2023-Mar-05 DA40 fatal accident with a post-crash fire

[Rich]

There was a small fire, this is apparent in the videos.

As far as the go-around, it looks like it starts with too much speed on approach. If the ground track is to be believed the plane started drifting right and was still well above normal touchdown speed. Perhaps inadvertently carrying some power after the flare. OK, this happens all the time, so you go around.

The big mystery is why that missed approach didn't go well. The flaps appear to be in LDG position but I've gone around several times with the flaps still lowered - including one very close call in '04 In that case my plane reacted immediately to power application and climbed fine. Weight around 2150 lb. in that instance (804ER weight at the time not known yet). Like this accident plane my situation was essentially sea level and moderate temperature. But dynamic winds from a nearby thunderstorm were involved and were the proximate reason for the miss.

[Rich]

NTSB has preliminary report out with information from two eye-witnesses that were awaiting their arrival. Go-around attempted with no apparent increase in power.

[Boatguy]

Max Trescott does some further analysis and speculation of the cause of the crash in his Aviation News Talk podcast.

https://aviationnewstalk.com/podcast/27 ... s-ga-news/

[Rich]

Max Trescott does some further analysis and speculation of the cause of the crash in his Aviation News Talk podcast.

https://aviationnewstalk.com/podcast/27 ... s-ga-news/

I take issue with certain statements he made in this podcast and I happen to have first-hand experience that he admits he does not have:
1. He states the "normal" approach speed of a DA40 is 71 KIAS. That would be absurdly fast with a pre-2004 DA40 at the likely weight the plane was carrying at the time of the accident. I'm in the low 60's normally at a load like this. But I do agree they were too fast.
2. Unlike Max, I have first-hand experience in full-flap go-arounds. The most memorable was at (likely) similar weight at a sea-level airport on a normal-temperature late spring day with a total weight similar to what the accident plane likely had. Even though this was long before Powerflow the plane responded and climbed just fine with full flaps. And we don't even know they were at full flaps.
3. He talks about retracting flaps slowly. In reality, the rate at which the flaps retract is dictated by the flap motor and linkage. It's pretty rare in newer model aircraft to be otherwise. I have flown older models that you could nurse them up slowly. The most you could do in the DA40 is limit the initial retraction to T/O flaps. And there's absolutely no reason to be in a hurry to bring them up further. On a recent flight with full tanks and three adults aboard climbing out from my 3200 ft elevation airport I was seeing 800-1000 FPM with T/O flaps (although I do now have Powerflow).
4. Speculation is risky, as he postulated a possible bounced landing, prop strike and whatnot. The subsequent published preliminary report includes statements that the plane never touched down at all. Also in that report the witnesses stated that the power wasn't noticeably increased.

I have my own theory why power wasn't properly brought up related to a long flying day in a plane neither had much experience in, but will wait until information is available.

[Rich]

Today I thought I’d quantify what a full-flap go-around looks like in this vintage (similar to mine) DA40. Executive summary: Given full throttle it’s no big deal. I did two cases: 1) a go around from about flare height. 2) a touch and go where one forgets to retract the flaps to T/O setting. I guarantee these scenarios happen all the time.

Conditions: Weight around 2000 lb. My plane is equipped with Powerflow, with which the accident aircraft may or may not have been equipped. Density altitude of the runway 4,600 ft. The first warm day we’ve had in a long while.

In both cases the plane climbed out at ~700 FPM with full flaps at about 75 KIAS. Retracting to T/O flap setting was a non-event.

I’m thinking I was somewhat lighter than the accident scenario, and the PowerFlow may or may not be a variant. But the DA is there to consider and the full-flap climb was continued for at least an additional 600 ft. altitude.