of pretty serious thunderstorms throughout the whole area yesterday.
 
I think the FA track says it all. Flight path terminated right near a large thunderstorm cell.

Sad thing is the cells appear to be fairly isolated. Tons of room to negotiate around. I wonder if he was using Nexrad to try to pick his way through?
 
Probably not. Most of these aircraft have on board radar...see the pod on the right wing....radar pod...

This aircraft was a JetProp conversion...
https://rocketengineering.com/

This picture link didn't load for me...YMMV
http://jetprop.com/sites/default/files/gallery_image/JetPROP_309_N709CH.jpg

midwestpa24 said:
I think the FA track says it all. Flight path terminated right near a large thunderstorm cell.

Sad thing is the cells appear to be fairly isolated. Tons of room to negotiate around. I wonder if he was using Nexrad to try to pick his way through?
Click to expand...
 

Attachments

  • 709CH.jpeg
    709CH.jpeg
    122.4 KB · Views: 50
Last edited:
Storms looked scattered at best where this was at but last couple of weeks they have been quite strong with high tops.
 
I flew 4 legs through that exact area and reported an ELT on guard to center around the time of the crash. At 17k I was between layers. At 22k I was on top of most of it. At 25k I was definitely on top. I went through a few areas of moderate to severe precipitation and it was mostly smooth, maybe an occasional bump. I was surprised at how smooth it was because I had the flight attendants remain seated and it ended up being a lot smoother than I thought.
 
Approximately one mile between the wings and the fuselage. The first reports say that the pilot is dead, not mentioning the supposed passenger.
 
bflynn said:
I think I've got the correct radar image for the time. Nash County is in the middle of the map. There was a storm in the southern corner of the county, but the news reports say the crash was in Aventon, which is up near Red Oak.

Sourced from https://weather.us/radar-us/nash/reflectivity/KRAX_20190607-184800z.html

View attachment 74730
Click to expand...

With strong enough winds aloft, a pair of wings sans the rest of the airplane could easily have gotten blown from where that TS is to Red Oak.
 
The radar you see shows what's hitting the ground. When you're in the flight levels you're often times above most of it. At FL250 i was above everything and didn't need to deviate. It was pretty much smooth, just heavy rain below. Aircraft type I was in was A319
 
bflynn said:
I think I've got the correct radar image for the time. Nash County is in the middle of the map. There was a storm in the southern corner of the county, but the news reports say the crash was in Aventon, which is up near Red Oak.

Sourced from https://weather.us/radar-us/nash/reflectivity/KRAX_20190607-184800z.html

View attachment 74730
Click to expand...
I was basing my observation on being on the ground at work. It does look like that was well within the capabilities of that plane.
 
I am subject to correction here but I do not think the highlighted statement is accurate. I have been 'under' red Nexrad blobs and been in clear air. My understanding is that a radar image is a composite image.

https://www.e-education.psu.edu/files/meteo101/image/Section4/Comp_BaseZ0310.html
https://www.weather.gov/iwx/wsr_88d

JC150 said:
The radar you see shows what's hitting the ground. When you're in the flight levels you're often times above most of it. At FL250 i was above everything and didn't need to deviate. It was pretty much smooth, just heavy rain below. Aircraft type I was in was A319
Click to expand...
 
Kelvin said:
I am subject to correction here but I do not think the highlighted statement is accurate. I have been 'under' red Nexrad blobs and been in clear air. My understanding is that a radar image is a composite image.

https://www.e-education.psu.edu/files/meteo101/image/Section4/Comp_BaseZ0310.html
https://www.weather.gov/iwx/wsr_88d
Click to expand...

Perhaps you're right. Too many times I've flown and ATC has told me about heavy to extreme precipitation ahead and i'm on top of everything. All I know is i went through the exact same weather system as this PA46 and i was on top of everything by FL250.
 
JC150 said:
Perhaps you're right. Too many times I've flown and ATC has told me about heavy to extreme precipitation ahead and i'm on top of everything. All I know is i went through the exact same weather system as this PA46 and i was on top of everything by FL250.
Click to expand...
That makes this more concerning then. If not weather ripping off some wings what could could a sudden unusual attitude st that elevation. Usually at that phase of flight the autopilot is on and your just monitoring right?
 
benyflyguy said:
Usually at that phase of flight the autopilot is on and your just monitoring right?
Click to expand...

Depends on the ride. In moderate or more turbulence I will turn off the altitude hold and try my best to hold altitude by hand, and keeping the airspeed below Vno.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top