AF Major Gen crashes his C210. One of those very strange accidents

Air Force general, wife killed in small plane crash in Virginia | Fox News

A well qualified pilot, flying a superior aircraft on what would be nominal, if slightly challenging conditions. I don't understand the dynamics behind this one. These are the kind of GA accidents that really make me wonder.

Sad outcome all around.

 

Many flag officers have not flown extensively for a long time. We have had accidents with generals flying military aircraft, too, usually with fatal results. I always cringe when I see a four star flying an F-22 with no seeing eye IP. They should stick to the F-15D/E or F-16D so someone can fly with them.

 

You bring back memories of the general who was to fly a KC-135 on a record breaking flight from a base in New England to Europe. He crashed one mile from take off and not all because he was short on hours but his status and unfamiliarity with the aircraft did add to the failure. Would have been great press for the general to have broken the record with the flight.

 

Yeah, I get that maybe they are rusty on the war planes but this was a Cessna 210. There's only three knobs in there, and if you push them all in at the same time you go fast. One gear handle, and a yoke.

I mean, it's not rocket surgery or anything. Scott Crossfield flew his into a thunderstorm which was a stupid thing to do, but this one just doesn't add up yet. No post crash fire may indicate no fuel, but I don't know where he took off from, or how long he was in the air.

It's like that old saw about the J3 cub. Very easy to fly, and will just barely kill ya.

 

short of a medical emergency or running totally out of fuel... crashing just short of their destination makes little sense... the 210 is known for mismanagement of it's fuel system... the plane has 3 fuel tanks, which can be accessed independantly or transferred from for even fuel burn / balance... the central tank is the ONLY tank that can be used for maneuvering... the outboard tank pickups only work in level flight... typically fuel is constantly transferred to the central tank for flight, there are fuel tank selectors on the floor which can confuse a new to the plane pilot and often are switched in error causing problems...

 

Thank you, this brings back vague memories from my only 210 experience back in the early 90s. If we could solve three nagging problems in GA, our accident rate would tumble:

1 Cont VFR into IMC
2 Fuel mismanagement/exhaustion
3 Base to final accel stall/spin

 

I thought Generals were not allowed to fly without an IP?

I recall Chuck Yeager having some heartburn about that rule after he got his star...

 

This accident was in my neck of the woods, and I'll tell you, it was gusty as hell especially where I was. Based on what I've heard from folks who were nearby, it sounds to me like he may have gotten sheared and lost airspeed quickly at too low an altitude and too flat an approach angle to recover. Just a guess, of course.

As for experienced pilots having trouble with GA aircraft...happens all the time.

 

Don- No, the photo I mentioned was of the ACC commander flying an F-22. Scary, even with a seeing eye wingman.

 

General, Wife Killed in Crash: Air Force Major General Joseph D. Brown IV, Wife Sue Brown Killed in a Plane Crash Near Williamsburg-Jamestown Airport : News : Mstarz

Just as bad as one would expect for no survivors including the famly pet; if this is indeed the plane.

Sad ending for a very distinguished career. He was born April 19, 1958. RIP.

Biographies : MAJOR GENERAL JOSEPH D. BROWN IV

April 20th: Maj. Gen. Joseph D. Brown IV and His Wife Were killed When His Cessna 210 Crashed in Williamsburg, VA on Vimeo
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Was it Deptula? I don't really follow that side of the house much.

 

Joe Brown...

and his Cessna 210. (N111BK)

Aspen Avionics: Customer Photo Gallery

 

Mark- No, Dave Deptula never got his fourth star. He headed the black cell during Desert Storm when I was flying out of Taif. Should have been a 4 star, but the jobs just did not fall that way. He was a very bright flag officer.

 

KJGG 192155Z AUTO 19018G24KT 10SM SCT041 27/19 A2974 RMK AO1
KJGG 192135Z AUTO 19016G28KT 10SM SCT043 BKN050 27/19 A2975 RMK AO1
KJGG 192115Z AUTO 19018G25KT 10SM SCT044 BKN050 28/19 A2975 RMK AO1
KJGG 192055Z AUTO 18014G28KT 10SM CLR 28/19 A2975 RMK AO1
KJGG 192035Z AUTO 19020G26KT 10SM SCT060 28/18 A2975 RMK AO1
KJGG 192015Z AUTO 19014G18KT 160V220 10SM SCT060 29/18 A2976 RMK AO1
KJGG 191955Z AUTO 20014G19KT 10SM SCT050 SCT065 29/18 A2977 RMK AO1

@2100Z / 1700 Local 180 14G28.

Not that bad. Certainly doable in that plane. I"m still wondering about the fuel situation. No info, but I guess interested speculation.

 

Witnesses around the field said they heard him "powering up" as if he was trying to recover, then banked to what was percieved to have been around 90 degrees before they went in short of 13. They said it looked like he overshot final. I know witnesses aren't always the best, and I hope that in this case they're wrong - seems to have been too experienced an aviator to have made such a mistake.

At any rate, it's too bad. RIP.

 

From Pilots of America

"Just talked to someone "in the know". Apparently, the wind was strong out of the south and he overshot the right base leg on 13. I guess this led to lower airspeed/higher groundspeed and he attempted to steepen up the turn and stalled.

...this is coming from someone who spoke with the guy who was working the Unicom"

 

A real shame. Go arounds solve so many problems. One thing I always preached to students with whom I flew (as a navigator) was that if you do not like an approach, go around. Tower may ask if everything is OK, but you will be there to answer.

 

Great advice.

 

Well, sounding pedestrian base to final stall/spin.

ERA13FA209

Likely due to wind, he was pushed past the runway centerline on base, and corrected with excess bank, and elevator. Inside wing tucked under, and that was the end of that.

Control correction for accel stall has to be immediate and decisive, with a hard push forward, and full opposite rudder. Most/many pilots are unwilling to give sufficient control authority, or they try using aileron to solve it and the end is guaranteed.

It can happen to one of the best. I'll be the stall warning was blaring all the way around the turn.

 

Your assessment of this incident brought back a frightening incident of my own when I was flying over the Gulf of Mexico in a PT-19. My passenger yelled to look at a huge shark that he spotted and I hauled the PT into a tight right turn with maximum bank. Half way through the thought burst on me that this wasn't a Stearman and at that very moment there was a short shudder and wham, it went over the top. At the vertical point I had full forward stick and opposite rudder but the plane went into a short spin anyway until we got some airspeed. We had enough altitude to effect a recovery. The guy in the back was yelling all the way through it and yelled, " Let's do that again, that's fun." So much for the innocent passengers. I must have pushed enough top rudder in when I stretched around to see the fish to have it break over the top. A good lesson. Low altitude, low speed, high bank, and forced high angle of attack, bad combination.

 

Wow, I had such a similar circumstance but not in a PT. Year ago, I used to take girls out whale watching in the winter and spring off the coast of San Diego. It was easy, cause we just flew off Pt Loma and look for the whale watching boats. I had a Citabria, and we went out one morning, and circled a boat lazily for a bit, then my GF in back saw something further away, and we went to look at that pod. I didn't see them clearly, and by the time I got the plane cranked around, and pulling back, and descending I could finally see the whales(not paying attention to the speed bleeding off). No stall warning and all of a sudden whoops! we're upset and starting to spin. I pushed and stomped and eventually we got it right side up but I lost 700 feet real quick. We were at about 1500 when it started so I can easily see the base to final happening. Just that in the 210, the stall warning will give you lots of notice.

 

So, Doc,

Did your GF say "That was Fun, do it again!"?

Like Bob's pax?

 

Amen to that.

 

My instructor told me that the most important maneuver in flying was the 180 deg. turn.

 

This happened only a few minutes from me, a pilot friend was close enough to hear the crash. If I remember correctly it was pretty windy that evening with a cold front coming in. I'll have to get his opinion since he keeps both his planes there.