A man from Nebraska was ferrying an experimental biplane and landed at
Sulphur springs with engine problems . He hangared the plane and realized
there was some type of fuel or carb problem. The engine ran perfectly at
rpms up to 1800 and cranked easily . He was told not to fly the plane if
the stumbling engine would not smooth out at higher rpms and to maybe
truck it the rest of the way home and then see while the stumble at cruise
RPM. He flew into KSLR from Lufkin and said the plane would only climb
a 100 ft. per min. ! Red flags all over the place . He stated when he test
flew the plane it ran fine and he and the owner did some acro in the plane.
the airplane was a PJ260 looking thing with Bucker tail feathers the guy
said it flew well and slipped very stable etc. Anyways he puts some spark
plugs and drains a good amount out of the gascolator and seemed to have
a good stream of fuel .As far as I know he didn't do anything to the carb.
our local guys would not annual the airplane due to what they considered
airworthy issues . The plane had not been flown regularly .It had a Cont.
E-185 and a wood prop .
The pilot took off headed north and about 1/3 down the runway with
full throttle the was running very rough and the pilot elected to continue
his climb . His altitude when the engine quit seems to vary from the 4+
eyewitness pilots who were observing the flight stated the altitude was
200+ to maybe 500 . The pilot tried to make a 180 with a base and
downwind turn and seemed to be slipping to biplane too. Anyway when
it made contact with the ground the aircraft exploded on impact and
was completely engulfed in flames . The pilot pulled himself from the
burning plane and was conscious to tell first responders quote : "I
messed up bad and that he didn't want to land in the lake at the end
of our 5000' runway on the North side . It was quite sobering for my
friends that saw the plane crash. The pilot was burned over 100% of
his body and was not expected to live . Many times flyers will just
take that chance and go ahead and try to make a sick bird fly .
No one knows for sure now as the plane was completely consumed
by the fire ,What really caused the engine to stop . Let us all learn
from the horrible mistakes . At least with the Cub you don't have
the heavy inertia build up like this plane did . The pilot was an
experienced flyer who just made a bad decision that can kill . It's
part of the love for flying and one can never be too careful on a
plane you don't know . One speculation is that maybe the fuel tank
was dirty and the acro knocked something loose as in trash into
the fuel system . This crash was a series of bad pilot decisions .
I don't mean to be harsh but maybe those who buy planes which
are out of annual and haven't been regularly flown can learn
something to save our lives or our fellow aviators ...very sad .
O'Dell Aeromaster, N55J: Accident occurred July 30, 2015 at Sulphur Springs Municipal Airport (KSLR), Texas
Regis#: N55J
Event Type: Accident
Highest Injury: Serious
Damage: Destroyed
Flight Phase: TAKEOFF (TOF)
FAA Flight Standards District Office: FAA Dallas FSDO-05
JOHN MARVIN RICHARDSON: http://registry.faa.gov/N55J
SULPHUR SPRINGS, TX (KLTV) - Police have identified a pilot injured in a Thursday night plane crash at Sulphur Springs Municipal Airport.
Sulphur Springs police say David German, 46, of Nebraska, was airlifted to Parkland Hospital in Dallas. The department said Friday morning that German's status was believed to be critical. German was the only person onboard the plane.
The Federal Aviation Administration said that a single-engine O'Dell Aeromaster biplane crashed about 7:40 p.m. Thursday, while taking off from the airport. The aircraft was destroyed by fire.
Police Chief Jay Sanders said the man received burns to 100 percent of his body.
Witnesses reported to police that the man had experienced trouble with the plane over the past few weeks and had been doing repairs on the aircraft in a hangar belonging to his friend in Sulphur Springs, said Sanders.
Source: http://www.kltv.com
Sulphur springs with engine problems . He hangared the plane and realized
there was some type of fuel or carb problem. The engine ran perfectly at
rpms up to 1800 and cranked easily . He was told not to fly the plane if
the stumbling engine would not smooth out at higher rpms and to maybe
truck it the rest of the way home and then see while the stumble at cruise
RPM. He flew into KSLR from Lufkin and said the plane would only climb
a 100 ft. per min. ! Red flags all over the place . He stated when he test
flew the plane it ran fine and he and the owner did some acro in the plane.
the airplane was a PJ260 looking thing with Bucker tail feathers the guy
said it flew well and slipped very stable etc. Anyways he puts some spark
plugs and drains a good amount out of the gascolator and seemed to have
a good stream of fuel .As far as I know he didn't do anything to the carb.
our local guys would not annual the airplane due to what they considered
airworthy issues . The plane had not been flown regularly .It had a Cont.
E-185 and a wood prop .
The pilot took off headed north and about 1/3 down the runway with
full throttle the was running very rough and the pilot elected to continue
his climb . His altitude when the engine quit seems to vary from the 4+
eyewitness pilots who were observing the flight stated the altitude was
200+ to maybe 500 . The pilot tried to make a 180 with a base and
downwind turn and seemed to be slipping to biplane too. Anyway when
it made contact with the ground the aircraft exploded on impact and
was completely engulfed in flames . The pilot pulled himself from the
burning plane and was conscious to tell first responders quote : "I
messed up bad and that he didn't want to land in the lake at the end
of our 5000' runway on the North side . It was quite sobering for my
friends that saw the plane crash. The pilot was burned over 100% of
his body and was not expected to live . Many times flyers will just
take that chance and go ahead and try to make a sick bird fly .
No one knows for sure now as the plane was completely consumed
by the fire ,What really caused the engine to stop . Let us all learn
from the horrible mistakes . At least with the Cub you don't have
the heavy inertia build up like this plane did . The pilot was an
experienced flyer who just made a bad decision that can kill . It's
part of the love for flying and one can never be too careful on a
plane you don't know . One speculation is that maybe the fuel tank
was dirty and the acro knocked something loose as in trash into
the fuel system . This crash was a series of bad pilot decisions .
I don't mean to be harsh but maybe those who buy planes which
are out of annual and haven't been regularly flown can learn
something to save our lives or our fellow aviators ...very sad .
O'Dell Aeromaster, N55J: Accident occurred July 30, 2015 at Sulphur Springs Municipal Airport (KSLR), Texas
Regis#: N55J
Event Type: Accident
Highest Injury: Serious
Damage: Destroyed
Flight Phase: TAKEOFF (TOF)
FAA Flight Standards District Office: FAA Dallas FSDO-05
JOHN MARVIN RICHARDSON: http://registry.faa.gov/N55J
SULPHUR SPRINGS, TX (KLTV) - Police have identified a pilot injured in a Thursday night plane crash at Sulphur Springs Municipal Airport.
Sulphur Springs police say David German, 46, of Nebraska, was airlifted to Parkland Hospital in Dallas. The department said Friday morning that German's status was believed to be critical. German was the only person onboard the plane.
The Federal Aviation Administration said that a single-engine O'Dell Aeromaster biplane crashed about 7:40 p.m. Thursday, while taking off from the airport. The aircraft was destroyed by fire.
Police Chief Jay Sanders said the man received burns to 100 percent of his body.
Witnesses reported to police that the man had experienced trouble with the plane over the past few weeks and had been doing repairs on the aircraft in a hangar belonging to his friend in Sulphur Springs, said Sanders.
Source: http://www.kltv.com
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