Sonex down at Osh. Two dead..R.I.P.

[1600vw]

We had a set of posts cross. As I mentioned there, I'm not really interested in pre-analyzing this early, but: The amount of damage to an aircraft (and its occupants) is exponentially related to the speed at which it hits. The amount of energy involved is related to the square of the speed...hit twice as fast, the airplane and occupants suffer four times as much.

Conversely, all things being equal, the less damage the airplane exhibits, the slower it was going. A lot of things affect this...a glancing first impact to slow the plane down, the nature of what it hits, etc. You can be killed on a bicycle; Frank Tallman had to have a leg amputated from tripping off a curb.

In all probability, the plane was travelling slowly when it hit. They may have had bad luck with the first thing they hit...but I think, typically, you see more tail cone damage in these cases as the plane tumbles. But, of course, the OTHER way it could hit slowly is vertically...deep stall or incipient spin.

We had a Fly Baby accident last year after an engine failure. It went down in a grove of trees. The NTSB report comments that the trees were damaged in a hole only slightly larger than the aircraft...in other words, it went straight in, probably stalled. In the pictures in the docket, the Fly Baby's fuselage is broken off just behind the cockpit and is remarkably intact. So are the wings, for that matter...but the forward fuselage is shattered. No fire, despite a fuel tank located above the pilot's legs right behind the engine.

So the NTSB investigators will be examining the debris trail, attempting to piece together how, exactly, the Sonex was travelling at the time of impact. With all that equipment around, it should have left a pretty obvious trail as it disintegrated.

Ron Wanttaja

Gotcha Ron. Thanks for this post.


Tony

[Mike M]

... In all likelihood, the vehicles were still owned by the manufacturer (e.g., pre-delivery).... Whether the trucks contributed to the severity of the accident or not, the fact that they were being sold to the Government is immaterial.

Well put. Those vehicles bring dollars into the Oshkosh and Wisconsin economy and provide quality jobs. If it wasn't those vehicles, it would be fire trucks or busses or whatever else the company builds. Those good folks live there and make their living there, doing that.

[rwanttaja]

In Tony's defense, this accident obviously hit him hard. It's natural for folks to seek a reason after a tragedy like this, and logic sometimes slips a bit.

Ron Wanttaja

[krw920]

Just to note, the trucks that were hit in this incident were NOT on airport property, but on private, Oshkosh Corp property just east of the airport.

[1600vw]

Just to note, the trucks that were hit in this incident were NOT on airport property, but on private, Oshkosh Corp property just east of the airport.

So this was an off airport incident. This did not happen within the fence area of Wittman airfield? Now I am understanding this a little better. I thought this was at Wittman. My bad. Sorry to cause such a ruckus.

Tony Sweet

[Glenn Gordon]

Just to clarify some of the geography....

[1600vw]

Glenn Gordon thanks for the pics. I have been to oshkosh once in 2010. We drove in. For some reason I thought there was more open ground all around Wittman Field. Again sorry for the ruckus and my prayers to the family of both pilots.

Tony

[RickFE]

I saw the news yesterday and was just left with a hard to shake sunken feeling. I took the tour of the Sonex factory, hosted by Mr. Jerry Monnett while at Osh. His enthusiasm for Sonex was infectious and he was just an overall fabulous host for that tour. The tour was just a relatively short encounter but I have to admit that he left quite a positive impression on me regarding Sonex as a company and as an Ambassador of Aviation.

He was clearly a man that any family must have been extremely proud of.

Aviation has truly lost a great friend.

My condolences to all his family and friends.

[1600vw]

I saw the news yesterday and was just left with a hard to shake sunken feeling. I took the tour of the Sonex factory, hosted by Mr. Jerry Monnett while at Osh. His enthusiasm for Sonex was infectious and he was just an overall fabulous host for that tour. The tour was just a relatively short encounter but I have to admit that he left quite a positive impression on me regarding Sonex as a company and as an Ambassador of Aviation.

He was clearly a man that any family must have been extremely proud of.

Aviation has truly lost a great friend.

My condolences to all his family and friends.

Amen...

[rwanttaja]

NTSB Preliminary Report is out:
-----------------------------------------------
NTSB Identification: CEN15FA249
14 CFR Part 91: General Aviation
Accident occurred Tuesday, June 02, 2015 in Oshkosh, WI
Aircraft: MONNETT JOHN T JR SONEX SA, registration: N123SX
Injuries: 2 Fatal.
This is preliminary information, subject to change, and may contain errors. Any errors in this report will be corrected when the final report has been completed. NTSB investigators either traveled in support of this investigation or conducted a significant amount of investigative work without any travel, and used data obtained from various sources to prepare this aircraft accident report.

On June 2, 2015, about 1520 central daylight time, a Monnett Sonex SA experimental amateur-built airplane, N123SX, impacted unoccupied vehicles, after departing the Wittman Regional Airport (OSH), Oshkosh, Wisconsin. Both private pilots were fatally injured. The airplane was substantially damaged. The airplane was registered to and operated by Sonex Aircraft LLC, under the provisions of 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 as a personal flight. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed for the flight which operated without a flight plan. The local flight was originating at the time of the accident.

According to OSH tower personnel, the airplane departed runway 9 from the intersection of runway 9 and runway 13. After clearing the airplane for takeoff, the tower controller focused their attention on inbound traffic and did not witness the accident.

The accident site was located 0.25 miles east-northeast of the departure end of runway 9. The airplane came to rest on unoccupied vehicles located on Oshkosh Corporation's property on a general heading of 220 degrees. The engine separated from the airplane and was located on the ground in front of the airplane. All major components remained attached to the airplane. The airplane was transported to a secure facility for further examination.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
With normal flow, the Factual report will be out in 8-12 months. The Factual report will summarize the evidence, without coming to a conclusion. It will be available on the NTSB web page. The final report, the Probable Cause, will be issued several months later after the meeting of the Board. At that time, the full report (including witness reports, etc.) will be placed in the docket for public access.

Ron Wanttaja