V-Tail Bonanza Crash, Clearwater, Florida 5 2024

[@artificialhorizons1469]

Thanks Kerry. Recent single engine failure at night guy over here. Also, clipped a powerline 50 feet over the deck... No damage to aircraft, just a nick on the prop, luckily. I agree with what you're saying with one addition, particularly the steep approach - which in our case wasn't an option while we were car hopping.. When you're looking down at the ground at 4,500 feet, everything is a black hole, but at 1,000 feet things can look different. I saw some big fields I didn't see way up high. So my advice is to aim for the road, but keep an eye out on either side. Don't commit until you're sure that's still your best option because things look different as you get lower down.

[@rolymal9357]

thanks Kerry really like all your shows thanks

[@kasm10]

thanks Kerry great insight here I am a student trying to learn from your experience

[@Aviatorpeck1957]

Thank you Kerry!!! I heard one time airspeed is life... So!!! I say it to myself every time I depart the run way!!!

[@KerryDMcCauley]

You and me both!

[@Calebs_Aviation]

SO SO SAD! I really LOVE the V-Tail Bonanza's & I hate the fact that its reputation is just getting worse & worse! UGH 😑

[@kennymcwilliams8972]

Great job Kerry - you are so straight forward and call them as they are. We had a salty pilot in the Navy who would always say “speed if life” - he’s not wrong.

[@kennymcwilliams8972]

*is life.

[@budowens6478]

Thanks for sharing, good job.

[@lightoftheworld44]

He was a dear friend of mine and will be missed by everyone who knew him. Thoughts and prayers to his family.

[@markbryan9989]

Good advice. Also, think of night flying as instrument flying. VFR at night is risky business at best. When I have flown at night, I stay over a highway for this very reason. I am in the North East and it is congested. Always be thinking about where you are going to land even before you have that emergency!!

[@KerryDMcCauley]

That's the right attitude to have!

[@grayrabbit2211]

+1. As a student my instructor intentionally had me do the RWY 7 departure from SPG and RWY 23 departure from VNC... at night. The first time I did this, once the lights disappeared below me and it was darkness above and darkness below, I immediately reached for the autopilot to engage the wing leveler. "How is this legal? This is IMC!", I told my instructor. He remarked that night VFR is banned in many countries for that very reason.

[@BobSpector-up7lw]

Thanks!

[@locopatojo2]

You really give out advice thatt is very valuable and hard to get. Thank you

[@KerryDMcCauley]

You're welcome!

[@BonanzaPilot]

good content Kerry

[@davidmangold1838]

I tried what you said on ForeFlight; tap airport symbol and courses for each runway pop up. I tried it,but didn’t happen. How again do you do that?

[@KerryDMcCauley]

When you tap on the airport in map mode, a bar with the nearest airports and airspaces will appear on the left. You need to select the airport from the list and hit either direct or, add to route if you have a flight plan loaded or just select the airport if you don't. It also might depend what subscription you have.

[@cturdo]

I used to think that flying a Bonanza took a fair amount of skill and experience, and that there would be adequate instrumentation to navigate to most airports. This and the other recent Bonanza accidents show that is not necessarily the case. And finding an airpark at night just stacks the deck higher against success.

[@Mikinct]

If his Bonanza had GPS it would take him right to th airport. But since this wasn't a towered airport & also did not have a ILS or instrument approach to runway he wasn't able to "see" visually or make contact with the runway. Plus this runway lights had to be turned on manually by the pilot. Some pilots stated with all the bring lights from homes & building surrounding airport th runway lights appear very dim & might be hard to see. It would've been better for a future pilot to choose a towered airport with proper instrument approaches at night.

[@cturdo]

@@Mikinct Yes a poor decision to attempt that flight in a HP aircraft at night.

[@Mike-01234]

I feel sad for the ones on the ground had nothing to do with this guy. He probably ran out of gas.

[@markkoven2968]

Exactly!!! I have Aspen in front of my face, but I also have my Ipad mounted on my Yoke…. These show me exactly where the airports are. My Bonanza POH states for landing… step one… Seatbelts… step two… Switch to fullest tank! Just seems too many people forget the basics and high performance complex aircraft are not very forgiving. I lived near here for years… and Highway would have been perfect. It’s a shame…

[@Mikinct]

Not sure if he had same type of Aspen or Garmin & iPad but that only get him near the airport. At night with bright lights surrounding airport he wasn't able to make out runway lights. Or they were extremely dim compared to homes & building surrounding airport at night. Plus not Rnav or ILS approaches, just visual. Bad situation. At his altitude unsure if he could've even made the road you speak of? Most pilots don't practice sudden engine off maneuvers or "best glide speed/trim for". And at night when it's harder to see open fields or areas available. At 1,000ft in a Bonanza he's coming down fast & hard. Big heavy engines in that bird

[@dermick]

@@Mikinct My GRT EFIS and my EFB with Skydemon on an ipad will get me to the runway. No idea why everyone is not using these essential tools.

[@Mikinct]

​@@dermick But you do realize that "iPads" help but in no way are they primary or certified instruments. Treat them as "additional equipment". Why? Because I've seen iPads screens unexpectedly go black/malfunction in critical flight. I see other pilots carry multiple iPads onboard for that very reason. Another thing, try this. Just as an example: Type in KBDR, class D airport in a Stratford, CT Since one isn't in their plane boot up MSFS2020 and use Garmin 530 in the Cessna or vtail Bonanza. When I click (PROC) and try to choose Runway 11 to land on it doesn't even list runway 11 as an option. It only lists runway 6/24 and opposite runway heading 29. But I do not wish based on winds to land on 29. Not saying this is what happened to this particular pilot on this particular night but as we see when not fully planned and looked over departure & approach waiting until last minute can be bad.

[@grayrabbit2211]

I'm in this area often and drove past the trailer park. I'm a low-time pilot and I could plant a DA40 on US-19 with ease in that area. It's a limited-access highway there, 3 lanes in either direction, with emergency lanes on both sides, so 5 lanes in either direction. Even the access road in front of the trailer park is wide enough to stuff a 172 in. Tight, but doable. I believe the Bo has a shorter wingspan than a 172. I've never flown a Beech product.

[@grayrabbit2211]

@@Mikinct In an emergency, or even IRROPs, any tool you can utilize is fair game, certified or otherwise. If you're flying IFR in the soup, and by some fluke you lose all of the panel instruments, including the magnetic compass, I can guarantee you that an iPad, despite not being certified, will become your best friend at that moment. Extended Centerlines in Foreflight are fantastic. ...and yes, I DO carry multiple iPads with me, running different versions of IOS and different versions of Foreflight, all powered by a 26,800mAh battery bank so that the iPads' batteries are the backup in case the battery bank or cables fail. I also carry a second 26,800mAh battery bank for phones, GoPro, spare radio, charging flashlights. None of my consumer equipment is connected to the aircraft's electrical system in any way, and I have two ridiculously-large battery banks to keep that going.

[@grayrabbit2211]

I know this area well. #1 -- AIRSPEED! Keep your airspeed up! This Bonanza became a lawn dart because the pilot failed to maintain airspeed. The actual crash site was only 1,200 ft from the shallow bits of Tampa Bay. IF he kept the airspeed up, he might have made it. #2 - Roads! US-19 runs right in front of the trailer park. BRIGHTLY lit, limited-access highway. Wide too. We drove past the trailer park last week after the accident and even the access/frontage road on the sides of the road was wide enough to stuff a 172 in it, so the Bonanza's 3' shorter wingspan should have fit as well. #3 - Google Maps -- Whip out your phone pull up the satellite photos and find a place to land from the daytime satellite photos. Realistically, you should have done this in your pre-flight, but there were quite a few golf courses, lakes, parks, sports fields, and larger parking lots just north of the pilot's path. There's even a golf course next to CLW. #4 - Extended centerlines. I don't know why anyone wouldn't have these turned on. Especially an IFR guy.

[@donallan6396]

Dan Gryder calls it Vmms , minimum manouvering speed . Some people find Dan to be ascerbic and rough around the edges, but his promotion of AQP is worth listening to and practicing.

[@grayrabbit2211]

@@donallan6396 Dan has his faults, but I do believe that how we train GA pilots, especially recurrent training needs serious help. For the CLW crash, just keeping it above stall speed would have done a lot. I don't know if the pilot engaged the flaps or not, but I'm suspecting he panicked and all of that went out the window. They don't teach having emergency checklists memorized in GA, but they do in the airlines. I memorize the emergency checklists for the aircraft I fly for this very reason. I also review them while waiting in the conga line while waiting for departure. My local airport's become quite a zoo since the lockdowns started, so sometimes I'm #7 or more for departure. Plenty of time to read the emergency lists.

[@lexpaul2730]

The tail end of the data shows increase in altitude AND airspeed. Doesn't that indicate he was making power? Could he have switched tanks, got the engine running, pulled up, lost SA, then stalled out?

[@donallan6396]

We sould or must take into account that this accident could have been a MASS CASUALTY EVENT. Seven additional people had only moments earlier left a social gathering at that residence which was located in a retirement community. Had a Mass Casualty Event occurred , there most definitely would have been petitions from that community and jurisdiction to close that airfield down. As it is , there should be steps taken to restrict access , landing and takeoffs , restricted to solid daylight hours only. I am solidly pro- aviation. But it has to be safe and this airport operating in a status quo entity is unacceptable .

[@alk672]

During training, I found it very difficult to imagine I would ever fly at night. Now that I'm licensed I know for a fact I never will. I'm really not sure how people are willing to put their lives in the hands of dumb luck by flying over cities at night, or over mountains IFR with ceilings to the ground. Must be some kind of weird bias.

[@haroldlocay3946]

Love flying at night. Instrument rated and aircraft has a parachute

[@grayrabbit2211]

I think it depends on the area you're in. In Florida, along the coasts, I don't mind flying at night. If anything, I love the peace and solitude of it. The radio's quiet, traffic is quiet. Interstates and major roads are VERY obvious from the air here at night, as is the coastline. I'd be far less interested going across the middle of the state at night. When I do, I have Google Maps' satellite view downloaded to my phone and leave that running in the background. There's a lot of fields, but also a lot of swamp and alligators, and worst of all -- mosquitoes.

[@davidwhite8633]

Singles, piston and turbine fly at night all the time. The trick is, to fly high enough so that there is an airstrip(s) within gliding range all, or most of the time. Bring oxygen with you.

[@Iiifly2]

Keep the air flowing is what I say

[@alichtman]

The most important comment - why fly at night and IFR to a small badly-lit hard to find airfield. What was so important and urgent that couldn't wait to a day flight the next morning? ..

[@grayrabbit2211]

The choice of airport wasn't the problem here. Failure to maintain airspeed was. If you want to make the brighter, bigger, better argument, he flew right over TPA and just north of PIE. As Kerry mentioned, it's very difficult to push the nose down to maintain airspeed when every fiber in your body wants you to pull back and climb.

[@alichtman]

@@grayrabbit2211 The choice of airport was just another link in the failure chain. A crash is almost always a result of a chain of events, and many crashes happen after a stall. In this case, a contributing factor to the pilot stalling the plane was the pressure under which he was. The pressure was preventable if he would just not insist on flying to this airfield at night and ifr

[@grayrabbit2211]

@@alichtman My guess (pure speculation) is fuel starvation to the engine caused the engine trouble. I know a lot of pilots are trained to switch tanks before landing. I prefer to do it on top of descent, so that I'll have plenty of altitude in case switching tanks doesn't go smoothly. There was plenty of fuel on-board given how large the fireball was. I don't know that a different airport would have made a difference here, other than he might not have run out of fuel if at a closer airport. From the radio transmissions, it does feel like he didn't properly brief his landing w/alternates. Both PIE and TPA were right there but he was talking about flying further south to SPG, which has its own challenges compared to TPA and PIE. I don't believe SPG has ARFF on-site. I was always taught if SHTF, try for the biggest airport nearby. The bigger the airport, the longer the runways, the better the lighting, the better equipped they are for emergencies.

[@flyingjeff1984]

Another technique. Navigate to the field. Click up the lights. The runway should appear out of nowhere.

[@grayrabbit2211]

or...Google Maps (satellite view) on your phone. I set mine up like this for take-offs in case the engine decides to pack it up on the initial climb.

[@flyingjeff1984]

@@grayrabbit2211 How much flying have you done?

[@grayrabbit2211]

@@flyingjeff1984 A few hundred hours in total. BUT, I'm a bit paranoid when it comes to prep and emergencies. That's why I set the phone up after the run-up and have it sitting in the cupholder ready to go. I know multiple pilots who've had crashes and lived, and two pilots I know died, including the pilot who was most influential in my flying when I was young. That one really hit home with me, especially when I fly one of the aircraft which he once flew.

[@flyingjeff1984]

@@grayrabbit2211 Put this in your repertoire: When the engine quits during the initial climb, simultaneously trim for best glide speed while deciding on a flight path that is nearly straight ahead. Fly to touchdown. That's why some people survive, they never stop flying. Let the airplane get too slow and you're a goner. You train for this at altitude so that if this ever happens for real----you don't have to think, you just react. That is what 10,000 plus hours has taught me. And find yourself a real instructor (you may have one). These time-building kids don't know as much as you. They just happen to have CFI after their name.

[@grayrabbit2211]

@@flyingjeff1984 Duly noted, and I always welcome advice from experience. I intentionally chose CFIs with gray hair and multiple type ratings. "Fly it until the aircraft stops moving." has been pounded into me. One of my CFIs was a wise-ass and intentionally tossed the plane into a full-on spin during slow-flight and yelled "YOUR PLANE!" Wow what a different experience that is from the docile nose droop normally practiced. We kept doing those until recovery was second nature to me. Muscle memory. Most flights my CFIs will at some point ask for suitable landing spots if the engine were to pack up immediately, if not practice the whole thing down to legal minimums over the target spot. Quite a bit of power-off practice, not just only power-off 180s. I remember the first time one of my CFIs pulled back the power while we were at altitude, a good distance from the airport, and he had me glide back to the airport. I was shocked just how far you could actually glide at altitude.

[@davidp2888]

Aviate, navigate, communicate.

[@chrisjr88fan]

He was shooting for the bay for a water landing,I live here and no road under him would have worked for him,that wouldnt have resulted in loss of life imho!

[@KerryDMcCauley]

He might have made the water if he'd gone straight for it and didn't stall.

[@Exiles800]

A Cirrus-type parachute would have drastically lessened this crash...

[@grayrabbit2211]

Nope. He didn't have the altitude or airspeed for it to do anything useful. If anything, the aircraft stalling and dropping like a rock SAVED lives as it only affected ONE trailer. If he'd had any forward momentum, that would have been at least 4-6 trailers impacted. It's snowbird season in Florida right now, so every one of those trailers had multiple people in them.

[@Exiles800]

@grayrabbit2211 Pretty close in altitude to the successful Centennial Airport Cirrus shoot pull...

[@synupps877]

How does an IFR flight plan into an airport without IFR landing capabilities work? Was he flying in IMC at night into a hard to find airstrip with no IFR landing capabilities? If so, that sounds very risky, and two innocent people were killed due to him risking that.

[@KerryDMcCauley]

I think it was good weather.

[@Mikinct]

Most of the time ifr to ght plan hand holds you until you make visual with airport then simply cancel IFR and continue VFR.

[@jlcostavideo]

It was a clear VFR night. I departed brooksville only 30 miles north of Clearwater about 10 minutes before this accident and went to Zephyrhills with a clear view of the coast for the entire flight. From personal experience I will attest that Clearwater air park can be a challenge to spot.

[@locopatojo2]

one thing i don't necessarily agree is to land in a road, WE as pilots signed up for this, the people on the ground didnt. We should not risk any chance of hurting bystanders. Never compromise the safety of lives on the ground. Go for a secluded area or a dive if its the last result.

[@KerryDMcCauley]

Well, this guy hit a trailer park and killed 2 people. Not many safe places to set down over a city at night.

[@locopatojo2]

Yeah thats my point if youre going to go, go alone or with the least amount of lives with you

[@synupps877]

I agree. Kerry said he'd try landing with (in the same direction of) traffic, which also means trying to land with (while there is) traffic on the road.

[@johnqdoe]

@@synupps877​​⁠It’s a rock or a hard place. Where are you most likely NOT going to kill someone? Residential area OR big empty highway? If you don’t know the answer, hang it up bro. You’re done. No flying for you two. Walmart is hiring. The dead pilot even answered your question from the grave. Kerry showed that he had the highway option. He put it into a trailer park and killed two civilians. Lastly, two recent emergency landings were both put down on large motorways, safely. Are you serious, or trolling? 🫵

[@lancehaynes448]

Duh

[@ZIGZAGBureauofInvestigation]

Anti Aircraft Missiles/Cannons could have Stopped this and Other Horrors.