Update on Catalina Baron crash

[BillTIZ]

See post #7.

Consider the aspects of what the airport manager was dealing with. It is well known that the airport closes at sunset. It is well known that there are no accommodations at or near the airport. There are no aircraft maintenance faculties at the airport. The pilot brings in an airplane with known issues. It is over an hour drive to town and then an hour back again for him to get home on a twisty, dirt, mountain road with no lighting, with drop-offs at every turn, in the DARK with marine layer fog starting to build.

 

[nauga]

Prelim (without the gratuitous video): https://data.ntsb.gov/carol-repgen/api/Aviation/ReportMain/GenerateNewestReport/195282/pdf

Nauga,
from the horse's mouth

 

[geezer]

Why did they shut down both engines They knew they had a battery problem, they had a charger on board, and an extension cord.

This version does not have an attempt to repair the original aircraft, so simply shutting down the engine on the passenger door side should have been safe. Restarting that one engine, with the running engine keeping the battery topped up should have been successful.

 

[MauleSkinner]

Consider the aspects of what the airport manager was dealing with. It is well known that the airport closes at sunset. It is well known that there are no accommodations at or near the airport. There are no aircraft maintenance faculties at the airport. The pilot brings in an airplane with known issues. It is over an hour drive to town and then an hour back again for him to get home on a twisty, dirt, mountain road with no lighting, with drop-offs at every turn, in the DARK with marine layer fog starting to build.

…and the pilot “had to go and intended to depart anyway.” Not that he couldn’t stay overnight, didn’t have a ride into town, didn’t have maintenance, whatever. He “had to go.” Based on the (admittedly incomplete) information I have, I see no reason to believe that maintenance on the field and a free place to stay on the airport would have made a difference. The original instructor and students might have stayed overnight, but once the rescue mission was started, not departing that night doesn’t seem to have been an option.