For those that haven't heard, Kevin Williams passed away a few weeks ago in a float plane crash in British Columbia. Kevin was a commercial float pilot and has been on this site before ( not sure, but may have been under "kevinski"). Don't know too many details, but a pilot who witnessed the crash suggested it looked like it could have been a stall after an aborted landing. RIP Kevin. Thoughts to his family.

I don't have any links, but if you Google Kevin Williams plane crash, it comes up.
Garth

Sorry to hear that. I did some digging to try to connect that name with a user here, but I came up with nothing.

Kevin built up a gorgeous, tricked-out, high performance C182 amphib. Last year, when he accepted a position in Indonesia, I had the privilege of buying his airplane. From now on, every time I take that gorgeous bird to the skies, I'll feel that a bit of Kevin is along, enjoying the ride.



Pierre

Also see the video of his/my plane I posted in the other floatplane thread about videos.

Sorry to hear about this. I'll pray for his family.

FloatFlyer wrote:http://www.vancouversun.com/news/metro/Victim+float+plane+crash+reluctant+about+making+trip+relative/9092852/story.html

Interesting reporting compared to the typical US version. No mention of a flight plan, and no witness reports of the "engine stalling."

Gump

GumpAir wrote:

FloatFlyer wrote:http://www.vancouversun.com/news/metro/Victim+float+plane+crash+reluctant+about+making+trip+relative/9092852/story.html

Interesting reporting compared to the typical US version. No mention of a flight plan, and no witness reports of the "engine stalling."

Gump

And no mention of........

the plane just fell out of the sky!!

Probably a pretty accurate description of what it looks like from the ground. And is what did happen.

Gump

In Canada flight plans or an existing flight itinerary with a responsible party are required by law, so I think it is just assumed.

This accident came up in conversation recently so I decided to search for a final report. Boy, did I find one! Issued in February this year. Canadian TSB decided to analyze this accident in great detail and depth "for the purpose of advancing transportation safety".

http://www.bst-tsb.gc.ca/eng/rapports-reports/aviation/2013/a13p0278/a13p0278.asp

It is long but I recommend it for most anyone flying light aircraft, especially in STOL operations. The simple combination of causes is

1. Low time in type. This was his first flight in the accident airplane, and he only had 8.5 hours of training in another 185.

2. He was going into an unfamiliar lagoon which was not normally used for water landing.

3. The ceilings were low.

4. He turned base to final too tightly with too high a bank angle and too low a speed, causing an accelerated stall.

However CTSB goes on to implicate the combination of STC's. In this case, some remnants of a previously installed Robertson STOL kit were left in place when a subsequent installation of a Sportsman STOL kit and Wing-X extension was done. This may have resulted in unexpected stall characteristics.

They also use this accident to advocate for greater installation of AOA systems.

Pierre

Very interesting report. It emphasizes the need to be cognizant of the changed behavior of aircraft with STCs that affect aerodynamics. I think it also emphasizes that just because a change has been made which ostensibly improves low speed handling, that doesn't mean that the airplane should be flown much different from stock. Unfortunately it appears that Kevin tended to fly the accident airplane slower than anyone else did, which was also slower than stock.

In my case, the only change to my airplane's aerodynamics is the droopy wing tips, which do improve low speed handling. But I've always flown all Cessnas at the low end of the approach envelope on final, or 1.3 Vso if a range is unspecified in the manual. And in addition, I have an AOA indicator, which as the report indicates, certainly is a lot better than a simple stall warner, and it allows flying slower at lower weights.

Very sad. It sounds like Kevin was an experienced pilot, but even experienced pilots can get in over their heads--a lesson for all of us.

Cary

Reading this makes me think back to the STOL aircraft that went in at Big Creek last year ( I believe ).