Twin Comanche coasts to a stop in Kansas farm field

3393RP

3393RP

En-Route
Joined
Oct 8, 2012
Messages
4,219
Display Name
Display name:
3393RP
Looks like an absence of fuel may have been the cause. It was less than a half mile from the departure airport.

www.avweb.com

Dual Engine Failure Leads To Off-Airport Landing

A rare dual engine failure is being cited in the injury-free off-airport landing of a light Piper twin (maybe a Twin Comanche) on Saturday in Kansas. Lane County Sheriff’s Department...
www.avweb.com www.avweb.com

25661174_G.jpeg
www.kake.com

No injuries after small plane loses engines, makes emergency landing in Kansas field

The pilot and two passengers were not injured.
www.kake.com www.kake.com
 
Good landing. Looks intact.
 
so your engine(s) quit....you've picked your field, which this one looks perfect, you've set yourself up to land, nothing else to do but hope/wait..........those few seconds when you're landing on the mains wondering if the nose wheel is gonna collapse and dig into the ground has gotta be brutal.
 
Man, what a luxury the mid-westerners have, great landing zones everywhere. At our home airport, losing the engine shortly after takeoff means eating bark. Pick the fluffiest looking trees and hope for the best.
 
Bill said:
Man, what a luxury the mid-westerners have, great landing zones everywhere. At our home airport, losing the engine shortly after takeoff means eating bark. Pick the fluffiest looking trees and hope for the best.
Click to expand...
During my PP training (in KS, where the whole State is a landing strip) I was taught, “don’t pass up a good landing place for something that looks better”. It’s tempting to think about stretching over a treeline or powerline when there’s a perfectly good place right in front of you.
 
Bill said:
Man, what a luxury the mid-westerners have, great landing zones everywhere. At our home airport, losing the engine shortly after takeoff means eating bark. Pick the fluffiest looking trees and hope for the best.
Click to expand...
Fluffy trees are better than trying to pick the fluffiest rocks we have here.

I thought about taking a job in Kansas once. The constant flat was mind numbing, I could not do it... :lol:
 
robin ardoin said:
That is my take also. They ran the air/fuel ratio too lean in the tanks.
Click to expand...
It takes a good bit of luck to run both sides dry simultaneously. I wonder how long they were OEI before they became a glider. Probably not long since neither engine is feathered, but I wasn't there and have never flown a Twin Comanche so maybe there's another explanation for that. Or they got really, really lucky and both engines did sputter to a halt simultaneously.

One thing I noticed as I tried to find, in the ADS-B track, an initial loss of speed that could indicate the first engine quitting, is that they were apparently flying against a 20-knot headwind (outbound and return ground speeds are about 40 knots apart). I don't consider that a particularly strong wind but maybe they didn't consider winds aloft in planning the flight. Or maybe their sightseeing near Wichita burned more fuel than expected, possibly due to improper leaning.
 
iamtheari said:
Maybe I'm misinterpreting it, but it looks to me like they were headed back to Scott Municipal, lost the engines, and diverted toward Dighton Airport, which they didn't quite reach.
Click to expand...
The initial story I saw said Dighton was the departure airport. Their little jaunt came up a bit short.
 
Last edited:
3393RP said:
Looks like an absence of fuel may have been the cause. It was less than a half mile from the departure airport.

www.avweb.com

Dual Engine Failure Leads To Off-Airport Landing

A rare dual engine failure is being cited in the injury-free off-airport landing of a light Piper twin (maybe a Twin Comanche) on Saturday in Kansas. Lane County Sheriff’s Department...
www.avweb.com www.avweb.com

View attachment 123924
www.kake.com

No injuries after small plane loses engines, makes emergency landing in Kansas field

The pilot and two passengers were not injured.
www.kake.com www.kake.com
Click to expand...
Absence of gas on a departure?? On an arrival I can see that as a point of discussion. So. If ya wanna play the fuel card, was it exhaustion or starvation? Exhaustion on a departure gets us into Darwin Award territory.
 
luvflyin said:
Absence of gas on a departure?? On an arrival I can see that as a point of discussion. So. If ya wanna play the fuel card, was it exhaustion or starvation? Exhaustion on a departure gets us into Darwin Award territory.
Click to expand...
It does not appear to be a departure airport but a diversion due to his/her issue.
 
I can't think of anything special about a PA30 that would make it more prone to double loss of engine power.

Ours had 6 fuel tanks, and each selector had 3 positions IIRC, so.. maybe that is 6 ways this owner could f-up fuel management? Still pretty impressive to have the sides burning so closely together to cause a dual engine out.

I suppose this sort of foolishness is why skyhawks have a "Both" setting on their fuel selector.
 
luvflyin said:
Absence of gas on a departure?? On an arrival I can see that as a point of discussion. So. If ya wanna play the fuel card, was it exhaustion or starvation? Exhaustion on a departure gets us into Darwin Award territory.
Click to expand...
As I mentioned above, the initial media story I saw said Dighton was the departure field, and I assumed the plane went down while returning to that airport.

As for your conjecture about departure, if the fuel distribution valves are in the oh-eff-eff detent or otherwise incorrectly configured prior to engine start, that could cause an unanticipated gliding return to Earth shortly after takeoff, but I don't have personal experience to verify that's a possibility with regards to engine run time.

Based on the photograph of the aircraft, my assumption an absence of fuel caused the impromptu imitation of a piece of farm equipment seemed reasonable, regardless of the specifics.
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top