Orlando - Diamond DA42 accident flipped high winds

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ingramleedy
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Orlando - Diamond DA42 accident flipped high winds

Post by ingramleedy »

Very sad news from friends in Orlando involving DA42 flipped in high winds before takeoff at Orlando Executive (KORL).

https://www.wesh.com/article/orlando-ai ... d/41059551

Unoccupied Cessna 182: N8421S
Occupied twin engine Diamond: N43RG
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Chris
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Re: Orlando - Diamond DA42 accident flipped high winds

Post by Chris »

So sad. Condolences to the friends and family of the deceased.

The FAA registry still shows it registered to Diamond Sales, but based on the flight history it looks to be used for a lot of training flights. Possibly a relatively recent addition to the MyFlight fleet based there?

The winds must have been pretty intense to flip over a heavy DA42 like that. From the news account, it sounded like it was stationary. I.e. not a loss-of-control on the takeoff roll or anything like that. Tragic.
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dmloftus
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Re: Orlando - Diamond DA42 accident flipped high winds

Post by dmloftus »

WOW! Microburst?
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tjmoody
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Re: Orlando - Diamond DA42 accident flipped high winds

Post by tjmoody »

According to the METARS, it looks like gusts peaked at 54kts around 5pm ET. Very sad!
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dmloftus
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Re: Orlando - Diamond DA42 accident flipped high winds

Post by dmloftus »

Amazing, we are all aware and take precautions about dangers in the air. Also hotspots and runway incursions on the ground. Never would I think there would be a danger in a plane flipping in the run up area. Wonder what they were thinking with those kinds of gusts, Maybe waiting for it to blow over?
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Colin
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Re: Orlando - Diamond DA42 accident flipped high winds

Post by Colin »

If anyone hears more about the injury and condition of the cockpit I would like to know it. I have always told my passengers that the cockpit is a carbon fiber egg that is difficult to deform even in a 15g crash. The images of the DA42 inverted look pretty flat, like the arch collapsed. if it *hasn't* collapsed, I don't know how the person died, unless they weren't buckled in and fell on their head.

So sad. It feels like all good decisions (waiting out the storm, stay in the plane which feels like a safer spot that outside of it as things are blowing around) and a very tragic outcome.
Colin Summers, PP Multi-Engine IFR, ~3,000hrs
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Re: Orlando - Diamond DA42 accident flipped high winds

Post by TimS »

dmloftus wrote: Fri Sep 02, 2022 4:02 pm Amazing, we are all aware and take precautions about dangers in the air. Also hotspots and runway incursions on the ground. Never would I think there would be a danger in a plane flipping in the run up area. Wonder what they were thinking with those kinds of gusts, Maybe waiting for it to blow over?
Another forum the link to the news reports stated the DA-62 crew had waited around for the weather to settle. Then preflighted and were in the runup area waiting for the weather to finish clearing before takeoff.
By now, this is all third or fourth hand so do NOT take it as gospel.

Tim
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Re: Orlando - Diamond DA42 accident flipped high winds

Post by Soareyes »

Flipped.JPG
It was surprising to see the cockpit so completely flattened from what doesn't seem like a high speed crash, just flipped over from ground level. The nose cone is gone. Presumably they got caught with a major gust from behind that lifted the tail. The winglets and the tail are broken so the weight was all on the roof.

Curious about the strength of the cockpit, I went looking for other pictures of DA40 and DA42s upside down. The cockpit may not be as protective as we hope.
Flipped OZ.JPG
Flipped dirt.JPG
Flipped NC.JPG
In the middle picture it looks like the tail kept some of the weight off the cockpit. The bottom picture is the DA40NG that went down earlier this year in North Carolina. From personal communication the canopy came off in the crash and was not removed later by rescuers.

Looking for lessons here, maybe keep the stick forward to help keep the tail down in a strong wind. If you find yourself going over, duck.
Current: DA42-V1

Previous: Hang gliders, Paraglider, DA40(x3), Cessna 150 Aerobat, SR22
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Re: Orlando - Diamond DA42 accident flipped high winds

Post by hifiaudio2 »

Wow. That Cessna (in the above video) looks "fine" and our super safe Diamond is crushed. Not good.
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Re: Orlando - Diamond DA42 accident flipped high winds

Post by Boatguy »

The DA42 is much heavier with an engine on each wing than the C172.

What we don't know is how far up in the air the plane went before it came back down. The nose appears to still be pointed towards the hold line. If it flipped from the tail forward, the nose would be pointing back towards Atlantic. That suggests to me it flipped laterally, which is consistent with the plane being 90˚ to the prevailing wind down runway 07. The wingspan is 44' so the fuselage would need to get at least 22' into the air to flip over, even if it pivoted on one wingtip. But it could have gone up higher. The engine on the high wing would have dropped from an altitude of about 30'. Dropping 4,000lbs from 22' - 30' (help me physicists) is a lot of force on the "roll bar".
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