I didn't see this video posted yet....
I disagree, Its raining and overcast. I would assume the ceilings were above 3000'. He may have become disorientated in the soup and either pulled up to hard after breaking out, or just simply started breaking up just below the ceilings from overspeed or stress.
Okay, I was wrong . After looking at it again, it was obviously bad weather. I think that I was concentrating on the flash of fire.
Thank you,...those are good points. Yes, still climbing out and a more robust cabin. The pic of the fuselage in the backyard... no wings, tail or engines... broke up in a high speed dive?
Just heard on local news here that the pilot's ID as a former Cop are fake, and poorly done. PD has no record of him. But his pilot's license, they said, was OK, and was verified.
Like someone else said. More likely over stressed on a pullout. In one of the vids it can be seen coming down very fast for a few seconds then the fire.
I remember shortly after the war that quite a few new Bonanzas came bombing out of the clouds without wings. Overspeed and overstressed.
Pilot's given name was different from the name he currently used. He held a valid FAA-issued commercial pilot, airplane single-engine land, airplane multi-engine land, instrument airplane, and rotorcraft-helicopter rating. So, he was instrument rated, and was a ground instructor. Not as likely that it was 'spatial disorientation". One pilot/investigator is speculating that it's not pilot error, but an engine came off... (vibration, he thought, tore off), ruptured the wing tank (fire), Lost that wing, then the other and the tail as it fell at high speed. Pilot died from impact (he was not burned).
It looks like the tail came off first, and I believe the NTSB investigator said as much. If that's the case, it was most likely an overstress. Anyone can get spatial disorientation... the key is managing it.
Speculation now is that the deceased pilot was -not- a retired CPD officer. Sure doesn't make it any less horrific. Poor people killed in the dwelling. Must have been so mangled and torched that DNA and dental must be utilized. But clearly there is more to this event. https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=13350456&postID=7763489302598551158&bpli=1 http://secondcitycop.blogspot.com/ horrible incident and RIP to victims
See post 31 above... it has been announced as fact since this morning... never was a Chicago Cop... fake ID and badge.
He took off VFR, climbed into the clouds, and came spiraling back down. Instrument rated, but unclear about currency, and certainly not on an IFR clearance. Not that hard to figure out.
Do you know what airport he took off from 10 min away? "Preliminary radar data show that a airplane climb to about 7800 feet before started rapidly to the center of the ground," said NTSB investigator Maya Smith. "A few witness reports say that they saw the airplane coming out of a cloud at a very high speed before parts of the airplane such as tail and then subsequently wings started to break off."
Fullerton Municipal Airport. This is a previous Flight Aware of the same round trip flight path that he regularly took, from his airport to Fullerton and return (this one), to see his daughter and granddaughter. Sometimes flew it weekly. https://flightaware.com/live/flight/N414RS He lost it just past the 'L' in FUL; he had started his left climbing turn.
I'm guessing that he had a medical event, slumped forward over the controls which caused the aircraft to enter a dive, leading to overstress.
Just noticed in the pic of the fuselage in a back yard... Looks like the R prop cut into the R wing, the R side of the fuselage, top and on to the L side of the fuselage. May have even cut into the pilot's area. Anyway, almost cut the front of the plane off. Maybe that's what started events. Or maybe was a result of the R wing being torn off.
I would expect the outer wing to fold up and over and back on its way off. A 3 blade prop spinning at 2-3000 rpm is going to slice and dice a lot I'd think.
OK... Up, over and back looks more like the L wing/engine/prop folded. The slice moves farther toward the aft as it moves R.
My first thought was one of the props chucked a blade. This can tear a twin apart and did many years ago when it happened to a Travelair out of Cable airport. The blades had developed internal corrosion and one failed. The viberation tore the wing off and the airplane crashed into a home in Rancho Cucamonga. It’s also possible he became disorientated and overstressed the airframe as well. We’ll know in about a year or so.
I just heard on the news the pilot had made some 'cryptic' posts on social media about how this would be his final post and he's signing off, possible suicide mission now? https://sites.eveyo.com/news/world-news/432483-pilot-who-died-in-california-crash-was-friends-with-brothel-owner-dennis-hof.html
You would think if you were going to commit suicide in an airplane, you would have the decency to fly it over the Pacific so nobody else would be injured.
and now this news just broke: https://ktla.com/2019/02/08/pilot-was-disciplined-for-dangerous-flying-years-before-yorba-linda-crash-that-killed-him-4-others/?fbclid=IwAR0OxOgmoDYk8a3n8bJF_yiA4B9I6fPYvlvhlG8uWUtdshegDGHydo7jw8g
