Author Topic: Seaplane went down in Miami  (Read 13014 times)

Offline n57flyguy

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Seaplane went down in Miami
« on: December 19, 2005, 05:14:47 PM »
Any info on that seaplane that went down in Miami? Thanks.



Offline nfredrich

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Seaplane went down in Miami
« Reply #1 on: December 19, 2005, 05:33:20 PM »
All 19 on board killed - CNN

And this is how dumb newscasters are getting...

Wolf Blitzer (to an NTSB investigator) - "Some witnesses reported an explosion prior to the crash, what does that say to you"

NTSB Investigator - "It means that witnesses may have heard an explosion"

Offline Neil

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Seaplane went down in Miami
« Reply #2 on: December 19, 2005, 10:06:05 PM »
Just saw the video on the news. Terrible. This plane is from Chalks..I took a picture of on of their fleet of mallards when I was in Key West. going to have to see of its the same one. Video makes it look like some catastrophic occured in the right engine which resulted in the seperation of the right wing. Either that or just a failure of the right wing.  just my own speculation from watching the video....

Terrible.  :(

Offline n57flyguy

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Seaplane went down in Miami
« Reply #3 on: December 20, 2005, 09:33:11 AM »
my spec after wachting the news was that the wing caught fire (how in the heck?) blew it off because of the fuel and it went down killing all on board. Arn't mallards really old, from the 60s?

Offline Biff

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Seaplane went down in Miami
« Reply #4 on: December 20, 2005, 11:47:14 AM »
From the 40's.  Only 61 were built.

I'm guessing it started as an engine fire that burned through the wing.  Could also have been an electrical fire in the wing.

Offline n57flyguy

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Seaplane went down in Miami
« Reply #5 on: December 20, 2005, 02:05:10 PM »
Thats what I thought to. Mallards are that old? why do they still use them? Its a horrible outcome though.

Offline n57flyguy

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Seaplane went down in Miami
« Reply #6 on: December 20, 2005, 02:25:49 PM »
I just looked up Calls airline and were Those Mallards (grumman C-37) allways turbo prop?

Offline Jason

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Seaplane went down in Miami
« Reply #7 on: December 20, 2005, 03:28:50 PM »
Quote from: n57flyguy
I just looked up Calls airline and were Those Mallards (grumman C-37) allways turbo prop?


I believe you mean a Grumman G73.  The G73 is a piston, while the G73T is a turbo Mallard.  This Mallard had the STC which converted the engines to P&W PT6 Engines which are turbos.

Jason

Offline digger

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Seaplane went down in Miami
« Reply #8 on: December 20, 2005, 04:38:04 PM »
Information I've seen says there were 59 manufactured, between 1946 and 1951. 31 are still registered.

Beginning around 1969-70 some were converted to turboprops under a Supplemental Type Certificate, and those were designated G-73Ts.

Offline Biff

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Seaplane went down in Miami
« Reply #9 on: December 20, 2005, 04:56:47 PM »
There are a LOT of old airplanes flying around.  One of these days (right after I win the lottery), I'm gonna get myself a Navion - a 1946-47 model.

We have a guy in the area here that teaches MES in a 1945 Grumman Widgeon.   8)

Offline n57flyguy

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Seaplane went down in Miami
« Reply #10 on: December 21, 2005, 09:38:51 AM »
I know the DC-3 still flies around in alaska, Its like 70 years old I think. I know there are alot of old aircraft out there but I didn't know they were still used for arlines though. Do you think corrosion of saly water with wireing could have been a problem? Oh and good luck on the lottery!

Offline Sky King

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Seaplane went down in Miami
« Reply #11 on: December 21, 2005, 04:30:43 PM »
Speculating, from looking at the smoke, it looks as if there may have been two seperate explosive events: the first, perhaps, a catastrophic engine failure starting a fire and perhaps ejecting engine parts, followed within a second or so by a secondary explosion in the right wing fuel tank as a result of the engine problem, resulting in wing failure and seperation from the fuselage.

Offline Jason

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Seaplane went down in Miami
« Reply #12 on: December 21, 2005, 04:43:17 PM »
Quote from: Sky King
Speculating, from looking at the smoke, it looks as if there may have been two seperate explosive events: the first, perhaps, a catastrophic engine failure starting a fire and perhaps ejecting engine parts, followed within a second or so by a secondary explosion in the right wing fuel tank as a result of the engine problem, resulting in wing failure and seperation from the fuselage.


The PT6 engines have a very good reputation, but we'll see.  I heard that the NTSB found cracks in the right wing spar/cross-section that would not have ever been found on any annual/100 hour inspection.

Time to sit, wait, and let the NTSB write the report.  It will be an interesting read...

Jason

Offline n57flyguy

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Seaplane went down in Miami
« Reply #13 on: December 22, 2005, 09:33:39 AM »
It should be and they just found the voice recorder but its not readible they say. If I can find it, I'll try to post it. But thanks alot for all your help that you guys have given me and anymore would help. Thanks.

Offline A380-800

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Seaplane went down in Miami
« Reply #14 on: December 26, 2005, 04:32:46 PM »
R.I.P. to all the people that were killed!!

Very old plane! Wasn't it almost not airworthy anymore?

Offline anchovy

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Old Planes
« Reply #15 on: January 02, 2006, 08:14:10 AM »
The fact of the matter is that there are a lot of "old" aircraft out there, and quite a few of them are being used by charter and air taxi services around the world.

The reality of the situation, especially with float/sea plane services, is that there are simply very few replacement aircraft out there. For the most part those replacement aircraft are either not suited for the task at hand  or are simply too expensive to finance and operate i.e. Cessna Caravan on floats. $3Mil to purchase at basic levels plus insurance (not cheap since 9/11) operating costs in fuel (turbines are normaly not fuel friendly) and maintenance (hot section checks, hydralic & expensive avionics).

The majority of these old aircraft are very well taken care of and will probably continue flying as long as replacments parts are available. These airframes, for the most part, were constructed with far more stress in mind than they are subject to.

Offline n57flyguy

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Seaplane went down in Miami
« Reply #16 on: January 03, 2006, 09:59:13 AM »
Agreed. They will keep flying and i really hope they do because its good history to teach the next generation. Thanks for your outlook.