Plane crash at Essendon Airport, Victoria, Feb.21 '17

[Slasher]

In 1979 when PN68 reg VH-PNW went in off RNW26 there were cries of shutting the airport down from the locals. Most were simply emotional rants and raves as Essendon / Niddrie /Pascoe Vale/Airport West areas are all safe ALP seats, and housing is very cheap - which is why they moved there to begin with - knowing full well of the airport and environs. Later a Dove landed on a roof after T/O off RNW17 (the evening champagne flights IIRC) and the howling began again. I left Oz shortly after and lost interest.

Found this on my searches just now -

[bbvideo=560,315]https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=t-4phmVqkXY[/bbvideo]
"Uploaded on Aug 31, 2008 A small ragtag bunch of mislead people wanting to close the historic, viable and important Essendon Airport. The airport is home to the Air Ambulance, Police Airwing, firefighting helicopters, regional airline companies and training schools. Note: a 50-year lease exists between the Australian Federal Govt and the current airport operators."

_______________________________________________________
I might add that YMEN (AMEN to those of us who remember) had an accident-free record when it was a domestic / international airport.









For further ref open up "History"...
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Essendon_Airport

[Slasher]

Sorry I'm a bit out on the dates. The PN68 and Dove were July 1978 and Dec 1993 respectively. I'd already left Oz when the Dove went in but certainly heard about it.

[Cacophonix]

I note we didn't conclude this discussion...

An investigation by the Australian Transport Safety Bureau determined the accident was a result of one of the flight control trim tabs being set incorrectly. Failure of the pilot to realise the rudder trim was set fully to the left caused a longer than normal takeoff, and caused the aircraft to slip and yaw to the left once airborne. Ultimately the uncorrected configuration caused a loss of control of the aircraft. The checklist used by the pilot did not contain a specific check for the trim tab position before takeoff. The investigation was hindered by the lack of data from the cockpit voice recorder, which had stopped working on a previous flight.[note 1] Furthermore, the weight of the aircraft at takeoff exceeded its maximum takeoff weight, but this factor was not determined to be a contributing factor to the crash.

Final Report

Caco

[Cacophonix]

Had a drink with one of the best and craziest of my Beech pilot friends tonight. He babbled about throttle slide back and then he blathered about trim...

?

Caco

Seems my crazy friend wasn't so crazy after all!


Caco