Plane fails take off on beach filled with children

[baronbeeza]

Ummmmm...

www.stuff.co.nz/national/9597091/Plane-fails-take-off-on-beach-filled-with-children

A light plane has made an emergency landing on a beach filled with children at a sandcastle competition.

No-one was hurt when the small aircraft landed on Martins Bay beach, on the Mahurangi Peninsula near Warkworth, about 11am today.

Onlookers said the plane was fixed but when it tried to take off it struck some soft sand and broke its propeller.

Martins Bay Holiday Park manager Linda Brickland said luckily the 500 to 600 children on the beach were clustered together at a sandcastle competition.

Brickland said the pilot began experiencing engine failure about 3 kilometres out and was forced to land on the beach.

The plane was travelling from Ardmore to Whangarei.

The mechanical issue was fixed but another mishap occurred when the pilot tried to take off, she said.

Holiday maker Tim Davin filmed the plane attempting to take off on the narrow strip of hard sand near the water.

The video shows the plane getting tangled with the water, digging in on the front left, breaking its propeller and damaging its wing.

Brickland said the plane was waiting to be towed off the beach.

The children "thoroughly enjoyed it", she said.

"They thought it was great fun."

[ul450]

Hmm....

Horne said he and his passenger transferred fuel from one wing to the other, but when they tried to take off again they contacted the water, causing the plane to "nosedive" into the sand, breaking its propeller and damaging its wing.

I would have thought that they would have tried to remove as much weight before trying to get off the beach there...

[johnnyfalcon]

OK Children, what can we learn from this?

[baronbeeza]

Ohh teacher, please.. please..


I am sure there would be a few discussion afterwards.
The landing must have been a good one given the circumstances. No doubt we will hear more about beach conditions for the landing a little later on.

The Take-off should really have been a non-event.
I have never operated off a beach, others here will have. I have driven a truck along a beach, but with the tide a little further out when there was more room. I believe high tide would have been 15:47 today.

Water has a massive drag on a wheel, hitting a puddle or wet area when taking off from grass proves that.

Fire trucks will slow you down also.

[philip]

i.stuff.co.nz/national/9597091/Plane-fails-take-off-on-beach-filled-with-children

[Peter Lewis]

Jabiru J200 ZK-ORN

[beagle]

just watched it on the news.
I think I would have waited till low tide, cleared all trees at the end plus taken away the cliff.

[baronbeeza]

I watched the news also and thought I heard the pilot say that they were racing the incoming tide ? Did you see the width of available beach just beyond where they eventually ended up in the surf, it can be seen in the last few seconds of that last clip.

Surely those two blokes must have been sitting there wondering what was going to happen next also.

Ummmm..

tvnz.co.nz/national-news/scenic-flight-turns-into-double-disaster-5796094

[The Red Baron]

Crazy stuff....at least the crash in the water was a softer option than the crash into the cliff had it actually got airborne.

[baronbeeza]

Unfortunately for all of us this was a very public incident, I am sure we are going to hear much more about this one.

It is just as CAA are coming back to work and I think they will have no choice but to show interest. I realise we can all be experts after the event and no-one here will be jumping to conclusions as such.
Obviously we have the Police in attendance as well as numerous witnesses, many with video cameras. We saw what everyone else saw.

It was very fortunate that the two guys escaped without injury and the aircraft could even be repairable. I also have a feeling this could have had an even worse outcome.
It does little for our public image though and some of the rather cavalier comments we heard reminded me of the Seawind sequence some years ago on Lake Taupo.

This is no newspaper article. I heard on those news-clips what the guys said, as would the chappies in Wellington.

This from TV One News.

After some running repairs on a blocked fuel valve the plane burst back into life and the makeshift runway was cleared in time to beat the incoming tide.

"We're obviously not going to take any risks and we don't want to make an exhibition of ourselves and splatter on the cliff," Mr Horn said.

However, Mr Scherbius said they were too cautious in staying away from the trees and the plane ended up in the water.

What are those famous last words ?
I think we'll be ok...

[starr]

I agree with beagle. Should have waited for low tide. I know this beach quite well. Barr Bros used this beach regularly in the 50s and 60s to topdress Scandretts farm. (Now Regional Park). They used Cessna 180 and Airtruk. I never used the beach, but topdressed for scandretts and Nichols from Nichols strip on the Peninsula just south of Martins Bay.

[philip]

My family holidayed at that beach for the best part of my childhood and I know it really well. At low tide the sand is hard packed and good enough to launch a boat from anywhere.

High tide today was 15:45 so ample time to let it out a bit to give a good clear strip in the evening and plenty long enough. They started from midway and only used half the beach and there are rocks at the end they were going along with the overhanging pohutukawas we used to play on

I'd say caa will require some 'splaining

[baronbeeza]

www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11184407

An unlucky Auckland pilot had his fair share of problems today after not only making an emergency landing on a crowded beach, but then crashing into the surf when he tried to take-off again.

Hundreds of people were on the beach at the time, but the fact that nobody, including the two onboard the aircraft were injured, has the Civil Aviation Authority impressed with his piloting skills.

The drama unfolded at Martins Bay beach, near Warkworth, when engine trouble hit the single-engine microlight about 3km offshore.

A group of about 500 people had gathered on the beach for a sandcastle-making competition before the aircraft skimmed over their heads and landed further along the shore.

Martins Bay Holiday Park manager Linda Brickland ran to the pilot, Dennis Horn and co-pilot Manfred Scherbius to check on their condition.


The timing of the landing "couldn't have been more perfect", because the crowd of beachgoers were gathered at one end for the sandcastle competition instead of spread along the beach.

Police arrived and cleared the beach so the pair could attempt a take-off.

"The take-off failed. He hit water and a bit of soft sand and went sideways, causing the propeller to break and a wing to break.

"He won't be able to fly off now."

The Jabiru J200 microlight was on its first flight, from Ardmore to Whangarei, since a new engine was installed, One News reported.

Mr Horn told One News that hearing the engine stop was the last thing a pilot would want to hear, "especially when he's only got one engine".

"We actually landed on some rocks which was a bit rough but it only damaged the aircraft slightly."

CAA spokesman Mike Richards said it was not illegal to land on a beach in an emergency and it appeared the men made the best of a bad situation.

"The key is that the pilot was able to land successfully and walk away from it.

"In the circumstances the pilot's done a commendable job getting down without any injury."

It was an "amazing story", Mr Richards said.

There was bad luck in the take-off though, he said, with the aircraft "ending up in the drink".

Police did the right thing in clearing the beach and giving the pilot a chance to move the plane from the area.

An investigation would be conducted into the cause of the crash, Mr Richards said.

- APNZ

[nzjet]

Perhaps they could take a lesson in rudder control, they could take the tiger moth pilot with them!

[Bruce]

sigh.... Not a good look for recreational flying. Not a good series of airmanship decisions.

[Peter Lewis]

Please keep the discussion on the observed facts and do not speculate on any perceived failings of the crew.

Possible blame is for the CAA enquiry to establish.

[Dave Homewood]

An interesting angle on the scene from the water here. Not a lot of beach was used, and not a lot was left to use
www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11184407

[baronbeeza]

On observed facts.

Did I see the Police car positioned on the beach access road, about 1/3 of the way into the take-off run ?


There may be a few embarrassing questions there also. One of the newsreels shows a crowd doing the retrieve from the water. In the background we can hear a siren wailing as the Police car comes into view. That would have to be some minutes after the accident. Has me wondering if the Policeman may have misplaced his keys, perhaps in the sand somewhere.

tvnz.co.nz/national-news/scenic-flight-turns-into-double-disaster-5796094

What did Johnny say in his post above ? !!

The answer may be lots.

Who else was surprised to see the right wing come forward into position again after that tweaking ?
Without that footage you wouldn't know, well apart from the trailing edge crushing or witness marks.

A crowded beach, many cameras. The authorities will have their work cut out just collecting up all the evidence. Footage of the landing, of the repair, of the engine runs, of the departure briefing. I doubt we have any seen such a graphic example in NZ before.

Peter's stills of the Tiger Moth were very telling but this one has to be in a league of it's own.

[Dave Homewood]

Huh? What exactly are you trying to say about the police?

So what if there was a slight delay in the police driving their car up to the aircraft from where it was parked. The officer or officers were on site and were most likely on foot helping with crowd control when the accident occurred.

Jeez you like to try to find something to criticise in everything, don't you? Even if it's non-existent.

[baronbeeza]

Actually most of the guys with me had a chuckle at the expense of the cop. He did nothing wrong but you had to feel for him.... it was at the 8 to 15 seconds marks of the first video clip. Holy crap batman.. let's get moving. Maybe you need a sense of humour to appreciate it.

If criticise means have a laugh, then yep... guilty as charged.

www.stuff.co.nz/national/9597091/Plane-fails-take-off-on-beach-filled-with-children

These video clips will go viral, YouTube has any number of them.

The BBC one was good.