DA42 Down in Thailand-3 souls lost

Any DA42 related topics.

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Kai
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Re: DA42 Down in Thailand-3 souls lost

Post by Kai »

Nakhon Phanom Flight academy has had 3 crashes only in the last year:

1) HS-IAE http://www.khaosodenglish.com/life/2016 ... 456391551/ (MUST READ)
2) HS-IAF http://www.thai-aviation.net/files/Air_Accidents.pdf
3) HS-IA?, the DA42 in this thread

4) HS-IAO had accidents in 2010 and 2013 in Roi Et and Nakhon Phanom, see http://www.thai-aviation.net/files/Regi ... gister.pdf

5 accounted accidents from one and the same flight school. I wonder if that will wake up someone at the DCA in Bangkok..
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Re: DA42 Down in Thailand-3 souls lost

Post by Keith M »

rwtucker wrote:Apart from this specific tragedy, what if anything might this accident might tell us about the 26g capsule?
In the Australian Grand Prix, Fernando Alonso sustained a peak force of 46G when he crashed at 180mph (source). However, he was wearing a full-harness safety belt and a crash helmet with a Head and Neck Support (HANS) system to prevent his head from hitting the steering wheel, or breaking his neck. His only injury was a cracked rib. Our lap and diagonal seatbelts don't give us nearly as much protection as our 26G capsules.
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Re: DA42 Down in Thailand-3 souls lost

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That makes me consider putting in the airbag seatbelts. Or, as the Diamond salesmen said, "The Cirrus has that save-your-ass chute, but we have the open-coffin seatbelts."
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Re: DA42 Down in Thailand-3 souls lost

Post by Rich »

Airbag belts will do nothing for the very vulnerable head/neck junction. Dale Earnhardt, for example.

The severe whiplash of a rapidly decelerating unsupported 10 lb. weight at the top of your neck is no small thing. Auto seats (and our Diamonds) have head rests to keep the head from whipping to the rear, but there is no restraint of forward or side motion of what could effectively be a multi-hundred-pound strain on your neck.
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Re: DA42 Down in Thailand-3 souls lost

Post by rwtucker »

Rich wrote:Airbag belts will do nothing for the very vulnerable head/neck junction. Dale Earnhardt, for example.
The severe whiplash of a rapidly decelerating unsupported 10 lb. weight at the top of your neck is no small thing. Auto seats (and our Diamonds) have head rests to keep the head from whipping to the rear, but there is no restraint of forward or side motion of what could effectively be a multi-hundred-pound strain on your neck.
I guess there is no way to prevent that outcome short of a head harness that would significantly restrict visibility. Is that correct?
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Re: DA42 Down in Thailand-3 souls lost

Post by Rich »

rwtucker wrote:
Rich wrote:Airbag belts will do nothing for the very vulnerable head/neck junction. Dale Earnhardt, for example.
The severe whiplash of a rapidly decelerating unsupported 10 lb. weight at the top of your neck is no small thing. Auto seats (and our Diamonds) have head rests to keep the head from whipping to the rear, but there is no restraint of forward or side motion of what could effectively be a multi-hundred-pound strain on your neck.
I guess there is no way to prevent that outcome short of a head harness that would significantly restrict visibility. Is that correct?
Don't know. Automotive airbags are really large things that blow out at you and constrain head and torso. And many cars now have door-side airbags to constrain from that side, anyway. The amsafe seems to be designed more for keeping your head/face from impacting the panel or whatever.

I don't know how what sort of restraints it had, but a Mooney M20K crashed on takeoff at Woodland, WA in April. Mushed takeoff - hit a berm and fence. NTSB said it stopped in about 5 ft (from probably around 60 MPH, I figure). Pilot and front-seat passenger survived with injuries, rear seat passenger died. Cockpit area seemed mostly intact, particularly the rear seat area.
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Re: DA42 Down in Thailand-3 souls lost

Post by Kai »

Quite an interesting article on The Nation. It mentions another crash landing earlier this year but I guess the press is confusing the DA40 with the DA42.

To another point, the article mentions that the International Aviation College bought 10 DA42 for 10 million Baht each. Also, there must be something wrong or why would Diamond sell a DA42 for $285k? I have to guess again, they confused the DA40 with the DA42. On the Nakhon Phanom International Aviation College's homepage they state that they own 6 DA40s and 4 DA42s.

“Journalism is a low trade and a habit worse than heroin, a strange seedy world of misfits and drunkards and failures.” I now understand what Hunter Thompson meant.

Here is the article:
A SMALL aircraft from Nakhon Phanom University’s International Aviation College crashed yesterday morning, killing all three people on board.

Found dead inside the mangled Diamond DA42 aircraft were aviation-trainer chief Pol Lt-Colonel Somboon Kamneungrattana-wongsa, 62, pilot Second Lieutenant Chinnawut Nuanklab, 26, and Yingyos Udonpim, the chairman of the Office of the Farmer's Reconstruction and Development Fund board and a former chairman of the Maha Sarakham Provincial Administra-tive Organisation.

Yingyos, 54, boarded the Bangkok-bound flight at dawn to meet a member of the Cabinet in the capital later yesterday.

"I've received a report that the trainer contacted the Aeronautical Radio of Thailand to ask for permission to make an emergency landing about 10 minutes into the flight," said Assoc Prof Air Marshal Jirasak Chanasit, dean of the aviation college. He added that the aircraft was flying at about 1,500 metres above the ground at the time.

A source said the pilot detected a fire in the left engine of the aircraft, reported it, but then lost contact with Aeronautical Radio of Thailand

The accident occurred just two kilometres away from the Nakhon Phanom airport.

The cause of the crash remained unclear yesterday.

Nakhon Phanom University's acting president Prawit Erawan said the Civil Aviation Authority of Thailand had already launched an investigation.

"From our side, the university has set up a committee to look into the incident. It is required to report the results within 30 days," he added.

The International Aviation College has conducted training courses since 2007, attracting students from across Thailand and also foreign countries. The one-year training costs more than Bt2 million.

Earlier this year, a Diamond DA42 aircraft from the college reportedly had to make an emergency landing during a training session. Although the aircraft suffered damage in the crash landing, the trainer and students were unharmed.

Pavich Tongroach, chair of the Nakhon Phanom University's Council, said the university's International Aviation College bought 10 Diamond DA42 planes from Austria for about Bt10 million each.

"It is a standard aircraft for commercial aviation training. This model is widely used in Germany and France," he said.

The college is a state-run institution.
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Re: DA42 Down in Thailand-3 souls lost

Post by Kai »

rwtucker wrote:
Rich wrote:Airbag belts will do nothing for the very vulnerable head/neck junction. Dale Earnhardt, for example.
The severe whiplash of a rapidly decelerating unsupported 10 lb. weight at the top of your neck is no small thing. Auto seats (and our Diamonds) have head rests to keep the head from whipping to the rear, but there is no restraint of forward or side motion of what could effectively be a multi-hundred-pound strain on your neck.
I guess there is no way to prevent that outcome short of a head harness that would significantly restrict visibility. Is that correct?
In Formula1-racing cars they use the Hans-device (no German jokes now). If someone finds out that this could save lives in GA, I can already see us wearing helmets and Hans-devices.
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Re: DA42 Down in Thailand-3 souls lost

Post by Karl »

Getting back to the accident in question.
The aircraft took off early in the morning when it would still be dark or at best twilight.
The pilots on board were quite high level instructors and I am willing to bet not too much recent night flying experience and even less from the left hand seat.
In a TAE DA42 at full power in low light it is possible to see the turbo glow cherry red through the slots in the cowling. This is only visible in low light and only from the left seat. I would not be surprised if this is what brought about the impression of fire. As someone else mentioned the fire warning can illuminate if the SB has not been carried out and it gets wet but a fire warning without visible signs off fire should be a non event especially so close to the airfield.
We will probably never know why 2 experienced pilots failed to fly the aircraft back to the airport but startle effect and panic would be on my list of possibilities.
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Re: DA42 Down in Thailand-3 souls lost

Post by Colin »

In a TAE DA42 at full power in low light it is possible to see the turbo glow cherry red through the slots in the cowling.
Thank you, that was very mysterious to me on a recent night flight and I kept forgetting to ask.

I am no longer surprised about the accidents with the experienced pilots not flying the plane. A Citation jet at Van Nuys had a nose luggage door pop open and all they had to do was fly the pattern and land. They crashed onto the golf course on short final.
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