Dramatic US military plane crash on 29 Apr caught on tape

[Vega]

 

Looks like the plane loss its power in mid air.......

[WTF]

the climb looked beri steep.......RIP to any dead though I hope not bur looked unlikely with that huge fireball.....

[Yewheng]

Cargo not stowed properly and shift to the back when ascend and that cause weight shift to the back. Thats why it looks like the angle is too steep and plane lost its power due to too steep climb and next is just come down like a rocket. Sigh.

[Vega]

The friend of one of seven Americans killed in a cargo plane crash near an Air Force base in Afghanistan described him as an experienced navigator who performed well under pressure.

 

First Officer Jamie Brokaw, of Monroe, was among six people from Michigan killed Monday, along with one person from Kentucky.

 

"He was a very good person and very smart person," Chris Connerton told The Associated Press Tuesday by telephone from Rochester, Minn.

 

Connerton credited Brokaw with helping get him through flight school, as well as a harrowing flight two years ago from Toledo, Ohio, to an international flight expo in Lakeland, Fla. Connerton said ice had built up on the plane to the point that he could no longer get it to climb.

 

"If it wasn't for Jamie's navigation and know-how ... we wouldn't have made it," Connerton said. "I don't know that I would have had the capacity to handle the situation on my own."

 

Also killed in Monday's crash were pilots Brad Hasler of Trenton, Mich. and Jeremy Lipka of Brooklyn, Mich.; First Officer Rinku Summan of Canton, Mich.; loadmaster Michael Sheets of Ypsilanti, Mich.; and maintenance crew Gary Stockdale of Romulus, Mich. and Timothy Garrett of Louisville, Ky.

 

As loadmaster, Sheets was responsible for making sure the weight and balance of the cargo was appropriate.

 

Cargo plane crashes at air base in Afghanistan

The Dubai-bound Boeing 747-400 was operated by National Air Cargo and crashed just after takeoff Monday from Bagram Air Base around 11:20 a.m. local time, the National Transportation Safety Board said in a statement Tuesday.

 

The video taken from YouTube appears to show the crash of the Boeing 747, even though the time stamp on the camera is off. The National Transportation Safety Board is studying the video for evidence about the crash.

 

The accident site is within the perimeter of Bagram Air Base.

 

The Taliban quickly claimed responsibility for downing the plane, but NATO said later the claims were false, and there was no sign of insurgent activity in the area at the time of the crash.

 

The Afghanistan Ministry of Transportation and Commercial Aviation is leading the investigation. The NTSB is investigating the crash alongside the ministry. The team will be composed of three NTSB investigators, as well as representatives from the Federal Aviation Administration and Boeing, the NTSB said.

 

National Air Cargo Vice President Shirley Kaufman said the plane

[Watwheels]

Looks more like at least 1 or 2 engines stalled.

[Karoon]

Cargo not stowed properly and shift to the back when ascend and that cause weight shift to the back. Thats why it looks like the angle is too steep and plane lost its power due to too steep climb and next is just come down like a rocket. Sigh.

 

that's what i first thought (i have no knowledge of planes but it does seem like the freight shifted to the rear forcing the nose up and going left.Looks like the pilot tried to adjust by turning right,however,the angle of the plane and no lift means it dropped....

 

A wing needs air moving over it quickly to generate lift. Not enough speed, not enough lift and the plane drops out of the sky.)

Edited May 1, 2013 by Karoon

[Myxilplix]

Apparently the behaviour of the plane before the stall matches that of similar cargo shift incidents. Most likely transporting equipment or vehicles, all it takes is for one large item to get loose, contact others and cause strapping to give and next thing you know most of the heavy cargo is at the tail and the cg is all gone to hell. '

 

At least it ended quickly for those onboard.

[Watwheels]

How come ppl keep saying as if it's a cargo plane? It can be a flight command post or refueling tanker or even a spy plane.

 

Cargo shift is not possible. Cargo are held down and properly secured by straps or nets.

 

Engine stalling or engine failure is more likely.

[Linkinwiz]

How come ppl keep saying as if it's a cargo plane? It can be a flight command post or refueling tanker or even a spy plane.

 

Cargo shift is not possible. Cargo are held down and properly secured by straps or nets.

 

Engine stalling or engine failure is more likely.

The plane was from National Air Cargo. So wouldn't everyone immediately assume that whatever that's in the plane are cargos?

[Happily1986]

Looks more like at least 1 or 2 engines stalled.

 

it doesn't matter whether the engines seized or not. All engines may be running fine but as you see from the video footage, the pitch of the plane is so obvious that the angle of attack of the wings is way beyond the stall angle. The plane WILL lose lift.

[Watwheels]

it doesn't matter whether the engines seized or not. All engines may be running fine but as you see from the video footage, the pitch of the plane is so obvious that the angle of attack of the wings is way beyond the stall angle. The plane WILL lose lift.

If that's the case dan it could be likely there's hydraulic failure on the wings that caused the flaps on the wings to be stuck in the "upward" position.

[Watwheels]

The plane was from National Air Cargo. So wouldn't everyone immediately assume that whatever that's in the plane are cargos?

Where on the video says it's from national Air cargo? I only saw the video once.

[Linkinwiz]

Video didn't say the plane was from where, but the article in one of the replies said so. Anyway that wasn't even a military plane. It's a civilian aircraft.

[Nicholas]

Where on the video says it's from national Air cargo? I only saw the video once.

 

Vega posted ah.

[Happily1986]

If that's the case dan it could be likely there's hydraulic failure on the wings that caused the flaps on the wings to be stuck in the "upward" position.

 

Why will the flaps significantly affect the angle of attack?

[Myxilplix]

"National Airlines was based until recently at Michigan's Willow Run Airport, west of Detroit. It carries cargo both commercially and for the military, Kaufman said. She said the company employs about 225 people."

 

"Also killed in Monday's crash were pilots Brad Hasler of Trenton, Mich. and Jeremy Lipka of Brooklyn, Mich.; First Officer Rinku Summan of Canton, Mich.; loadmaster Michael Sheets of Ypsilanti, Mich.; and maintenance crew Gary Stockdale of Romulus, Mich. and Timothy Garrett of Louisville, Ky."

 

[Myxilplix]

Preliminary analysis based on video:

 

http://www.flightglobal.com/news/articles/...ed|Flightglobal

 

I had already seen the video at about 2pm this afternoon on another international forum i frequent. Unconfirmed information is that the plane was carrying 5 MRAPs secured with 11 straps each. Also unconfirmed is that the pilots reported that they were in a stall and there was load shifting.

 

For reference here is another aft CG plane crash video:

 

Edited May 1, 2013 by Myxilplix

[Ezfaun]

Gone case.. Looks like load shifting. At high altitude, you can at least recover from stalls because the plane will pitch downwards when it starts to fall.

By then, the wings would have laminar air flow and the speed gained through decent will allow the plane to gain lift depending on the altitude which affects stall speed.

During a stall, an aircraft would be very hard to maneuver especially it's roll. The ailerons will receive little air flow so the risk of rolling over is high.

 

For takeoff stalls all you could do is gun the jets/engine and hope you could use that thrust to compensate for the lack of lift due to an excessive angle of attack.

Flaps lower the stall speed if used at the correct angle. Drag is also induced when flaps are extended. Though too high of an angle will induce excessive drag.

 

A lower stall speed means the aircraft can maintain necessary lift at a lower speed. Very useful for takeoff and landing. The drag induced by the flaps

slows down the aircraft during landing approach while maintaining lift.