Airplane Crash In-Cockpit Footage: Stinson 108-3

[@rob20706]

Broken jaw probably came from one of the passengers after the crash

[@beeforb8313]

rob20706 🤣

[@yaabaa]

I am pretty sure that is quoted from the official NTSB investigation report, so you really should reference it. LOLzzzx

[@taylormade2826]

@@bingobango170 hahahahahaha sick man

[@bri-manhunter2654]

LMAO!

[@joecritch143]

Hahaha!!!

[@angc214]

He flew over a lot of open ground without achieving a positive rate. There was plenty of opportunity to put it down safely.

[@robertborchert932]

Watching this footage again, I share your opinion! If only he had realized the situation and set her down!

[@secion8]

Was thinking the same thing. Rookie error

[@secion8]

Skipping off the ground should have been his first clue

[@medtec6747]

100% agree

[@stuna101a]

You read my mind.

[@hughboyle]

Everytime I see this I am dumbfounded that he refused to recognize their situation. He had so much opportunity to set that plane down, address the situation and formulate a more effective plan. I know hindsight is 20/20 but the outcome of this failed attempt was clear. Hope they all recovered.

[@trigga31]

This is how my grandpa would have behaved. Too stubborn to admit it’s not going to work

[@tiquisate]

I feel like this is the same mental path people continue further down when they Scud Run, flying farther and farther into low cloud and obscured terrain until they succeed or crash. The longer they continue, the more invested they become. Normalized deviation becomes the habit pattern the more times that a pilot gets away with their unsafe practices, (trying to apply my Blancolirio training).

[@bobbyblenio4571]

Can’t Fix Stupid🤣

[@OneLeggedTarantula]

Insanity: doing something over and over expecting different results. He knew during his long takeoff the plane was having lift issues. as he couldn't climb he should have anticipated the outcome.

[@Francois_Dupont]

retarded boomer 101

[@dazedconfuzed6]

I'm no pilot, but if you are still only 50 ft off the ground after left off 2 minutes ago it might be a good idea to set it down while you can because there is obviously a problem.

[@sinansalmansalman0486]

agriXvnm,

[@Dr.TJ_Eckleburg]

+jeff darnell Yeah, I'm a pilot and that was some very poor decision making on his part. The irony is that crashes like this tend to happen with older, experienced pilots more than others. This guy had probably been flying that plane for years and years and became complacent and overconfident in his own ability as well as the capabilities of the aircraft. Most pilots would have put the plane down after running out of runway, and definitely after failing to climb. Better to get on the ground safely and do some density altitude and weight/balance calculations than to fight the plane into the air and crash into the trees.

[@Feuergraf]

***** I'm pilot since 2014 and I can tell you: yes. but less than on the road :D mostly older pilots have this problem: "I fly since 20 years and I don't need to calculate - I have the right feeling".

[@davetonks1168]

+John Spurrier yeah John there are idiots everywhere, and some of them fly aircraft - look at a Density Altitude Chart and you will see 3 vertical lines - left is altitude, middle is reduction in performance, right is temperature. Draw a line between altitude (above sea level) and current temperature, and the middle line will show the resultant reduction in performance (it may be as much as 50% or more). If this 'pilot' had done that simple check, I doubt he would have taken off. Add the factor of the total weight of the aircraft (it was loaded up) and this was always going to end up the way it did - if that aircraft had caught fire, nobody would have survived. The 'pilot' should be taken aside, given a good slap, and told that he requires a little more training....

[@aluisious]

Some people have problems with accepting obvious reasoning. "But damnit, I really want to fly right now." Well, flap your arms.

[@GamingwithKandA]

He had just the right amount of lift to get him all the way to the crash site!

[@Twobarpsi]

Haha!

[@edspencer7121]

🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

[@RespectableRSYt]

They always do

[@180mph9]

🤣

[@douglasrodrigues8361]

His initial lift was in ground effect. Once he climbed out of ground effect. He slowly got behind the power curve. Good possibility that if the plane accelerated to a higher than normal climb speed in ground effect, and then very slowly pitched the nose up no higher than necessary to skim over the top of top of the trees, the possibility of staying airborne, without climbing, may have been possible. This is one of those situations that flying by the published book numbers doesn't apply.

[@apexkilla]

The pilot was denser than the air around him.

[@nasdaqdjitraders]

I see what you did there.. lol

[@ewjiml]

The pilot legitimately said NOTHING. No “brace” or “we are going to crash.” He’s denser than anything on the periodic table.

[@Quasihamster]

"It doesn't seem to want to fly, shouldn't we better put it down somewhere?" "I'll try in the forest over there..."

[@hrthrhs]

Haha I was thinking: "It doesn't seem to want to take off, shouldn't we abort while we're still on the ground?" "Ok. I'll take off then land in those trees over there."

[@jonwoo8217]

hahahhahahahahahahahaha brilliant

[@Gizziiusa]

TrEE ToP LAnDeR in da house...

[@shastamcnasta2802]

While yanking up repeatedly.. "if I point the nose where I want to go, we will get there eventually!"

[@gabbyjonson3498]

🤣🤣🤣 100% Gold 😂😂😂

[@fr8fr6dr69]

In a nutshell: This is what it looks like when your density altitude equals your service ceiling.

[@markprange238]

+100 fpm.

[@TheRunAndGun10]

Not a pilot but I figure 10k would be the maximum for that plane. And there he was.

[@RobertELee420]

And a crash is when you run out of altitude and airspeed at the same time. :P

[@adb012]

Actually no, he was above his service ceiling. At service ceiling you can climb 100 feet per minute at constant airspeed while out of ground effect. This plane could never leave ground effect in the first place.

[@tamaskosa3283]

@@RobertELee420 I believe crash is only running out of altitude :P You may have all the speed in the world

[@iParsian]

What I have learned so far from my short flying experiences is that flying safe needs a lot of courage and awareness. Saying I am not doing this flight is sometimes very hard but might save you in end!

[@cs3930]

Very wise to live by. Trust me, it’s better to just say no if you don’t feel comfortable to perform a flight. You are the PIC 👍🏼

[@brianhaygood183]

If your examples of courage include the courage to admit a mistake, then you are exactly on track.

[@petersteen2044]

It is the courage to decide not to fly when everything including the weather seems so perfect, especially to the passengers who spent hours anticipating. I have been there more than once in my 25-year flying career and I learned that sometimes, your last chance to save the day comes just before takeoff, when you can still decide to stay on the ground.

[@centex7409]

Nobody died in the plane of a crash on a flight they didn't take.

[@TheTruthKiwi]

Yeah, there's no way he didn't notice something was wrong from the second the wheels started rolling but he obviously felt pressured to carry on. I mean, what do you do? Postpone until the next day when the conditions and altitude are the same?

[@ScoutSniper3124]

After realizing his aircraft wasn't climbing, he should have looked over at the fattest passenger, motioned to the door and yelled "Take One for the TEAM!"

[@TRPGpilot]

Thats funny as hell :-)

[@hotwaff]

I was going to say he’s probably the fattest, and the pilot jumping out would’ve been no good. But let’s face it, any of of those guys could’ve flown it into the trees.

[@ZC.Andrew]

Unfortunately, it looks like the pilot was the fattest lol

[@jerrymarshall2095]

I guess the pilot thought the higher they climbed,the less effect gravity would have on em.

[@ZC.Andrew]

@@jerrymarshall2095 Technically that's true. Unfortunately for him, lift works in the opposite direction.

[@juliebrewer6272]

When it touched down on the runwary on its take off run, that's when he should have closed the throttle and stopped the the take off roll.

[@FlyUK]

+julie brewer I also agree and I'm still learning! Seems common sense that something wasn't going to plan.

[@brandonb417]

+julie brewer Never even should have taken off. Density altitude is very easy to calculate and the operator's handbook would have takeoff performance curves. I'll bet the curves showed that at his take off weight and density altitude the flight should have been scrubbed. This should always be part of a basic pre-flight. There are old pilots and bold pilots, but rarely any old bold pilots. We can only hope the passengers get to walk away.

[@stargazer7644]

+Brandon B The fate of the passengers was explained in the video.

[@brandonb417]

+Star Gazer Yes, but I was referring to flying in general. Pilots that don't do proper procedures, and have the "I'm experienced enough to make the call" type attitudes, typically make stupid and totally avoidable decisions. What I was saying is that when a pilot, who should know better, makes a bad decision, we can hope not too many people pay the price.

[@cmeGordy]

agreed

[@randmayfield5695]

Just up the road from Stanely on an early July Sunday morning back in 1987, I believe, I was driving along the Salmon river and noticed a small single engine plane flying along the river at about 2000 feet. The canyon was spotted with vapor clouds, or "water-dogs" as the locals called them, when the plane flew into one became disoriented and crashed into the canyon wall killing the family of three passengers. I witnessed the whole thing. It was a sad day.

[@ianmangham4570]

Dang 😮🙏

[@johnboyle1146]

Takeoffs are optional, landings are mandatory!

[@posteren551]

🎵"you can alwayyyys go around"🎵

[@dimitrisg.4504]

Exactly! He shouldn't go, he was underpowered..

[@alexthelion335]

What goes up must come down

[@justinparadis7036]

CrunchyCorn it ain’t about the decision to land in this case, but the aeronautical decision of taking off that day with such a high density altitude

[@posteren551]

@@justinparadis7036 i know i just meant in general

[@masso172]

100% Pilot. The first skid back on the runway should have rung a bell.. NO GO

[@jerrymarshall2095]

That was beyond description.

[@KLeVoyBarnes]

@Emmanuel Lagace YOUR " LICENSE " IS GOOD FOR YOUR ENTIRE LIFE - HIS MEDICAL PERHAPS. WHEN YOU ARE ONE IN A MILLION THEN WITH THAT LICENSE COME RESPONSIBILITIES - ESPECIALLY IF YOU TAKE PASSENGERS TO MAKE GOOD DECISIONS.

[@thelastrebelshow1627]

masso172 He definitely did not read his POH. That old plane was overloaded. It’s that simple.

[@thelastrebelshow1627]

THE PEDOPHILE EXPOSING BOUNTY HUNTER Gee, wish I had said that. 😺

[@dllc8641]

@THE PEDOPHILE EXPOSING BOUNTY HUNTER It's rather obvious from your chosen name that you are anything but superior at anything other than being an asshat.

[@kingofcastlechaos]

Anyone with any time PIC knows that the tendency to believe that we can fix the situation given one more second is a VERY real feeling. I've never had three other adult men (much heavier) in a single before, and never done any takeoffs near that altitude. Very fortunate they had the tall spindly type of forest to absorb the energy and not spear anyone. Lucky people.

[@thejackbox]

Exactly right. People who haven’t done it will laugh and point, but those of us lucky enough to have real time PIC can see the scary and grave situation this pilot was in. Unfortunately, this is a decision he messed up long before that takeoff started and it’s hard to blame him for trying to get in the air after the decision had already been made.

[@Delibro]

You are right, but in my opinion the pilot did two mistakes. One when he was in the air and not enough lift, to land somewhere or try to return to the airfield, this decision is hard, yes. But the other mistake he did was not calculate a takeoff performance, altitude, temperature, weight of the plane - this should have made him not try it in the first place, and that mistake was easily to be avoided.

[@AnonYmous-vu1lw]

this pilot was lacking in engine and processing power. He had 4 hours of runway to come up with a better plan than building a tree house.

[@SeanHollingsworth]

Even the treehouse plan failed, as they ended up on the ground. ;-)

[@flyguyry1]

4 hours of runway?

[@flyguyry1]

@@mrb1841 i think a distance indicator would have been more compelling no?

[@ABC-rh7zc]

lol

[@billnu]

Just the fact that someone built a 5,000’ dirt strip should be an indicator that this is a tough spot to fly.

[@86themadhatter27]

Everyone on Flight Sim 2020 with 2 hours of flight time shaking their head

[@HMAnetwork]

😂😂

[@leeroysimeon6751]

😂😂😂

[@BobbyPlane6252]

😂😂😂😂

[@christopherh4653]

😂😂😂😂😂

[@northvalley06]

😂😂😂😂😂😂 im a pro now believe me

[@Slash1066]

Scary situation, it's like he thought he might gain enough airspeed to get enough altitude to play with but you could see him trading the little airspeed he had for altitude when the trees got close. I was pleased they all walked away from that with relatively minor injuries.

[@computer5272]

What's really concerning abut this incident is that he had MINUTES of opportunity to abort and land safely without damage to persons or property yet he decided to fly into the trees.

[@angelcalderon.2440]

Computer : It wasn't necessary.

[@luntbanzi1967]

Computer wasn't possible dude

[@MikeStar2000]

Computer He was a hard core tree hugger.

[@bluestudio67]

"Gotta-get-there-itis."

[@mikeparker5008]

No, he didn't have much time to go back. He had little chance to 'take it back' and go back to the airfield....only way was forward, hoping for POWER to lift, but as explained, that would not happen. Phenomena the pilot probably SHOULD have known about were working on his craft, and by the time you'd try to evade it, it was all over. Experience would have avoided this, or else 'hard knowledge'. Don't damn the pilot...the NTSB didn't.

[@ashadowawhisper]

"Gotta-get-there-itis" is a real killer.

[@nebulousy]

that's what killed Kobe

[@nazcarcup]

It killed Kobe...we instantly think of that

[@DorianTMChannel]

@@nebulousy its killed lots of people

[@1littlelee]

fucken amen

[@TheRealSlimShady509]

@@nebulousy its called “get there itis”. No gotta is in the phrase lol

[@crawford323]

Stinson is a great machine. I owned one for several years. All my flights were lowlands and never maxed out as for as weight, the aircraft was fun to fly and was quite capable. There existed only 4 ADs on the airframe and one of this was to remove the ashtray. The Franklin engine was smooth running but because for a time, parts were not available for the engine, many choose to retrofit a 180 hp engine which increased the capacity of an already great airframe.

[@vampiresforesl]

How is it a great machine? It got defeated by a moderate altitude and warmth.

[@crawford323]

@@vampiresforesl How so?

[@cdncitizen4700]

@@vampiresforesl The greatest machines are sometimes subjected to the shortcomings of humans (poor pilots).

[@TheGeonam]

I had a 1946 Ercoupe back in the 70's. I was making a 400 mile trip and without really thinking I packed to much weight into the plane. I took off and watching this video reminded me of my flight. Took forever to get airborne and once I did the Ercoupe really didn't want to climb. It felt like if I had pulled the yoke back a quarter of an inch the plane would have stalled. I was able to circle the airstrip and make a landing. It was a great relief to have the wheels touch down. I know that experience made me a better pilot when it came to weight and CG.

[@quest4adventure495]

I still remember when my brothers and I all started taking flight lessons. The first thing our instructor told us was that being careless about weight will get you killed.

[@The-KP]

Dope was so cheap in the 1970s, you had to fill a plane just to make the flight profitable

[@TruthAndReconciliation]

@@The-KP you’re awesome

[@madmatmp]

As people have mentioned. The pilot had all the opportunity to abort. This was not flying, this was wishful thinking.

[@tomoakley760]

This isn't flying, this is falling with style!

[@Gamble661]

He did, there was plenty of time to realize the aircraft didn't want to fly and plenty of open ground to put it down. Just a bad pilot.

[@Kaimine08]

I have to agree with you there. When the plane is basically skipping over the ground because it can't produce enough thrust and lift on takeoff, something in your mind has to be telling you, there's just no way at this point, put it down while we still can.

[@gmcinnis6304]

I THINK I CAN I THINK I CAN, I THINK I CAN,.... the LITTLE ENGINE THAT COULD.... story book... not story book ending.... and they lived happily ever after... they lived

[@cosicave5179]

Nice. Very succinct - unlike so many other videos who's narrators ramble on with largely unnecessary introductions. Thanks.

[@MrTtyl554]

I can’t wrap my head around as to how much time he had to abort the flight. Bad adm

[@bonan960623]

So many chances to abort in relative safety...

[@sbentjies]

Indeed. Sickening to watch

[@flat_stickproductions209]

Yeah. I fly in high density altitude all the time. The skipper take off is no alarm. When he couldn't climb he should have eased a turn around and stopped moving towards trees and high elevation. After he was airborne and not climbing above tree level, thats when I would have flipped it around gently and landed reverse heading on the runway.

[@LorddGray]

David Holland That's in a high mountain valley. Not a great deal of room and when you can't maintain altitude in a straight line, what makes you think you could get it turned around in a valley with mountains on both sides? I certainly don't EVER want to get into an airplane with you at the controls.

[@flat_stickproductions209]

+LorddGray well at his point it was the trees or try for better. He had an engine so you could make a slow turn and sustain altitude. You can hold level to build speed and then dump it on a level turn. Going into those trees could have been death. The valley was also much larger than you are making it out to be. I believe his over pitching is what resulted in so much sink, past the point of Vy. That plane will fly that high. I ride up to that density altitude with much more under powered planes. Now if the engine was not running normal that would have been an abort on take off. They flew far enough away to get a 180 shallow level turn. 180 turn without engine is tricky. This would be a standard slow flight 180 turn.

[@LorddGray]

David Holland There is almost no incline to the terrain where he went in. That means he popped up out of ground effect, then couldn't maintain altitude (even in a straight line) and settled back down into the trees. And again, he's in a valley so a turn would have to be a bit steep even if we assume he could have maintained level flight. He never should have left the runway with that load on board. Even after the end of the runway he should have known he wasn't going to be able to climb out, and put it down before he got to the trees. He was being an optimistic fool, believing that it was somehow going to get better when there was no reason for it.

[@badgerfishinski6857]

Great training video to learn by the laws of "INTENSITY". I will never forget this video. Thanks for posting.

[@johng4954]

He had 1000 chances to abort the take off! I bet the passengers gave him a broken jaw

[@WillyWillis1965]

LMFAO !!

[@1besieged]

:D* no fool like an old fool..

[@marxmann3564]

glad to hear that they all survive that crash

[@steve1978ger]

incredibly lucky

[@nellawell4976]

Great, except for 1 broken jaw & a broken knuckle

[@DANGJOS]

@@nellawell4976 I see what you did there

[@behindthen0thing525]

@@nellawell4976 lol

[@JohnnyMUTube]

Pilot's wife, "What the hell happened?" Pilot, "I couldn't get it up." Pilot's wife, "I've known that for 30 years, I meant the damn plane!"

[@schmingusss]

meh

[@haroldgodwinson832]

Dude; we've all been there ....

[@Ant0417]

Definitely a good lesson for all pilots. He really should've realized after about 30 seconds of flying level at 50 feet that the airplane was clearly unwilling to climb, and pulled the power and put it down in the wide open grass field while he still could. Glad they all walked away.

[@thenomadicghost7260]

+jarod1672 Yep, I always establish a go-no go point. This flight should have been aborted......

[@jakejones5736]

+The Nomadic Ghost Yeah. It should have been "aborted" before they even opened the door to get into the airplane. Somebody screwed up on the calcs...

[@thenomadicghost7260]

Jake Jones Agreed, but one should still always set a safe go no go point.

[@LorddGray]

+Henry Piper High altitude, warm and dry day. Had he taken off in the early morning when the temp was closer to 40 he probably would have been fine.

[@JohnSmith-wd9rc]

Absolutely right Jarod. Bad air density, carrying a good sized load too. Should have put in down in the grass at the end of the Sunday. Destroyed a 108-3, and could have killed everyone on board. Damn, damn fool. These are the kind of pilots that give all pilots a bad name. I see too many of these kind of incidents incurred by pilots that try to fly in bad conditions. Again, damn, damn fool!

[@Joe-uo9wv]

4 men, 5,000' summer time, 165 hp franklin doomed from the start.

[@Voodooflies]

Pretty much yeah.

[@slimjim7411]

Yup "I think I can make it." doesn't get you far in airplanes or boats. I recall a guy in a old quicksilver swing seat ultralight who had a cross wind on a mowed runway without about 4' tall weeds on either side. No ailerons to allow him to slip it he tried anyway was about 1' off the ground when the crosswind took him into the weeds. Slowed him down enough he touched, hit a small drainage ditch and the whole thing did a cartwheel and rolled up like a ball around him. Luckily he was perfectly fine just got the wind knocked out of him. I was amazed because with that pusher motor I was thinking he was going to be confetti.

[@1450JackCade]

With a 10-20 not tailwind! Just unbelievably stupid.

[@shadowsrwolf]

been looking at picking up a stetson the Franklin engines HP under what they rate them for?

[@alanf403]

get-there-itis has killed many a pilot

[@KyleHooten2]

It’s impressive how well timed the narration of this video was. “This was the result” lined up exactly with the crash

[@shatterpointgames]

It's almost like he planned that

[@oldsaerotech1167]

TRUMP conspiracy. It's all the Donald's fault.

[@xedniw]

As a pilot for over thirty five years I could see this accident happening as the pilot refused to heed warning signs that his plane was overload. The airstrips altitude and the atmospheric conditions and his pride were all working against him. The thing that's hard to understand is why the pilot left nearly three possible safe landings go by trying to make this take off. After the first skip where the plane settled back to the runway it should have been enough to realize he was overloaded and he should have aborted the take off right then. Part of the training a pilot most go through to get a pilots certificate is learning about density altitude. We all carry calculators you can use to figure out what the density altitude is for a given set of figures. You can do the math if you know all the variables like air temperature, humility, airport altitude, runway length, rising terrain and aircraft weight and performance for those particular set of conditions you're trying to take off in, they're part of every certified aircraft's flight manual. He could have played it safe and off loaded some of the weight. Baggage would be the first thing to get rid of, if there was enough of it and just fly back up and get. Leave one of passengers there and fly the one down to a airport at lower altitude and out of the mountains. Make another trip up to get the other guy latter that day. Flying is all about making the right decisions and not being afraid to stick by them or let your pride get in your way. If you're going to make mistakes, which we're all human and will do, make little ones.

[@xzt123]

"humility" I think you meant humidity but some humility may have helped here too. It seems to anyone watching that it is clear the airplane is struggling. For a long while it passes up numerous opportunities to land in grassy fields only to fly over a forest. Geez.

[@jamie123b]

But if he aborted then he wouldn’t have enjoyed the days flying with his family so that would have been a bit of a let down

[@EZamo]

Don't have my license YET but just from the valuable information/advice from a Vietnam vet who was a pilot, this comment matches exactly to what I learned. Don't overload the plane, ALWAYS watch the weather/humidity and putting your ego in that flight seat instead of utilizing knowledge is going to get you killed.

[@centex7409]

28 years a pilot myself, was 22 when I got my first rating. Over the years I've come to understand who the worst pilots are that are going to do the "why would you DO THAT!?!?!" crash: Middle aged non professional pilot. They have the most ego and those egos are super sensitive. Maybe it's the fading testosterone, maybe the stress of getting older and not being satisfied with life.. I'm 50 now, and I'm still as cautious as I was as a nervous student pilot. I just learned to calm those nerves while being mindful of keeping my edge. I always remind myself every flight before I walk out to do my preflight: I'M SAFE(you pilots know that meaning), but flying is like fire walking. If I get too comfortable, I will get burned. And Avgas burns really hot. It keeps me where I need to be in my headspace.

[@gunsgunsnbullets]

That first BUMP back to the ground on runway, after ' rotation ' should have been clue to the future ahead, pilot error 100%

[@randominternet5586]

100%. You are still in ground effect there too!! So doubly so, if you can't get good climb performance and can't even hold ground effect? What's weird though is this guy had AGES and ages to set them back down. I could see going for the takeoff if there was a cliff edge, but for this plane that was a long long roll (already a warning) and not being able to climb at Vr - call it off.

[@davidburkholder7360]

Lots of analysis here and that is good. Short of the long this pilot made so many mistakes that it is unreal. Glad they all survived.

[@edithbannerman4]

@Hello there, how are you doing this blessed day?

[@ExperimentalAircraftChannel]

Very scary situation here. Being overloaded and high density altitude. Thank you for sharing and making more people aware!

[@Stinkflare]

Pilot should’ve touched down long before he got to the trees. Assume he started a slow rate of climb: what was he going to do about the mountains????

[@alexd4566]

James Try to turn, only for the aircraft to stall and dive right to the ground nose first. Would not have been pretty

[@Stinkflare]

alex Debroux agreed. I guess what I’m saying is he should’ve never let himself run out of usable runway. I’d have touched back down as soon as I saw how little lift I was getting while still in ground effect

[@a7i20ci7y]

He was counting on ground effect. lulz

[@billg7205]

@@Stinkflare Yep, and that was just a bit down the runway, which he had a good bit of. Obvious it wasn't happening that day.

[@zoltankurti]

@@Stinkflare but is the ground effect significant in this case? For helicopters it definitely is, but wings work a bit differently.

[@evkienlin]

Excellent video to learn from! Once we started on a hot summer day in Samedan, Switzerland. Elevation is 5600ft, but density altitude was 9750ft. Even if you calculated everything according to the manual, it is impressive to see the strong impact of hot and high conditions on the performance of your aircraft. Ground roll doubled, and initial climb performance was cut by half. In case of that video, it was the day when density altitude and service ceiling of that poor Stinson became identical. Good, that all occupants survived that accident.

[@GordonNielsen-td3ru]

Everyone is calling it an accident. It was not an accident, all accidents are preventable! This was risk taking, and not properly thought out to mitigate the inherant risk!

[@batterynerd8779]

Yes, i have a stinson L-5 and also landed in samedan. It was in winter tho. I had a friend with me who was rather heavy. The landing was no problems since my fuel tanks werent full. But when i started i had to circle over the airport a few times to not crash. Shit ton of luck and learned a lot. Forget pistons in the mountains.

[@Delibro]

Samedan!!! :) So nice place and surrounding.

[@gsmith4679]

Excellent explanation of density altitude. Well done Glen!

[@joselopez-jg3xi]

thank you for the video and the discussion, you have probably saved a few lives, maybe ours too as I went through a similar mistake and I HAD SEEN THIS VIDEO. I am not a good pilot (just a new pilot and very average) so I will tell you what happened in case it is useful for somebody. I was an 18 hour student pilot and I went with my instructor and two male passengers to a nearby airfield. The temperature was 35ºC with an altitude of 1500ft, a 172 180Hp and full fuel; obviously overloaded (I know now). We reached our destination uneventfully (I had some trouble with the thermals and landing but no big deal) and after lunch we went back to the airstrip. It was only 900ft but an amazing 47ºC (yes !, I checked it about 20 times !). So here we are, 2100ft runway and grossly overloaded. The runway in use headed towards rising terrain just ahead (3500ft) so I insisted on staying until the temperature went down or even go back just before sunset and the CFI could file an instrument flying plan back home or nearby. He insisted on taking off after going through a big book (?) he had brought and he said we were inside limits. I kept on insisting BUT I SHOULD HAVE SAID NO. There is a lot about this in air crash investigations where the copilot refrains under the authority of the PIC (I was not even the copilot). I somehow believed him even though a little voice in my head disagreed. Next I went to the tower and asked them if locals would depart on the runway in use and they said NO, rising terrain was excessive for that weather. My CFI accepted to take off in the opposite direction with a tailwind of about 4 knots but flat terrain ahead for miles. The 172 behaved like a champion (we, like idiots) and at about 500m and 50 knots I was able to just lift it and keep it on ground effect to gain some speed; my CFI told me climb but when I pointed the airspeed he kept silent. After climbing a few feet, I couldn't get anything better than 65Kt, sweeping the roofs of an adjacent village. After this came a valley where I had to climb as much as possible because we had a 5000 20 miles away. It was full throttle and the engine was getting to the red, I was still reading 38ºC at 4000; airspeed was very low, about 70 and I couldn't gain a single foot. In those days I didn't manage the mixture and it was full rich all the time (maybe a bit of cooling ?). The mountain ahead was 5000ft and my CFI insisted on going ahead straight (his girlfriend was waiting). In the distance to my left I could see a valley with a river and I dived towards it. Very soon the plane was flying like an angel with the descent and cool air from the water even though the "copilot" was boiling with rage for my disobedience. Even though many will say that I had no responsibility at all for this, I do not agree; it was my fault; not as a pilot (which I was not) but as a human being. I knew something felt wrong and I should have stayed, we just had more luck than the pilot in the video but made the exact same mistake. He shouldn't be criticized beyond the point of us learning the lesson, anybody can have a bad day or make mistakes, even excellent pilots. I will not criticize my CFI either because this is about my mistakes and just like this video and all your comments maybe saved our lives, this may be also useful for others. Thank you very much, sorry for the long story.

[@bbgun061]

Thanks for sharing. I'm glad you were able to make the flight safely and learn from the experience. Did you find another CFI?

[@Omnigeek6]

Yo, I'm not a pilot at all, but for what it's worth: "I will not criticize my CFI either because this is about my mistakes" I will. As you said, the ultimate responsibility for the safe operation of the aircraft as yours, and you made a mistake in taking off under those conditions. However, while not listening to the little voice in your head saying "this is a bad idea" is a mistake, it's the kind of mistake inexperienced people make (not just in piloting, but anywhere else in life), especially when pushed by an authority figure. You made a dumb student mistake as a student, but it sounds like you learned your lesson and have the potential to become a good pilot. Your CFI, on the other hand, is a monumental idiot. While you made the poor decision to ignore your instincts, he sounds like he doesn't have them at all, and if he managed to become not only a fully-licensed pilot and a CFI without developing a sense of what's a dumb idea he's unlikely to do so in the future. And not only was he telling you to do something unsafe, but he was telling you to do so as an instructor. My general understanding of the world is that when you are teaching someone to do something with inherent risks, a large part of your responsibility is specifically to PREVENT your student from making bad choices that get someone injured or killed, and that since he was flying with someone who was not a licensed pilot he should have been extra vigilant in double-checking common "rookie mistakes" like calculating performance based on density altitude and weight, or mixture management. Instead, he actively told you to do something unsafe. But assuming that the plane actually WAS within limits and was prevented from climbing by some other factor like a slight downdraft, he might have been reasonable to advise you that takeoff was safe. However, once you were already in the air, he was presumably fully capable of seeing that the aircraft was not climbing, and again, not only did not advise you to abort, but actively told you to fly into a mountain. This puts him squarely in "fucking idiot" territory. However, the cherry on top of the triple-decker cake of incompetence is that he was "boiling with rage" when you finally decided to abort attempting an obviously impossible climb over the mountain and probably saved all your lives. That is utterly appalling. No one with that attitude should be in a pilot's seat at all, let alone instructing students who potentially lack the experience to realize how dangerous his instructions are. He's very lucky he was flying with you, because while in a perfect world you would have refused to take off at all, the reality is a lot of students wouldn't have made that left turn and kept trying to climb until they slammed into the mountain. As I said, I'm not a pilot so I don't know what the procedure is to do so, but please report that moron to the FAA or a similar body. An inexperienced pilot and a stupid pilot in a position of authority in the same cockpit is a recipe for disaster, and if a student crashes and gets them both killed by following his orders, then who was in command of the aircraft will only matter to the NTSB.

[@joselopez-jg3xi]

Oh yes ! I went to the best school and hired the best CFI. Students should be aware that a good training is much more important than saving some money. It is your life that is at stake and once you get bad habits they are very difficult to remove

[@joselopez-jg3xi]

Thank you Omni for your comment. Fortunately the CFI was never accepted in any airline as a commercial pilot (guess why ?) and had more trouble and more incidents and finally was forced to quit and left aviation and now owns a business. In 1979 and after studying multiple aircraft accidents NASA psychologist John Lauber coined the term CRM, crew resource management. This was a new and complex branch or aeronautical psychology that among other things had the purpose of minimizing incidents related to the absence of proper communication among crew members, which included a less authoritarian cockpit culture and the possibility to question the decisions of the captain by copilots in case obvious mistakes were detected. Many accidents have been caused by this missing interaction and copilots unable to question authority (which does not mean breaking the hierarchy of command). We recently had a CRM related accident when a pilot with 30+ years experience took off with passengers and without fuel. The problem is that he had a copilot who did not challenge the absence of the checklist just trusting the mental memory work of the PIC (pilot in command). When the engine quit, the copilot reacted appropriately (told the PIC to fly the aircraft, switch tanks, fuel pump, etc) but the PIC froze and headed for the nearest field. They crashed badly and were all injured but saved their lives. One gallon of fuel was left in the other tank, it would have been enough to reach a nearby airport or land safely in a field ! In any case I put the lives of the passengers at risk, I should have stayed; I was renting the plane and I had enough aeronautical knowledge to know we were out of limits. It was very simple, take a cab back home or enjoy the day, it was a beautiful place. As a surgeon, I have extensive experience in emergencies. There is no merit, just that we deal with this very often and we panic just like anybody else but we are trained to retain some control and don't freeze, we still "fly the plane" and this was very useful during this incident. I now teach aeronautical medicine and human factors for pilots, I always tell my students that this is THE MOST IMPORTANT subject and that most accidents are related to human factors.

[@23aviator82]

I believe your long story can be useful for many pilots. Thank you very much.

[@yuvegotmale]

I have watched this video sooo many times. This gives you a perfect situation of high altitude denstiy....low powered plane, overweight plane. and high temperature, the results are not surprising to anyone . Its amazing all survied. Like my mother used to say....."Did you learn anything from this"

[@scorpionwins6378]

Plot twist: He was just trying to stay under enemy radar.

[@benstein3014]

Damn merryweather

[@busterthe2]

Hahaha😂👍

[@RedRoo13]

He succeeded!

[@willpettus]

Lester was not happy after that ending

[@MorsBieg]

Merryweather fleets here bro

[@jeremyc311709]

As a pilot, I promise you that the high density altitude situation would’ve been first on my mind along with the loading of my aircraft. Therefore I would’ve had a good abort plan ready. The pilot of this aircraft should’ve done the same.

[@PassportBrosBusinessClass]

He needs a turbocharger

[@goonervillegonad3662]

You would have still taken off knowing of the risks... but with an abort plan?! How about just deciding nobody’s flying instead?

[@jeremyc311709]

Goonerville Gonad my abort plan would’ve been if I’m not in the air by a certain point on the runway, then I would cancel the takeoff and not go up at all. Since most pilots know about when their aircraft lifts off under normal circumstances, it’s easy to see that you have severely limited performance and cancel the takeoff.

[@behindthen0thing525]

I hope he doesn't have a license

[@behindthen0thing525]

@@jeremyc311709 wouldn't he have a chart to tell him the takeoff distance?

[@boahneelassmal]

"Drive the plane sa far into the crash as you can" This pilot did that for 3 whole minutes starting at take-off...

[@WillBilly.]

You don't know whats on the ground, it's not that simple. If he hit a ditch or rock it could have been worse

[@LorddGray]

Correction, they would have been lucky if the pilot had rolled down about 3500 feet of that runway and said, "this isn't going to work" and then aborted the takeoff. Hell, look at all of the open meadow he flew over in a bird which was clearly not willing to climb more than a few feet per minute. How do you fly an aircraft in that situation (barely able to stay in the air, much less climb over a mountain, knowing that it won't manage to turn around in the space between mountains to get back to the airport) and decide to stay in the air and hope for the best. Abort the takeoff, lose a passenger (or some luggage) and/or wait until the air is cooler and thicker. Get-there-itis strikes again!

[@johnb3326]

Mixture was full rich, can be seen between seconds 18 and 19. Didn’t read the report but guessing that was noted as a contributing factor

[@josephbuccati2369]

A brilliantly informative analysis here. It is evident the commentator is an expert in this subject matter. Cheers from 2023!

[@marsgal42]

I was at Truckee, California a couple of weeks ago. Field elevation 5900 feet, density altitude 8500 feet. One of the runways has a right turn on departure, but if you need to you can do a left 270 to gain some altitude before proceeding (it also helps with noise abatement). We needed to.

[@mylesspear]

ugh. It kills me to watch plane crash videos now that I'm a student pilot. I always think through out the video that could've been or could be me. I watch every video in detail now to watch the mistakes made and think how I would respond to the situation. Thanks for the upload. You're help making aviation a safer place!

[@nicholasparker2086]

wikipedia says the service ceiling for this aircraft is 14,000 feet yet the DA was 9,000 feet. What was the problem? Did the pilot just attempt to climb without first letting the plane gain speed?

[@gazza2390]

Talk about stupidity it was clear it wasn’t going to fly 5 minutes before the crash

[@1450JackCade]

It was clear from the video 50 seconds into the take off roll, and should've been clear to the pilot and any knowledgeable passengers or onlookers when the pilot lined up with a 10-20 knot tailwind at that elevation in those conditions.

[@nuttychickenman]

When you can see the squirrels in the trees you know it’s to low

[@insanelyme938]

Nah... man is gansta until he has to look up to see'em.

[@dinil5566]

Squirrel too low? He should have known that the squirrel is too low.

[@heavyizthacrown-5842]

Especially after “climbing” for what seemed like two minutes!

[@ohasis8331]

Try looking at it from the squirrel's perspective.

[@jjmcwill1881]

Just passed my 107. Very interesting channel the way you break down everything.

[@leewaffe3]

I was at flight training with Doss at the time this occurred, word about this spread rapidly among the students and instructors and when this narrative came out each class was required to watch it. Impressive stuff!

[@8AD858D8]

Strange, I missed the part where he said "hold my beer"

[@ripplebear]

That was shortly before takeoff ;)

[@RedRoo13]

You may have missed that line but he asked the right seat passenger to "hold his beer" so he could take a big pull off his bottle of Jack Daniels that he keeps in his door pocket. LMAO!

[@isaiah2536]

Suffice to say if i was one of the passengers, the pilot wouldn’t have survived...

[@WillBilly.]

Be honest you wouldn't do shit

[@nilknarf483]

My father homebuilt a Pietenpol and taught himself how to fly with a couple of hours of lessons. He never got his private pilot's license but flew on a student's license, I guess he figured I was a student pilot too, just too young for a license. We were flying one day and the Lycoming missed on one cylinder one time. He gently turned back to the airport and put it on the ground. He was a survivor of several aircraft carriers in the Pacific in WWII and knew a thing or two about survival. Leaving nothing to chance was a lesson he taught me.

[@joeangell5652]

@nilknarf483 - Obviously smart, but sounds like a good man as well. Lucky to have a father like that.

[@richard--s]

A great outcome! But it looked to me as if in this video there was no chance to turn around (not enough power or speed (low air density as it turned out later)), but maybe a chance to land straight ahead, before the trees. Some obstacles in the grass maybe... Maybe it might overturn in a landing attempt...

[@P272-e9k]

Ffs just put it down safely as it refuses to fly. I'll take the field over the trees or mountains. I don't like this pilot!

[@NorthernChev]

This is a severely truncated version of this video (for time purposes), obviously. The camera keeps rolling after the crash, and you hear the passengers moaning in pain, and their clamoring around. It's heartbreaking to listen to in it's entirety.

[@DJAntonetti]

ATC: Sir, you have Teterboro at your 2 o'clock, 2 miles or you can set her down on that perfectly good, Dirt Runway you've been flying over for the last 30 minutes... Pilot: Can't do it. ATC: Sir, say again... Pilot: We're gonna be in the forest. Captain Sully is Not impressed.

[@GOTTALOVELOGOS]

I know this is satire. At least I hope. Made me laugh.

[@gabrielapenaloza7183]

Hahahaha

[@dcan911]

Best comment on here.

[@nicomatex1]

UNABLE

[@DoggoWillink]

Brace for impact.

[@xat0304]

When having trouble getting it up is a life or death situation

[@Cordell-]

Suicidal Loser consult your doctor

[@1123-e6n]

was not prepared for this comment

[@djwarren5081]

It's not getting up, it's staying up.

[@jimbosaul3996]

superb effort. he gave it just enough time & power to get it to the top of the trees so he could successfully crash thru them. well done to this pilot ! broken jaw indeed. from one of the passengers slugging him for sure. ~!

[@ce7857]

Great vid, great explanation. Thanks! Was glad to hear everyone survived!

[@Hopeless_and_Forlorn]

Density altitude 9100 feet plus? They were screwed the moment the old fool pushed the throttle forward. About 25 years ago, I talked to two women who operated Lake County Airport in Colorado, elevation 9927 feet, about the awareness of density altitude for flat land pilots who flew in there, particularly during hunting season. They said that more than once they refused to sell fuel to pilots determined to attempt a takeoff they never would have survived. Usually, they arranged to ship baggage or transport passengers for them in order to get them out of there alive.

[@jakejones5736]

+Hopelessand Forlorn Denalt, it's all about denalt. If you're outside the envelope, then it's no go. Simple...

[@Hopeless_and_Forlorn]

Jake Jones Is that not what I was saying?

[@jakejones5736]

+Hopelessand Forlorn Indeed! I was just summing it up.

[@danielmocsny5066]

They should have stocked JATO bottles and adapter kits to sell to the overeager flatland pilots. And kept the Darwin Awards judging committee on speed dial.

[@OutdoorsWithChad]

I'd be in favour of that if it weren't for wasting perfectly good airplanes...

[@michaeljorgensen790]

0:17 I don't see a barometric pressure window on the altimeter. It seems like common sense that when you fly and land at high altitudes that you would want an altimeter that also shows barometric pressure. When you land you note the inches of mercury. When you are ready to take off if the reading has changed then you have further calculations to do....if it is not safe then you wait until the pressure rises. You can do it without a barometric reading just by noting the change in altitude...as long as you are sure no one has re-adjusted the altimeter. Pilots are getting to used to just adjusting the altimeter to whatever altitude the map or their GPS says they are at without regard for Barometric pressure.

[@richardlyons1199]

Extremely poor judgement

[@CaptainSmoke]

*Struggling to climb* "Lets head for those trees over yonder!"

[@ReflectedMiles]

The saddest thing about this footage is how painfully obvious it is to the outside observer from early in the roll that the plane has no capacity for a normal departure, and how the desire and/or pressures to fly prevent the pilot from recognizing this certainty as well and setting it down safely to re-calculate what is wrong and what is required instead.

[@wolpjame]

My first instructor taught me that the best way to carry a heavy load out of a short strip is to carry lots of light loads. As a CFI in Idaho, I fly out of 6000MSL strips regularly, and make sure all of my students understand this principle.

[@edadan]

I had a similar incident many years ago flying out of an airport in the North Georgia mountains on a hot day. Just barely cleared the trees at the end of the runway and terrain was rising. Stall horn stayed on for a long time while I was just barely able to stay above the tree tops. Made it back home and felt very lucky to be alive.

[@cluelessbeekeeping1322]

What kind of plane were you flying? Were you alone? What was the altitude you started at & had to climb to?

[@whateverthedaybrings2268]

Good, you are lucky!

[@hiscifi2986]

That's the problem with underpowered aircraft, the margin between success and failure is so small. I am used to climbs of over 1000ft/min. So when I tried a Slingsby which was only doing 300 ft/min, I was about to return to base, but the Instructor said that that was about par for the course with two persons on board.

[@Emily-zp1jf]

I feel as though the pilot coming out of this with the most extensive injuries out of all of them is karma for his reckless actions.

[@TheMarioMen1]

I feel as though you’re the hottest girl I’ve ever seen on an aviation video 🥵 😍

[@Scuba72Chris]

@@TheMarioMen1 Well that wasn't as creepy as hell.

[@MangionMotorsports]

@@TheMarioMen1 what in the fuck

[@wuj3kdar0]

Rest could focus not to get hurt by holding onto something. Pilot had hold steering.

[@keegyweegy7803]

Cosmic Dissonance simp

[@fr8fr6dr69]

00:57 was it for me. Lift off, mush around even while still in ground effect where you have extra lift, exceeds my comfort zone and I would have set it down right there.

[@DNHarris]

Yes!

[@gmcinnis6304]

FLY IT ... or park it... the latter seems like the better option when he ran out of runway and still wasnt off the ground with motor at WIDE OPEN THROTTLE (WOT)

[@auntysocialist]

4 people in a 165hp airplane? Wishful thinking, if not outright dangerous.

[@oxxnarrdflame8865]

When I got my private 40+ years ago we were continually warned about density altitude. It’s a real shame pilots still haven’t learned. Scuba divers have a cert for high altitude dives. Maybe we need one for pilots.

[@Nightverslonn]

The problem with go-pro is we will now document our incredibly bad decisions

[@eliotwinchell1715]

haha

[@matoatlantis]

but, on the other hand, we can learn from it. so it's a win-win situation ;)

[@keithnoneya]

I'm no pilot, but I've been around airplanes most of my life and a model radio control aircraft pilot for years. Looking at his take off the pilot should've known he wasn't going anywhere. He obviously didn't do the math for altitude, air density and weight. This pilot had ample time to set it back down before entering the trees. A good rule of thumb I've been told is: It's the planes job to save the crew, it's the pilots job to save the crew and let the plane do the same. You don't try and save the plane if it's going down, you save the crew so they can live to rebuild the plane. Thanks for sharing. Best Wishes & Blessings. Keith Noneya

[@guymerritt4860]

The pilot's choice to try to nurse the plane into the air - when, clearly, there was a problem - is baffling. When he struck the ground, after trying to lift off, he had tons of time to put down in open areas. This is proof that it doesn't take a particularly high IQ to get a pilot's license. Incredibly stupid.

[@JohnSmith-wd9rc]

I had the John King Flight Training videos. That was 20 years ago, but I remember John saying "everyone is a complete idiot for 15 minutes everyday". John was talking pilots, and this Stinson pilot has proved John Kings word absolutely right.

[@flat_stickproductions209]

I have had a lot os skipper takeoffs. If you fly high density altitude that is pretty normal. High density and over max gross flying is tough but those are conditions I trained for with my DPE, actual real world useful stuff.

[@sbentjies]

And none of that sounds safe

[@DaBiggFly]

Yeah and then when you add the crew? His kids or friends? Seems like there were psychological factors at play that the pilot wasn't prepared to deal with.

[@wu-wei2229]

Guy Merritt It actually does take a lot to get a pilot's license. The issue is whether or not the pilot applies the knowledge.

[@cageordie]

So, was the need for a takeoff run longer than a typical 737 a clue? And then landing and still continuing and then taking off again? Crawling in to the air. And then the inability to gain altitude? Monday morning quarterbacking, but surely he should have seen this coming. I am glad everyone survived and I guess some days your purpose is to serve as a warning to others.

[@DellBuster]

So east to be critical after the fact. Best to shut up, watch and learn

[@flexairz]

DellBuster No, its just common sense the pilot should have used when the take off took so long. And looking at the performance figures before take off.

[@tashannon1745]

DellBuster the pilot made so many errors....and no even before i became a pilot i would enough common sense to not do that

[@djea3589]

everyone did not survive..a WONDERFUL aircraft died.

[@Hedgeflexlfz]

DellBuster Any good Pilot would realize something is wrong and would abort it. Granted they even took off in the first place

[@paulkalin]

the first time it bounced would have been enough for me to either land in the grass or turn around

[@mikewelch3903]

Density altitude was a hard lesson for this pilot to learn.

[@Hedgeflexlfz]

Mike Welch for real

[@OneTequilaTwoTequila]

He also thought that a Stinson 108 was enough airplane to haul four big American men with full fuel and whatever gear they had. The density altitude was icing on the cake.

[@jamesmorris913]

I'll guarantee you, he didn't learn a DAMN thing. Probably blamed it on everything, except for what was the ACTUAL cause...HIS OWN PISS-POOR JUDGEMENT.

[@williambrandt9254]

I was trying to find this video without all of the commentary and just watch it so I can re-post it. There used to be one up here I know all about density altitude Anyone know where it is?

[@coldsamon]

The KZbin channel @outdoors2stay has the video you want.

[@coldsamon]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/r3XYYZ2Pnt9grJo

[@williambrandt9254]

Thanks!

[@terryallen9546]

This is a masterpiece of video instruction. The pilot had all the tools he needed to avoid this event...except an agile brain. No personal insult directed at the pilot. Age does this to us, and we seem blind to it. If we are lucky, we learn...and sell the plane, motorcycle, etc...and take up a hobby with less fatal possibilities. If we love our friends and families...

[@taekwondotime]

Agreed. This was completely avoidable. Bad pilot. 1. He never should have taken off given the high altitude and the weight. (It was outside the capabilities of the plane.) 2. When the plane wasn't climbing, he should have recognized his mistake from #1 and put it back down immediately in the field, but he didn't.

[@DerekMoore82]

Or they take up the other hobby for senile elderly, they become President of the United States.

[@badgerfishinski6857]

While I agree age can adversely affect some older pilots, age can also make us smarter and wiser pilots too. More experience = better choices. I take less chances now that I am older, than when I was younger. As long as the mind doesn't start to slip, older pilots can actually be smarter than younger more inexperienced pilots.

[@terryallen9546]

@@badgerfishinski6857 Point taken. Experience does enable us to make better choices.But age affects all of us and our skills diminish whether we admit it or not. Think about how poorly we face degrading sight and hearing abilities. Think about short term memory. It is unknown if this pilot once made proper decisions in this context, or had lost the ability. I'm glad we are all watching the video and thinking. I like family outings like this, and feel for the man and his family.

[@dontall71]

As Gen. Chuck Yeager once said, "there are old pilots and bold pilots, but few old bold pilots."@@badgerfishinski6857

[@tww1491]

In the early 60s I flew with the owner of a Stinson (Voyager) and was impressed with its handling at low air speeds -- the slots were an innovation back then. Of course we were operating at close to sea level. Pilot should have known what his a/c was capable of in this instance and they were very lucky.

[@twingo71]

Greetings. Is it possible to download the video in full? I would need it for educational reasons. Thank you.

[@justforever96]

Hindsight is 20/20. Plenty of videos of pilots taking off and barely clearing the trees and then congratulating themselves for cutting it close but getting out in the end.

[@cmeGordy]

were the plane skipped I would have scrapped that takeoff

[@shadypelican]

"I just want to tell you both good luck. We're all counting on you."

[@geoffmcnew5863]

and don't call me Shirley

[@jellybaby7]

Pilots broken jaw was from the passenger punching him one as it came down.

[@ksthebest]

Very original....

[@dammitdan1662]

I’ll bet the pilot’s broken jaw was due to an angry passenger informing him of his displeasure after the landing.

[@lancelot1953]

Excellent narrative Glenn, great video for pilots to learn from, thank you for posting, Ciao, L

[@SherwoodStudios]

Agreed :)

[@yamkaw346]

One positive note is that the pilot did not stall it, he flew it all the way in. The urge to pull back when those trees are getting close is unavoidable for many, and almost always fatal.

[@OleJoe]

Seems to me the plane was trying to tell the pilot to abort, but the pilot wasn't listening.

[@branni6538]

And an angel pushed them gently into the trees so captain fool didn't face first into the mountain and surely kill them all.

[@maryannsulkey2296]

As Clint Eastwood once said, "A man has got to know his (aircraft's) limitations."

[@oldsaerotech1167]

Turns out, when asked the question, "Do you know how to fly?" , Filthy Harry's answer was the same as this pilot's.

[@1PickJesus]

He didn't lean for takeoff. Look @ the mixture control. It's all the way in! Rod Machado explains it in one of his videos

[@Uberwagon]

So, pilots reading this... Is this 100% pilot error? As a non-pilot, I'm seeing high alt + full plane = poor planning. Then, struggling for lift + not aborting over flat grass = poor decision-making, correct? Just curious to aviators' conclusions. Thx.

[@ObliterateTyranny]

Looks like it. This is from the NTSB report WPR12LA283: Before taking off from the 5,000-foot turf-dirt airstrip located at an altitude of 6,370 feet mean sea level, the pilot checked his performance charts and calculated that the density altitude was about 9,200 feet; this was 3,200 feet above the 6,000-foot maximum altitude listed in the takeoff performance charts. He also noted that at the time of departure, the wind was from 30 degrees at 10 knots, with gusts to 20 knots, which was close to a nearly direct tailwind for the takeoff from runway 23. The National Transportation Safety Board determines the probable cause(s) of this accident as follows: "The pilot’s inadequate preflight planning and decision to takeoff at a density altitude outside of the airplane’s takeoff performance envelope, with a tailwind, and near the airplane’s maximum gross weight, which resulted in the airplane’s inability to climb and clear trees."

[@MidnightSky69]

Uberwagon yes, imho that is pretty much the case..

[@andrewmyralane6673]

Uberwagon yes pilot error

[@NetAndyCz]

Yeah, looks like 100% pilot error. Or 99% pilot and 1% weather, but part of the training is to deal with the weather. The runway is rather long but the plane was clearly near its maximum take off weight at high density altitude (high airfield and high temperature). The pilot should know better and check how fast they can climb and how much of the runway they will need before each flight. Also not sure if he properly leaned the mixture to compensate for the high density altitude. Worst of all is that after take off the plane came down again and that is huge clue to abort, ideally stop or return, or use any of the nice grass areas that are suitable for forced landings. The plane had troubles staying in the air and fighting that and flying into the forest while not having any outs is huge mistake. It is sometimes hard but plane should be always flown at safe altitude so you can land somewhere. It is not possible in few places in the world but mostly at worst you need to circle in the vicinity of the airfield to get some altitude to have some outs. When the engine fails you are supposed to have somewhere to land safely, but there is no excuse for controlled flight into terrain while the engine is running.

[@joecebu2791]

Maybe this guy was old and no longer had the mental faculties to pilot anymore. Why else would he have made so many poor decisions? It's incomprehensible to me.

[@GiuseppeSRedSky]

Why did he want to continue take off??

[@eliotwinchell1715]

that's what i want to know too. 5,000 foot runway? The plane bounced once, how was that not a clue?

[@lifesshortgofast4391]

The question everyone has asked.

[@lejink]

cezza57 I'm watching the plane struggle to gain altitude, a treeline approaching and a huge area of smooth grass before it...I'm yelling at the screen "put it down while you still can!!!!!"

[@KandiKlover]

Launch day anxiety. Same reason the challenger took off and exploded when they should've postponed.

[@eliotwinchell1715]

***** Huh? The space shuttle challenger exploded because of an O-ring failure on a rocket booster. Had nothing to do with the conditions of that day and they couldn't have seen it coming.

[@centex7409]

Best and only option was the pilot paying attention to the conditions and knowing how much weight he had onboard. That roll and very weak climb should of had him abort the take off. He simply didn't do due diligence and then failed to accept the poor performance he was seeing. Glad everyone survived. But that accident chain was full blown cringe to watch.

[@cwehbe]

Entirely pilot's fault. He had a lot of time to abort and the airplane gave him a lot of warning time! I hope he never flies again so he doesn't kill himself or others.

[@dieselscience]

He even had time to calculate altitude density BEFORE starting the engine....

[@artharrison294]

Or break perfectly good airplanes. have flown a couple of these Stinson, fun to fly, but this one in these conditions should have been limited to about a two seater. Weight and balance and takeoff calculations are more than just loose suggestions.

[@jimmyjames1994]

Same thing happened to me on take off but i immediately closed throttle and rejected t/o, it was a hot day and high elevation and the aircraft was pretty heavy, looks like i took the right decision, but being in the situation is different than observing from a video, thank god their okay.

[@OneTequilaTwoTequila]

So you're a lucky idiot instead of an unlucky idiot! I'm guessing you never calculated the effect of the density altitude before your takeoff roll.