Fatal Icon A-5 Crash N. California

[Check 6]

An Icon A-5 has crashed at Lake Berryessa, California, with two fatalities. RIP.

http://www.sacbee.com/news/local/cri...149315024.html (http://www.sacbee.com/news/local/crime/article149315024.html)

http://www.pressdemocrat.com/news/69...lake-berryessa (http://www.pressdemocrat.com/news/6971456-181/plane-crash-into-lake-berryessa)

http://napavalleyregister.com/news/l...fe980a913.html (http://napavalleyregister.com/news/local/two-fatalities-reported-in-plane-crash-at-lake-berryessa/article_0aab2ce8-600d-59a2-acaf-8e1fe980a913.html)

[Frank Giger]

Condolences to their families.

[FearTheH]

Such a tragedy. Hopefully they can accurately determine the cause(s)...such a cool plane too. Our thoughts and prayers will be with the families.

[Floatsflyer]

Both occupants were Icon employees. The pilot was lead aero engineer and chief test pilot. The passenger was reported to be an engineer who had just left Ford to join Icon a week ago. That is truly sad and tragic.

I don't want to come off as morose but this must be said, Icon now has more accidents than deliveries.

[Floatsflyer]

NTSB has released a preliminary accident report indicating the cause as controlled flight into terrain. This is based on an eyewitness account of the plane in flight just prior to the witness losing visual sight of the actual crash and the fact that the wreckage was upright with all major structural components located at the crash site.

Pure speculation on my part but on the basis of the eye witness account it sounds like a very low altitude steep turn stall which was recovered from but not before the pilot ran out of air and water. Pics show the plane struck the shoreline hard.

[Bill Berson]

I don't see any mention of CFIT in the NTSB report https://ntsb.gov/_layouts/ntsb.aviation/brief.aspx?ev_id=20170508X45426&key=1
Controlled flight into terrain was a speculation from Flying magazine.
Can an unintentional stall or spin be CFIT?

[Floatsflyer]

Flying mag, to me at least, didn't sound like speculation in any way. It sounded like quoting from the report. However, from the actual report you provided, I can see how you arrived at that conclusion.

[rwanttaja]

NTSB Final Report is out:

https://app.ntsb.gov/pdfgenerator/R...ID=20170508X45426&AKey=1&RType=Final&IType=FA

[Update: Better link]
http://www.wanttaja.com/icon.pdf

"The National Transportation Safety Board determines the probable cause(s) of this accident to be:

"The pilot's failure to maintain clearance from terrain while maneuvering at a low altitude. Contributing to the accident was the pilot's mistaken entry into a canyon surrounded by steep rising terrain while at a low altitude for reasons that could not be determined."

Ron Wanttaja

[martymayes]

ok, that was quick. Wonder if there was any external pressure to get this investigation wrapped up? Pilot error, no fault with the plane, order book is open.

[martymayes]

Ron, I get an error msg when I click on your linky

[rwanttaja]

Ron, I get an error msg when I click on your linky

Sorry about that. Try this:

http://www.wanttaja.com/icon.pdf

Ron Wanttaja

[Frank Giger]

ok, that was quick. Wonder if there was any external pressure to get this investigation wrapped up? Pilot error, no fault with the plane, order book is open.

This is a bit much. The Icon has recording crap on it, so it wasn't that big of a mystery. And I think impugning the integrity of the inspectors is pretty low in any case.

I guess the photos we got of the wreck don't show how short that canyon is, as I'd of thought he could dump the throttle, crank the flaps, and land on the water.

[rwanttaja]

I guess the photos we got of the wreck don't show how short that canyon is, as I'd of thought he could dump the throttle, crank the flaps, and land on the water.

The NTSB full docket has a bunch of photos, including Google Earth images of the canyon. The cove portion of the canyon is about ~1/2 mile long, the accident occurred at nearly its end. The cove is basically a funnel; the hills on the side get closer as one nears the end of the cove.

The pilot probably didn't have long to decide that he was in trouble. Most of us, I think, try to fly out of trouble...plopping down for a quick landing may not have immediately occurred to him; he was probably focused on turning around and flying out. The aircraft was equipped with a BRS, and there was no apparent attempt to pull the handle. However, at the altitude the plane was flying, it wouldn't have helped.

You can access the full docket by going to...

https://dms.ntsb.gov/pubdms/search/

...and entering WPR17FA101 as the accident number. Lots of pictures, and full witness statements.

Ron Wanttaja

[rwanttaja]

One of the items on the full docket is the output from the onboard data recorder. Here are my impressions, looking at the data. Keep in mind I've never looked at this sort of thing before.

All times are in minutes and seconds (m:ss), and are from the "Minutes" and "Seconds" column in the output (rather than the "Time (PDT)" output, which is about 4 seconds faster), heading is from the GPS track. Throttle setting is apparently percentage of travel (0-100%). Airspeed is labeled as "Indicated Airspeed", apparently not from GPS.

m:ss
6:41: Aircraft on roughly west heading, starts turn to the North. Airspeed 62 knots, GPS height 450 feet (I'm assuming this is MSL). Throttle 65%
6:51: Turn to north completed, base heading is about 355 degrees. Airspeed, altitude roughly the same. Throttle increases slightly, to 72%.
7:42: (~50 seconds later) Throttle starts to increase, aircraft starts to climb. Heading has been varying slightly, probably following the cove.
7:52: (10 seconds later) Throttle now at 100%, climb continues. Starts ~10 degree turn to the right.
7:56: Starts to turn left. Altitude is 490 feet, airspeed 55 knots
7:58: Minimum airspeed, 49.6 knots. Altitude 500 feet. Heading 345 degrees
8:01: Altitude 500 feet, starts to drop
8:02: Apparent impact. One second prior, vertical G-loading was 1.3Gs, increased to 1.79 Gs prior to initial impact (7.49 Gs...remember, this is VERTICAL only). GPS height 470 feet. 09:08:06 PST.
8:03: Last full sample. Altitude was ~445 feet.

Airspeed just prior to impact was 66 knots, throttle had decreased to about 30%. We don't know if this is real, or some sort of glitch in the data.

Ron Wanttaja

[Bill Berson]

Does the dirt tracks and other evidence indicate a forward impact? Or stall spin vertical impact?

[CHICAGORANDY]

I'm feeling dim this evening - my search keeps coming up no records found?

[rwanttaja]

I'm feeling dim this evening - my search keeps coming up no records found?

Assuming you're referring to the Docket search feature. You might be missing/adding characters in the NTSB number when you enter it.

However, there IS a odd human-factors problems with the search function. Enter the NTSB number for the NTSB Accident ID, but do NOT hit the very obvious "Search" button. On the right side just above the data-entry box is a "Find" button...hit that, instead. Then click the NTSB Number under "Search Results."

Ron Wanttaja

[Check 6]

I'm feeling dim this evening - my search keeps coming up no records found?

Here is the direct link. (https://dms.ntsb.gov/pubdms/search/hitlist.cfm?docketID=60163&CFID=1214331&CFTOKEN=a290374ef22d8d56-E28B029F-DA5A-1F12-0C487D29AA64D046)

[Bill Berson]

Looks like angle of attack went to 17° in last 5 seconds. The right wing impact trench I guess suggests a vertical impact.

6612

[CHICAGORANDY]

Thanks for the link - an interesting report - also I am impressed with how thorough and detailed the investigation was. I'd never read an NTSB report before.