C-47 Crash in Burnet, Texas

[M2]

A C-47 named "Bluebonnet Belle" (N47HL) of the Highland Lakes CAF Squadron crashed in Burnet, Texas yesterday. Luckily, all thirteen passengers on board survived, but injuries have been reported.  The aircraft was destroyed. 

 

https://www.kxan.com/news/local-news/breaking-crash-destroys-antique-plane-at-burnet-municipal-airport/1314564561

 

https://www.highlandlakessquadron.com/aircraft/c47

[HuggyU2]

Longer video of the mishap:  

 

Do any of folks here have significant C-47/DC-3 time?  If so, is taking off from the 3-point attitude (e.g. not raising the tail on the roll) a normal thing?  

[MooseAg03]

I’m glad there were no fatalities, but what a shame to lose such a beautiful vintage airplane.

[drewpey]

It's hard to make out from the video...but from the angle and the reaction of the dude on the ground it looks like it was veering off the runway and everything else might have been an overcorrection. 

[BADFNZ]

20 hours ago, HuggyU2 said:

Longer video of the mishap:  

 

Do any of folks here have significant C-47/DC-3 time?  If so, is taking off from the 3-point attitude (e.g. not raising the tail on the roll) a normal thing?  

I have about 2 hours of C-47 time logged at cruise (in other words, my expertise is zero), but of the 100+ C-47/DC-3 takeoffs I've seen, I've never seen a takeoff from a 3-point stance.  It actually goes to a 2-point fairly early

[Bender]

I have about 2 hours of C-47 time logged at cruise (in other words, my expertise is zero), but of the 100+ C-47/DC-3 takeoffs I've seen, I've never seen a takeoff from a 3-point stance.  It actually goes to a 2-point fairly early

Thrust deficient one would assume, max power blasting on the other side...tough decisions when there isn't runway in front of you. Prop on the left looks to be spinning fine, but what does that even mean...nothing.

Nice to hear everyone walked away, especially seeing how toasted the airframe ended up.

Seems like it's always vmca and/or stall...some very troubling issues with maintenance sprinkled on top. We're crushing it all (literally) from both sides.

Stall characteristic awareness and a better handing of normalized deviance and we might stand a chance of mitigating the tail spin we're in...it's going to take big blue a long time to work out the other side, maintainers and pilots need to double down on these things so we can get our people out the back end of this.

Hard to watch...try hard to teach those coming in/learn from others how to protect yourselves from stalling airplanes. It was only within this decade this highlighted itself, and we have clearly not done a good enough job mitigating it.

Maintaining airplanes is completely separate, but synergies often...you get what you pay for. Ask a lot of a little and you'll get less than what you need.

They're going to keep racking up...do what you can to make sure it isn't you. Sometimes it's just already written into the cards (so recent history proves). If there is anything you can do about it (more focus on boldface, more attention to stall training, do it).

Be humble, seek out knowledge...you don't know it all and any of these could easily be you with very little variation.

Be safe out there,
~Bendy

[FourFans]

4 hours ago, Bender said:

Ask a lot of a little and you'll get less than what you need.

I love Bendy pearls of wisdom.  I'm keeping this one.

[08Dawg]

Control locks left in maybe, or elevator jammed full up?  Odd to see a DC-3 attempt a three point lift off like that. 

[HuggyU2]

On 7/26/2018 at 6:14 PM, 08Dawg said:

Control locks left in maybe, or elevator jammed full up?  Odd to see a DC-3 attempt a three point lift off like that. 

Are we going to commence the speculation?  Let's not.  

To address your point, however, the elevator is up on takeoff.  And I seriously doubt two pilots would have missed a yoke in an unnatural aft position during the entire taxi out.  

Also, the elevator is down after it comes to a stop.  Do you believe the pilot who was seriously burned took the time to unlock the flight controls after it came to a stop?

Edited July 28, 2018 by HuggyU2

[Hacker]

I'm surprised that nobody has copypasta'd the post the DO of the CAF unit involved made on the day after the accident.

New status in life - airplane crash survivor. Not one you want.

Tina and I were on the flight when the C-47 Bluebonnet Belle crashed on takeoff Sat, 7/21 at Burnet, Tx. There were 13 of us on board, including the crew, and we all made it out. Several suffered burns and 3 of those were admitted to burn units and 3 others, including Tina, were treated and released. As of this evening, only 1 is still under burn care and he will completely recover after a few more weeks of burn care. Tina has blisters that are requiring wound care, but she is in no pain aside from a bruised rib.

Most of the burn victims were burned exiting the airplane. Fuel had spilled all over the ground and had splashed over the top of the plane. The 1st two to open the aft door were burned the worst. Some had to jump through the fire to get out. You can find videos and pictures of the crash and the aftermath all over the internet - search for C-47 crash.

As Operations Officer for the Highland Lakes squadron, this flight was operated under my authority, which means I have spent the last 3 days helping gather facts and documents to share with the NTSB, the FAA and CAF. It's encouraging to see these professionals working on this and we are especially grateful for the support and assistance from Jim Lasche and Buddy Cooksey from CAF HQ! Most of us lost our cell phones, computers, tablets, clothes, etc, in the fire, so it has been hard to stay in contact. Plane crashes, esp those caught on video - seem to draw incredible speculation and this one is no exception.

The experts, the NTSB will take months or even years analyzing the facts of this accident to determine what happened, but many people seem to think they can watch a grainy video and know all sorts of things. As a semi-insider in this thing, there are some things I can say with certainty. The engines were operating just fine - very smooth, appearing to make good power. The CG was near the center of the envelope. The gross weight at takeoff was slightly under our self-imposed limit of 25,200 lbs, which is more than 1000 lbs less than the normal max gross weight for this model of C-47. The gust locks had been removed and the controls were operating freely. The tailwheel was properly locked at the start of the takeoff run.

So all you speculators.....just STFU!

The outpouring of sympathy and remorse from all of our friends and family, the CAF community, the larger Warbird community, Daks over Normany, D-Day Squadron has been heartening and very appreciated. Highland Lakes Squadron has been caring for Bluebonnet Belle since 2001 and we are all heart-broken at her loss. But we are blessed to be alive and have only recoverable injuries. Our Bluebonnet Airshow is still on for Sept 8th and it will be a great show! Thanks to everyone for the concern, wishes and prayers! We are fine!

[HuggyU2]

 "So all you speculators.....just STFU!"

Hard to put it better. 

Too bad some of the pilots over at COPA (for Cirrus pilots) and other aviation websites can't understand this concept.  

Thank for that post, Hacker.  

 

Edited August 3, 2018 by HuggyU2

[Bender]

Rule all of that stuff out and you just gotta wonder though! Is it really that bad thing if possible causes are discussed, irrespective of a specific reality...certainly someone would believe that discussing various causes of accidents is worthwhile, along with how they may or may not have/did apply.

 

On the other hand there is plenty of fodder within previous mishaps to fill the void/need...but there is something about human nature that like the mystery and ego about not having the facts yet. Sometimes when it's closer to home, we even feel emotional about it from both sides of the aisle.

 

I always wait in wonder and am seldom surprised when I finally hear...and when I am surprised, it's often like a punch to the gut that you somehow decided to ask for.

 

One day we'll know. One guy on the plane says the plane was just fine...probably those pesky pilots again then. Wait and see at this point...sad to lose those airplanes. We know we're losing the people, but those planes could stay with us past the end of mankind on earth.

 

Hard enough keeping those millennials in touch with history as it is.

 

Super glad everyone will walk away from this one though! That fire was crazy bad.

 

~Bendy

 

Edit: Of course, that fodder (for military) comes with privilege which HIGHLY reduces the discussion(s) from those that know what they're talking about, unfortunately. If it's not on the front side (thus speculative), there wouldn't be any conversation at all. As always, pretending you're friends with Shakira when you've never even been to one of her concerts makes you a doucher.

[HuggyU2]

5 hours ago, Bender said:

Edit: Of course, that fodder (for military) comes with privilege which HIGHLY reduces the discussion(s) from those that know what they're talking about, unfortunately. If it's not on the front side (thus speculative), there wouldn't be any conversation at all. As always, pretending you're friends with Shakira when you've never even been to one of her concerts makes you a doucher.

LOL.... wut??

[Bender]

LOL.... wut??

 

Yeah. That was pretty rough, shrug. You see, Huggy...

 

Shakira is a popular singer for the kids these days...studies show you stop looking into new music when your in your thirties, so it's okay you don't get the reference. After all, that was about 50 years or so for you...you'll always dig Coltrane and Ellington with nothing new coming on the horizon for you. Could be worse.

 

 

Point is speculation never hurt anyone...just ruffles the feathers of people that know pilots that haven't been proven to have made the error being speculated about.

 

~Bendy

[FourFans]

Bendy, if you have a twitter account, you could be President someday soon.

[Bender]

Bendy, if you have a twitter account, you could be President someday soon.

It's quite interesting how insults have changed over the years.

In any case, I don't, so you're safe from me (for now).

~Bendy

[Hacker]

Excerpt from the preliminary NTSB report:

“The co-pilot, who was the flying pilot (FP) reported that prior to the flight, it was briefed that he would perform the takeoff. He stated that the captain taxied the airplane to the runup area, where all pre-takeoff checks were completed; the captain then taxied the airplane onto runway 19. The co-pilot further stated that he then took control of the airplane, provided a pre-takeoff brief, and initiated the takeoff sequence. About 10 seconds into the takeoff roll, the airplane drifted right, at which time he applied left rudder input. This was followed shortly by the captain saying that he had the airplane.

The captain, who was the non-flying pilot (NFP), reported that during the initial stages of the takeoff roll, he didn't recall the airplane swerving to the right, however, recalled telling the co-pilot not to push the tail up because it was heavy; he also remembered the airplane swerving to the left shortly thereafter. The captain stated that he yelled "right rudder" three times before taking control of the airplane. He said that as he put his hands on the control yoke, he noticed that either the tail started to come down or the main wheels were either light or were just coming off the ground as it exited the left side of the runway. The captain said that he knew the airplane was slow as he tried to ease it [the airplane] over [to the runway] and set it back down. Subsequently, he felt the 'shutter of a stall," and the airplane turned to the left and impacted the ground. After the airplane came to a stop, a postimpact fire ensued, during which all the occupants of the airplane egressed through the aft left door.

Examination of the accident site revealed that the airplane came to rest upright on a heading of about 113° magnetic, about 145 ft east of the left side, and 2,638 ft from the approach end of runway 19. The postimpact fire consumed the fuselage from the nose cone aft to about 3 ft forward of the left side cargo door along with a majority of the wing center section. No evidence of any flight control locks was found installed. The tailwheel locking pin was found in place and was sheered into multiple pieces. Vegetation (grass) within about 200 ft of the main wreckage was burnt from the postimpact fire. The wreckage was recovered to a secure location for further examination.”

[Hacker]

Link to the full prelim report:

https://app.ntsb.gov/pdfgenerator/ReportGeneratorFile.ashx?EventID=20180721X41413&AKey=1&RType=HTML&IType=FA