Taxi crash @ FLL

Aviation Aviation News
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http://llnw.image.cbslocal.com/320x240/plane13.jpg

http://cbs4.com/local/plane.crash.ft.2.643745.html

Taxiing Plane Smashes Others At Executive Airport
FORT LAUDERDALE (CBS4) ― A mangled pile of plane blocked a taxiway at Ft. Lauderdale Executive Airport after a small plane apparently went out of control as it taxied Friday afternoon, striking a number of other aircraft. First reports indicated there were no injuries.

Firefighters could be seen from Chopper4 spraying foam around three planes on the taxiway of the busy general aviation airport located west of Ft. Lauderdale.

Airport spokesman Chas Adams said a pilot was apparently moving a plane down the taxiway when he lost control of the aircraft, which ran into the other planes.

Ft. Lauderdale Fire Rescue fire department sprayed flame retardant around the planes as a precaution in case the accident caused highly flammable avgas to spill.

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Looks like an insurance job if you ask me. :stuck_out_tongue:

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Guess if your about to taxi into a line of jets, aim for the Sabreliners!!!
Looks like the Hawker did the damage.

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lol LOL LOL LOL

Sorry Leardrvr! :stuck_out_tongue:

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How do you lose control to that degree while taxiing? You’re only moving at a few knots/hr. If the brakes failed you could stop the engines and/or turn into the grass. If nosewheel steering failed, you could use the brakes , differential thrust and/or stop the engines.

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Two things come to mind.

He could have been too close to the aircraft to begin with (the article says on a taxiway but that doesn’t necessarily mean he was actually on a taxiway - we all know how the media reports on aviation).

Once he hit an aircraft, he could have panicked, making a “simple” accident into what happened.

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Years ago I worked on the corporate jet ramp at YYZ.

We had a Westwind, owned by Dupont Canada, that left 5 days aweek at 6am on a corporate shuttle to Delaware. The aircraft would be towed from the hangar to the ramp, chocks on the wheel, and await the crew and passengers.

One morning, heavy snow, the tub couldn’t pull the Westwind, so the pilot, fired it up, and taxied it over. (And set the parking break, first time in 3 years!). The line crew chocked the nose wheel.

As this was winter, there were huge piles of snow on either side of the ramp entrance. When the aircraft was ready to depart, the chocks were removed. The pilot continued to add power, but the aircraft wasn’t moving.

The ground crew, and pilots all looked perplexed, finally with near full power, the captain ducked his head down, and at the same time realized the parking brake was on, he released it.

The aircraft instantly took-off, the captain killed the power and hit the breaks, he went straight across the ramp, crossed KILO the main taxiway, and entered the hangar ramp before he got it stop.

He was fortunate there was no traffic on the taxiway, and narrowly missed the snow bank, but the absolute shock on the pilots face, as his head popped up, stays with me to this day.

As there was zero damage, it was very, very funny.

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OMG they killed 2 Sabreliners OMG, OMG, OMG why…why…why oh the humanity.

I will share a story titled “No kidding, I’m an idiot” On the Sabreliner the anti skid test is on the before taxi checklist. Never gave it much thought. One day in KCLT (I think) we were in a hurry and taxied out before doing the anti skid test. Instead we did it on the taxi out, it just so happened we were going going down hill when I hit the switch. The test is about 12 seconds long. On that day I found out that during that 12 seconds you DON’T HAVE BRAKES…no brakes, no emergency brake, no parking brake, NO BRAKES. Going down hill in a line of a/c with no brakes. Today I can arm chair fly (taxi) and say use the TR’s, kill the power, turn into the grass. All of which are better options than just staring at the air plane in front of you getting bigger (a DC-9 BTW, won’t forget that). So here are 2 grown men standing on the brakes cringing and waiting for the crash. about 10’ from the tail of the DC-9 the test ended and the a/c stopped on a dime, after all 2 men were stomping on the pedal as hard as they could.

When we got home I called FSI to ask them and they said, “um, ya…duh.”

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You never know when your about to learn something!

We had two Sabre 40’s, and two Sabre 60’s, in our hanger. I don’t know if I’ll ever get a ride in one (before the Mexicans Buy/Kill them all!).

But if I do, you can guarantee I’ll remember your story!!!

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I don’t even get this accident, it sounds like a comedy.

Four Plane Pile-Up Investigated At Executive Airport
Impact Causes Fuel Leak On Runway, Officials Say

POSTED: 3:57 pm EST February 1, 2008

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – A four plane pile-up at Fort Lauderdale Executive Airport is under investigation by the National Transportation and Safety Board.

Initial reports were that a pilot was behind the controls of the plane, but sources told Local 10 that a maintenance person was piloting the Sabreliner that went out of control and plowed into three other planes around 3 p.m. Friday.

Accident investigators will examine whether the plane’s brake hydraulics system failed.

According to witnesses the propellers on the first plane, a Cessna, were spinning and clipped the left wing of the Sabre as it taxied the tarmac at the airport around 3 p.m. Two men on a tug were pulling the second plane when the Sabre approached, according to witnesses. The men then jumped off the tug leaving it to plow into the Sabre. Those two planes then collided with a third plane before coming to a stop, witnesses said.

No one was injured, according to officials.

“The only plane that was manned was the one that ran into the other planes,” said Ted Lawson, spokesman with the city of Fort Lauderdale.

The incident happened on the north side of the airport in a parking area for airplanes.

The impact caused a fuel leak, which was sprayed down by the Fort Lauderdale Fire Department, officials said.

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I see now, the Hawker was being towed, the tug is still attached and the wheel turned sideways!!!

sun-sentinel.com/news/local/ … 9798.story

This story sounds even more confusing, a Sabre taxiing clipped a Cessna 208, losing control, striking another Sabre and a Hawker under tow.

So the story goes so far…

The little Sabre 40A N430MP could actually be a write off. The book value is only 300K, and thats alot of damage. We bent the Airstairs on a Gulfstream with a tug, that cost a million dollars in damage!, we were also xraying an old Hawker, the wing vents were plugged to prevent leaking on the hangar floor. Mechanics attempting to suck the fuel out, to weigh the aircraft collasped the wing!!!, more than a million to fix!!!

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Actually in my eyes, this accident makes sense. A pilots license is not required for maintence personell to move planes around.

I had asked this question awhile back at my own airport and that was the answer I got. It surprised me as the maintenance person will do ground runups tests, warm up the oil and so forth.

Probably the ponies of that particiular plane overtook the maintence by surprise, he either didn’t know or couldn’t find the toe brakes and all hell broke loose. At least that’s how I see it in my simple mind.

Allen

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Actually I was referring to the chain of collisions. Didn’t mean to imply the context of who was involved. I watched a video, and at first couldn’t see any Cessna? I thought it had run into the Sabre.

A news clip I saw, the Cessna 208 was parked close to the taxiway, perpendicular to the Sabreliner. So the left wingtip of the Sabre N3RP must have clipped the nose of the Cessna.

As the first collision occured, in front was a Hawker under tow, and to the left, the parked Sabre 40A. The line crew jumped off the tug and ran, so it must have been a hard impact, and they put quite the dent in the side of the Sabre 40A - all while powering thru the wings!!!

Here is a report from the early 80’s, where a mechanic who has some personal problems, was taxiing a Citation just a little to fast, and took-off on the taxiway, did a circuit and crashed short of the runway!!! I should add he was not a licensed pilot.

aviation-safety.net/database/rec … 19821112-1

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WOW, I can’t imagine this being an accidental “taxiing too fast” :smiley:

His mental state probably said, what would happen if I push these levers all the way forward… or let me see if I can fly this thing and not be noticed.

Allen

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Imagine! A mechanic running up an airplane! Some of them actually fix them too! Hard to believe anything happens when pilots aren’t around!

vtpaul. (33yrs of running up airplanes, sometimes even fixing them!) :open_mouth:

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How about imagining FAR 91.3… Specifically A.

I did not know **before asking **that airplane movement within airport confines did not require a PIC.

Yeah, I am fully aware the engine needs to be running during certain maintenance procedures and a spinning prop inside a shop isn’t exactly the wisest thing, nor having prop blast pointed in wrong directions

And yes, I am aware of movement vs non movement pavement markings. So, just why was that citation in a movement portion of the airport for maintenance procedures?

So again imagine…

Allen

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Yeah I figured it was the Sabre in the middle that went out of control…it’s the only one with the door open. Still, it must have been interesting trying to get out of that plane cuz the door looks like it couldn’t open much…

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KFLL is Ft Lauderdale Hollywood International
Fort lauderdale Executive is KFXE, 15 miles NW of of KFLL.