OT: Small plane( Lear 55) crashes onto street in Philly
- Thread starter nutfromSEC117
- Start date
Is this a possible "uncontained engine failure leading to total loss of hydraulic controls" scenario, like that AA flight ages ago? It's an old plane, and one of the engines in one of videos I've seen has a visible flare of flames out the back.
Just spitballing here from the cheap seats. These recent events have me feeling uneasy.
That was United 232. The uncontained engine failure occurred in the #2 engine, which is in the vertical stabilizer of a DC-10, in other words "inside the plane" from a structural perspective.
The Garrett TFE731 engines on the Lear 55 are much smaller and so there's not enough inertia in the fan disk to cause a containment failure if it should let go. They're also mounted external to the airframe so there's a lot of structure between them and the hydraulic systems. Also, there's a backup mechanical system that can work absent hydraulic assist.
Remember - the only video that exists of the aircraft falling is the Ring cam video. The camera is in IR mode (because it's dark). An IR camera would show the heat bloom from the engine exhaust and it would appear as flames, but is not.
The critical thing, for me, is that there's no communication from the aircraft indicating an emergency. This suggests that they were immediately overwhelmed with the task of flying the airplane (or trying to). There's no engine loss scenario that would produce such a rapid devolution of the flight profile.
FWIW, I had a look at the ADS-B data yesterday. There was no significant loss of airspeed at any time, right up until impact. This would rule out any scenario that included airframe stall.
All investigations at the crash site have ended. All the planes debris has been removed and taken away by the NTSB. Cleanup appears done so by noon Cottman Ave will reopen. Of the 24 injured 4 remain hospitalized with two still in critical condition.
