Airstrips; Interesting, Scary or otherwise

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Alisoncc
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Re: Airstrips; Interesting, Scary or otherwise

#21 Post by Alisoncc » Sun Oct 23, 2016 9:53 am

Pinky the pilot wrote:Alison; Nothing of what you said there surprises me as I had heard a few stories from some of the old hands. But when I was there, if your destination airstrip was the other side of the Owen Stanleys and you didn't go above 10,000 in the BN2 most times you would never get there. Or if trying to return to Moresby you would not get back!.

Timing was all important, Pinky. That's why we always chose departure times from Jackson's very carefully. IIRC it was about 25 mins to Efogi. then continued on the same track for a further 8nm and then swing due north through the Gap. If you were there between 07:00 and 07:30 local time, then you had a good probability of getting through unscathed. Might be totally wrong with directions though, all my charts have long since disappeared - it was forty plus years ago. The biggest problem transiting the Gap during the window were idiots coming the other way. It was a very narrow gap :((

I think the use of ADF/NDB's was discouraged anywhere near the mountains. Tourists from down south were known to commit CFIT whilst following a needle. As for the AWA Van X, don't think there were any ground stations supporting it in PNG, it was just there to fill the hole in the panel.

Airlines PNG Flight 4684 (CG4682/TOK4684) was a scheduled domestic passenger flight, operated by Papua New Guinean Airlines PNG, flying from Jacksons International Airport in Papua New Guinea’s capital Port Moresby to Kokoda Airport in Oro Province, Papua New Guinea. On 11 August 2009, the aircraft operating the flight, a de Havilland Canada Twin Otter, crashed and exploded into a forest in Kokoda Valley.

The aircraft departed Jacksons International Airport at 10:50 am local time and reported to Jacksons Tower that they were climbing for 9.000 ft to Kokoda via the Kokoda Gap, with an estimated time of arrival at 11:20 am. At 11:11 am, while en route to Kokoda and on descent in Kokoda Gap, the crew of Flight 4684 conversed with the crew of an aircraft, registered P2-KST (KST), which was departing from Kokoda. There was not a single indication that the crews of Flight 4684 had any problem with their aircraft. The crew tried to land at its first attempt, but failed. The aircraft later contacted Kokoda Tower and began its go-around. Inside the ATC recording, the crew was heard saying “Thank you very much, morning long you”. This was the last communication of Flight 4684.

Determined to have been CFIT.


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Airlines_PNG_Flight_4684

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Re: Airstrips; Interesting, Scary or otherwise

#22 Post by More Aviation » Sun Oct 23, 2016 10:05 am

Alisoncc wrote:
Pinky the pilot wrote:Alison; Nothing of what you said there surprises me as I had heard a few stories from some of the old hands. But when I was there, if your destination airstrip was the other side of the Owen Stanleys and you didn't go above 10,000 in the BN2 most times you would never get there. Or if trying to return to Moresby you would not get back!.

Timing was all important, Pinky. That's why we always chose departure times from Jackson's very carefully. IIRC it was about 25 mins to Efogi. then continued on the same track for a further 8nm and then swing due north through the Gap. If you were there between 07:00 and 07:30 local time, then you had a good probability of getting through unscathed. Might be totally wrong with directions though, all my charts have long since disappeared - it was forty plus years ago. The biggest problem transiting the Gap during the window were idiots coming the other way. It was a very narrow gap :((

I think the use of ADF/NDB's was discouraged anywhere near the mountains. Tourists from down south were known to commit CFIT whilst following a needle. As for the AWA Van X, don't think there were any ground stations supporting it in PNG, it was just there to fill the hole in the panel.

Alison


Reading between the lines, this kind of flying pushes the law of averages to its limits and you are both lucky or skilful (probably both) to have walked away unscathed to converse so interestingly here so many years later.

As for NDBs, as you know, they are a no-no in or even near mountains as reflection can and probably will result in gross errors. Add thunderstorms (also a staple of flying in that region I see) and you have a perfect storm for ADF inaccuracy...

MA

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Re: Airstrips; Interesting, Scary or otherwise

#23 Post by Alisoncc » Sun Oct 23, 2016 10:14 am

More Aviation wrote:Reading between the lines, this kind of flying pushes the law of averages to its limits and you are both lucky or skilful (probably both) to have walked away unscathed to converse so interestingly here so many years later.

Might need to get a second opinion on that from Pinky's perspective. Sorry Pinky could resist it. :-bd

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Re: Airstrips; Interesting, Scary or otherwise

#24 Post by More Aviation » Sun Oct 23, 2016 10:41 am

Alisoncc wrote:
More Aviation wrote:Reading between the lines, this kind of flying pushes the law of averages to its limits and you are both lucky or skilful (probably both) to have walked away unscathed to converse so interestingly here so many years later.

Might need to get a second opinion on that from Pinky's perspective. Sorry Pinky could resist it. :-bd

Alison


Ouch, I perceive (not for the first time) that I might have put my foot in it. Sorry about that Pinky! Clearly your are still extant (and a good bloke) so I can only hope you are well!

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The worst example of VFR flight into granite in South African in marginal VFR I can think of was this one...

The search for two missing Albatross (Piaggio P.166S) aircraft that went missing Sunday in South Africa’s northern Limpopo Province has ended with the discovery of both wrecks in mountainous terrain. Bad weather and low cloud conditions had hampered search and rescue operations on Monday.

The private aircraft took off from Tzaneen, flying in formation en route to an airport near Johannesburg (Rand Airport near Germiston), with two pilots and 11 passengers on board, including two children. The group was returning from a trip to the Tzaneen air show. There were no survivors of the crash.

The head of Aeronautical Search and Rescue of the South African Search and Rescue (SASAR) organization, Johnny Smit, which operates under the aegis of the transport department. Smit said:

“About half-past seven, the weather allowed us to get airborne with helicopters into the primary search area and we found the wrecks very close to each other, in the Mamotswiri Peak region.

“We then hoisted people down to the wreck to establish if there were any survivors. Unfortunately… no survivors. From then on the accident scene was handed over to the South African Police Service, to retrieve the bodies out of the wrecks on the one side and then for the Civil Aviation Authority to take over the investigation to (find) the reason for the accident.”

Asked whether this meant his job was now finished. He explained:

“My job is now finished. The way I’m going to say it is actually bad. We are Search and Rescue however, there’s no rescue in this one. So we’ve searched and now it (is for) the South African Police Service to recover the bodies.”

Smit confirmed the registration letters of the two aircraft, which are: ZU-MMI and ZS-NJX. The latter was Piaggio construction number 446 and was accepted by the SAAF as serial number 884. ZU-MMI was built as Piaggio P.166S construction number 462, where the “S” stood for “South Africa” and was given the SAAF number Albatross 900. This plane was the last P.166S to be delivered to South Africa. Many publicity photos were taken of the aircraft and one of them was used on a 27 Squadron Christmas card.

Mopani District municipal mayor Joshua Matlou said the two planes were flying in formation when they crashed in the Lekgalametse mountains northeast of Tzaneen. They were at an elevation of 1570 metres.

“They flew directly into the cliff. There was no mid-air collision,” he said.

There was no mayday broadcast before the crash and indications were that the occupants of both planes died on impact.


Thirteen people killed including kids and renowned South African photographer Frans Dely. Flying in formation (my mind still boggles).

Image

The other South African example (also peripherally connected to an air show) was this one.

An Error of Judgement
From Fields of Air by James Byrom

When things are going well it is all too easy to become overconfident and not give proper attention to one's duties.

It was a Wednesday that will live in my memory all my days. 26 May 1971. I was chief sub-editor of the Natal Mercury in Durban, responsible for getting the paper ready for the press. I arrived at work to learn that three military jets had crashed into Table Mountain. Eleven senior officers of the South African Air Force had been killed. It was undoubtedly the worst multi-aircraft disaster in the peacetime aviation history of South Africa.

I was told to stand by for stories and photographs from the Cape Times. Those were the days before computers and desk top publishing and scanning of pictures. The type had to be set in lead -hot-type we called it- and the photographs, or blocks, were etched with acid into metal. They were processes that took time, so deadlines had to be strictly adhered to if the first editions were to catch trains and connections for country distribution. We had a few minutes' latitude with the second edition, which was for street sale and surburban deliveries, but the first edition had to be off my desk by midnight.

As the evening wore on we got the early pages out of the way and began the front page after eleven o'clock. The reporters of the Cape Times were thoroughly professional, and the telex machines had rattled furiously all evening as their stories came over the wires. But there was a delay with the photographs. The later it got, the more anxious I became. I could not hold back the front page, so making up went ahead, with a large space left on the page for a picture. Several telephone calls were made to Cape Town to find out when the pictures would be coming through, but all I got were assurances that they would be sent as soon as they had been cleared by the authorities. As the landline pictures still had to be developed after they had been received, a messenger was standing by in the receiving room to run the canisters to the photographic department, where darkroom assistants were also waiting.

As the clock ticked rentlessly towards midnight, my anxieties grew. Fifteen minutes to go...ten minutes...five minutes...Even if the landline machines began receiving now, the picture that was being run would not be received in time for the edition. And there was still the hole on the front page to fill! I looked up at the wall clock again; and then it caught my eye. There on the wall next to the clock was a large insurance company calender with a beautiful picture of that side of Table Mountain where the crash had occurred. I snatched the telephone from its cradle and asked the girl on the switchboard to get me the Cape Times again. While the call was coming through, I told someone to bring me the calender. Cape Town was on the line. "Sorry about the pictures. They have been released and they will be running within seconds," I was told. "Never mind. I've got a calender with a picture of Table Mountain showing the Rhodes Memorial and the inland side of the mountain. If you can give me an X-marks-the-spot I can use it." I said. The same calender was hanging in the Cape Times newsroom! Over the telephone we were able to pinpoint the site of the crash; and the first edition went to press with that picture as our only illustration.
Two hours later dramatic photographs had been received, and the second edition went to press with a new page one. But our calender picture showed so well where on the mountain the crash had happened that it was retained on an inside page for the later edition.

The three jets were a variation of the Hawker Siddeley 125, a twin-engined executive transport jet. They were the VIP flight of the South African Air Force. The SAAF called them Mercurius, but they were the ninth version of the HS-125, which first flew in 1962. They had a crew of two and, depending on their configuration, could take from seven to twelve passengers in airline seating. The cabins were pressurised and the cabins were fitted with drop-out oxygen masks and toilets. They were technically still on the secret list, to be shown to the public for the first time at the tenth Republic Festival celebration flypast on 31 May. On the day of the crash they were taking part in a rehearsal. Eye-witnesses saw the three jets fly over the saluting dais and then do a right-hand sweep that took them into the clouds. Soon afterwards there was a great explosion as all three crashed into Devils Peak above the Rhodes Memorial. One witness who saw the aircraft a moment or two before they struck said that one appeared to break away from the formation. But if teh pilot had seen the mountain through a break in the clouds, it was too late. The explosion shook the tearoom at the Rhodes Memorial and was heard over a wide area.

The first news to reach DF Malan Airport came from a switchboard operator at Groote Schuur Hospital, who saw two of the jets smash into the mountain. Confirmation came a few minutes later when a game guard reported that he had seen the explosion on the mountain. Immediately police and rescue personnel went into action, but there was little that could be done. The side of the mountain was clothed in thick fog. It was raining and the slopes were muddy and slippery, which made searching almost impossible. After a cold, wet climb, rescuers reported back on the grim scene on the mountain. So completely were the Mercurius jets destroyed that probably only the pilots could have had a split-second look into the face of death. The passengers knew nothing.

Planning for the event had been going on for two and a half months, and because of the unsettled weather in the Cape at that time of year, senior officers had worked out five complex plans to put on the safest and best display possible. These ranged from a magnificant clear-weather displayvin which more than two hundred SAAF aircraft- Impalas, Mirages, Vampires, Canberras, Buccaneers, Skymasters, Shackletons, helicopters, Cessnas, Albatrosses and Dakotas- would fly past at different altitudes in ten action-packed minutes, to a display in thickly overcast weather of helicopters only, flying at five hundred feet. Three hundred and fifty pilots and crew were backed up by five hundred and fifty ground crew and communications staff. The Operation had been planned with great precision. For the various aircraft to arrive over the dais at the right times, bearing in mind the great differences in their speeds, timing had to be calculated to split seconds. There could be no overlaps, nor could there be large gaps between the formations. Precautions had even been made in the event of engine trouble, and pilots were instructed to head for the open sea where lifeboats and rescue squads were standing by.

To understand the disaster, it is necessary to look at some of the planning in greater detail. Several plans had been worked out to make provision for variable weather. However all the plans were subject to the requirement that all flying was to be carried out in visual conditions, that is, the pilots would be able to see the ground at all times. Electronic navigation aids were sited for the safe routing of aircraft, and all these were tested in practice. All pilots received written orders as well as detailed verbal pre-flight briefing, and were shown key points along the routes, from the air and on the ground. The planners worked out holding areas for various types of aircraft, the routes they would take to the dais, the fly-past routes, the heights and speeds, the turning points and the routes from south of the saluting-base back to their bases, DF Malan Airport, the SAAF base at Ysterplaat and the Flying Training School at Langebaanweg. Summersfield was designated a reserve airfield. Planners also made sure that routes, turns and altitudes would prevent collisions between aircraft and, if the weather should turn nasty, they would keep the aircraft away from high ground. To make sure that the various groups of aircraft passed the saluting base within a certain number of seconds, aircraft with different speeds were grouped in blocks and instructed to fly at certain speeds and heights. There were seven speed blocks, and the Mercurius aircraft were grouped with the Vampires and Impalas in the sixth block with a stipulated speed of 250 knots. After the fly-past there was always the danger that the different aircraft might catch up with one another or collide on their return to base. To avoid that, formations were instructed either to fly straight on or turn to the left or right after the completion of the fly-past. Aircraft with longer endurances, such as the Shackletons, Hercules, Dakotas, Skymasters, Albatrosses, Canberras and Buccaneers, were to fly straight ahead. Aircraft with short endurances- Vampires and Mirages- were to turn left and return to DF Malan Airport. Turning right to return to their base at Langebaanweg, the Mercurius jets and Impalas took a breakaway route from south of the saluting base over low ground over the Swart River area. This was the safest route, for if they had turned left to return to base they would have had to fly over high ground, which would have been dangerous in bad weather. The right turn for the Mercurius and Impala aircraft was calculated mathematically at a rate of one turn, that is, three degrees a second. This at 250 knots, from a point thirty seconds flying time, also at 250 knots, south of the saluting-base would have given the aircraft a safe distance of two miles east of Devils Peak. This calculation was tested in practice and found correct by the control staff. Leaders of formations were also given the opportunity to practice the turn and to comment on the practicability of this manoeuvre. The leaders of the Mercurius and Impala teams flew the route and turned twice, once on the day of the accident, but neither made any comments to the control staff about the plan. An extensive communications centre at Goodwood kept formation leaders and control staff under strict supervision, and the positions of formations could be ascertained and correlated with planned positions at all times. The communications system also allowed liaison between leaders of formations and enabled them to report changes in the weather and to receive new instructions from the control centre. There were no breakdowns in this communications system, and it worked perfectly. So what went so terribly wrong on that practice flight on Wednesday, 26 May 1971?

At the various bases and over the saluting dais the weather was suitable for the rehearsal. However, during the fly-past, the base of a broken layer of cloud south of the dais was down to eight hundred feet, and approval was given by control center for formation leaders to reduce height to maintain visual flight. This was in accordance with instructions to formation leaders, including the leader of the Mercurius jets. While flying towards the dais, the leader of the Vampires radioed to the leader of the Mercurius jets. He was thirty seconds behind the Mercurius jets, but he wanted confirmation that they were not behind time according to the tight schedule. When the Mercurius leader confirmed that they were ten seconds late, the Vampire leader increased speed to 280 knots, at which speed he flew over the saluting dais. The distance between the Vampire and Mercurius formations at first decreased, then remained constant, which meant that the Mercurius leader also probably increased speed. When the Mercurius formation flew into the broken cloud soon after flying over the dais, it maintained its planned height of a thousand feet. In doing so, the formation leader chose to ignore the overriding instruction that visual flight was to be maintained at all times. Why did he do that? We can only suppose, as the board of inquiry did, that the leader regarded the flight in cloud as a common occurrence, for as a transport pilot he had complete confidence in his own ability and his instruments. The Impalas, however, which were following the Mercurius formation, were taken by their leader below the clouds where they were able to maintain visual flight as ordered. And what about instrument flying? The Mercurius had weather radar, but even if it was switched on, it is doubtful whether the leader would have had time to pay much attention to it.

The board of inquiry ran through the fatal flight in every detail. It flew the identical course in an identical aircraft. Then, together with evidence from eyewitnesses, it was able to reproduce the exact flight path of the Mercurius formation. It showed that the principal cause of the accident was simply that the formation turned much wider than had been planned and which the leader had been instructed to do in his briefing before the flight. The formation was flying faster than had been stipulated in its attempt to make up the few seconds that it had lost in the fly-past. Now remember that the Mercurius formation had to break to the right thirty seconds after flying over the saluting base and then fly back along the same bearing to Langebaanweg. Thirty seconds was adhered to, but the turn began farther south than the point planned. Again, the higher speed also resulted in a wider turn than had been planned, and the leader had not made allowance for that by turning more steeply. The last, fatal error was in not maintaining visual contact with the ground. That would almost certainly have warned the leader that he was two miles west of his planned flight path and on a collision course with the mountain. The board of inquiry found that the disaster was caused by the leader of the Mercurius formation not maintaining visual contact with the ground, and during the flight in the clouds, making an error of judgement by turning too wide, which resulted in a collision with the slopes of Devils Peak.


MA

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Re: Airstrips; Interesting, Scary or otherwise

#25 Post by Alisoncc » Sun Oct 23, 2016 3:05 pm

More Aviation wrote:Ouch, I perceive (not for the first time) that I might have put my foot in it.

Not you Sir. I do believe the expression was "There are old pilots and there are bold pilots, but there are remarkably few old bold pilots". :D

I remember the HS125 debacle. Most of my colleagues at the time couldn't get their heads around how was it possible that three aircraft in formation could fly into a mountain. The HS125 was considered quite a nice airey, and many just shook their heads in disbelief.

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Re: Airstrips; Interesting, Scary or otherwise

#26 Post by Boac » Sun Oct 23, 2016 4:54 pm

History is littered with formations flying into things. The Thunderbirds went in in a box formation at the bottom of a loop in training a few years back in some desert or other. Box man (No 4) saw what was coming and pulled up hard but impacted ahead of the other 3.

Years before that 'Whisky 4', a Dutch team (of T-33's I think) went in in formation. There are others. It needs to be remembered that formation flying requires much concentration on the aircraft on which you are formating, but after a few hours doing it you develop a 'Marty Feldman' squint out the side. :-bd

They always used to say that impacting in perfect formation positions is the mark of a disciplined team. :))

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Re: Airstrips; Interesting, Scary or otherwise

#27 Post by Pinky the pilot » Mon Oct 24, 2016 2:52 am

have walked away unscathed


I swam away actually. And not unscathed either.

Made a helluva mess of myself really.... :((

However, I'm still breathing, walking and able to hold a Flight Crew Licence so nothing else really matters.

More piccies to follow in due course.
You only live twice. Once when you're born. Once when you've looked death in the face.

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Re: Airstrips; Interesting, Scary or otherwise

#28 Post by Alisoncc » Mon Oct 24, 2016 8:45 am

Whilst talking in some detail of Kokoda, the next place I visited with some regularity was Popondetta. A magnificent airport that would rival anything the West could offer. Look at this for a terminal building. Can't do better anywhere. Makes Heathrow and LA look quite nondescript in comparison. :D

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Re: Airstrips; Interesting, Scary or otherwise

#29 Post by A Lutra Continua » Fri Nov 11, 2016 4:40 am

DSC00218.JPG

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Re: Airstrips; Interesting, Scary or otherwise

#30 Post by Slasher » Tue Nov 29, 2016 5:32 am

Not a bad thread at all you blokes!

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Re: Airstrips; Interesting, Scary or otherwise

#31 Post by Magnus » Fri Jan 18, 2019 5:14 pm

Dear God! As SLF, I thought Aspen was a bit exciting. Hats off to all you chaps and chapesses who routinely land on something about the length of my back garden.

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