Local GA crash at Concord, CA (Buchanan Field)

[y_p_w]

I'm rather familiar with the area. It's complicated but I've been there somewhat often and definitely have driven on the road where this plane crashed. Juan Browne did a vid that includes this, and the pilot apparently just went around in circles doing touch and gos around the airport just for fun going up and down at wide open throttle.

Plane from fatal Concord crash was homebuilt, occupant was Bay Area native, NTSB says

In an afternoon press conference on Wednesday, officials confirmed that the solo occupant of the plane was a Bay Area-native and that the plane itself was homebuilt.

abc7news.com

It's a little bit different because the city of Concord contracts with the county fire department. The crash site is definitely within city limits.

 

[MRC01]

An engine failure and dead-stick landing can be a very survivable event. But it requires immediate and correct action by the pilot, and reasonably friendly terrain below. Looks like this pilot failed to get the nose down, stalled and spun in. It's better to glide under control wings level into something that looks bad, than try to make the runway or avoid something that looks bad, and lose control and stall, spin, or cartwheel while doing so.

 

[y_p_w]

An engine failure and dead-stick landing can be a very survivable event. But it requires immediate and correct action by the pilot, and reasonably friendly terrain below. Looks like this pilot failed to get the nose down, stalled and spun in. It's better to glide under control wings level into something that looks bad, than try to make the runway or avoid something that looks bad, and lose control and stall, spin, or cartwheel while doing so.

Looking at the FlightAware data, he did one touch and go but was other circling around Sam's Club, but then diving and firewalling it on climbs. Juan Browne was hinting that it could have really stressed out the engine, especially if he hadn't had an opportunity to warm it up properly. Previous days he was doing a lot of touch and gos.

N30AK Flight Tracking and History - FlightAware

Track N30AK flight from Buchanan Fld to Buchanan Fld

www.flightaware.com

 

[MRC01]

I saw his tracks and it looks like standard pattern work. Of course lots and lots of it, which can be hard on the engine, but flight schools do that kind of flying with their airplanes and the engines usually make TBO. Pattern work is harder on the engine than cruise flight, but most aircraft engines are designed to handle it. Every standard takeoff uses full throttle & RPM, and it typically is done as soon as the oil is warm enough to cycle the prop, which is well before the engine is fully warmed up. The worst thing you can do to an airplane engine is let it sit without flying.

Whatever the reason, when the engine quits you simply must not stall the airplane. That seems to be what killed him.

 

[y_p_w]

I saw his tracks and it looks like standard pattern work. Of course lots and lots of it, which can be hard on the engine, but flight schools do that kind of flying with their airplanes and the engines usually make TBO. Pattern work is harder on the engine than cruise flight, but most aircraft engines are designed to handle it. Every standard takeoff uses full throttle & RPM, and it typically is done as soon as the oil is warm enough to cycle the prop, which is well before the engine is fully warmed up. The worst thing you can do to an airplane engine is let it sit without flying.

Whatever the reason, when the engine quits you simply must not stall the airplane. That seems to be what killed him.

I was just going by Juan Browne. He seemed to think that going WOT then reducing throttle over and over against wasn't terribly conducive to engine reliability.

Reports are that this is basically all he's been doing for years like he's doing laps around a track. FWIW, there are some people commenting on it on Reddit who don't seem to be unreasonable. One claimed to have seen it and heard the engine sputter. But he always seemed to be doing this kind of flying repeatedly without ever going anywhere else in his plane. Just left turns, touch and go and WOT climbs over and over again. Not that anyone seemed to think he was a jerk or particularly dangerous, but that it was just a little bit weird that it was the only kind of flying he ever wanted to do.



There was an infamous crash into the local mall in 1985 that killed seven and injured dozens with the debris and burning Avgas.

Today – The 37th Anniversary Of The Tragic Plane Crash At The Sunvalley Mall In Concord (VIDEO) - CLAYCORD.com

37-years-ago today, a twin-engine Beechcraft Baron slammed into Concord’s Sunvalley Mall, killing seven people (the pilot, two passengers and four people on…

www.claycord.com

 

[MRC01]

I was just going by Juan Browne. He seemed to think that going WOT then reducing throttle over and over against wasn't terribly conducive to engine reliability.

Reports are that this is basically all he's been doing for years like he's doing laps around a track. ...

I agree that it is unusual, and it's not great for the engine. But I was surprised that Juan Browne thought it was so bad and didn't mention in his video that this is how flight school airplanes are flown all the time, and their engines make it to TBO more often than privately flown airplanes do.

My guess is the engine more likely failed due to pilot mis-management: wrong fuel tank selected or something else simple. Aviation engine stoppages happen more often from these kinds of causes, than from actual mechanical failures.

All that said, regardless of the reason the engine failed, the cardinal rule is don't stall the airplane. Chances are, you'll walk away from an off-airport landing as long as you keep it under control & wings level.

 

[Cujet]

One advantage of the older Cessna 172 type design is the high wing simply gravity feeds the carburetor. Sure, somebody can mess that up, but for the most part, it's reliable.

A homebuilt low wing is a great way to introduce additional requirements for fuel management. The typical way is to use a fuel injected engine, that has a mechanical fuel pump to "draw" the fuel from the tank. Unfortunately, even the most minor of leaks will allow the fuel pump to draw air and starve the engine of fuel. This is why professional aircraft use full time boost pumps of some sort. Either electric or motive flow.

Someone I know crashed an RV6 twice. I advised him after the first off airport landing of the issue. He completely disregarded my points, tightened the 90º AN fitting, it vibrated loose again and the second time, the plane was scrap. To be clear, the short fuel hose from the firewall to the fuel pump, with a 90º fitting on either end, is a sure-fire way to have it come loose due to a vibrating engine. Sucks air, engine quits.

Pic IS NOT a fuel pump and hose, but the avoidance of 90º fittings here shows proper installation.

 

[MRC01]

Good points, and another reason I like high wing airplanes: simpler, more reliable, and less pilot workload. Another reason to avoid 90* bends is for smooth non-turbulent flow, giving more even pressure and flow and avoiding "hot spots" of higher resistance & pressure.