Wow - amazing crash video of airplanes

[SuperBuickGuy]

Were I in either plane, once the pilots were on the ground, safely, I'd beat them both to death. Such incompetence is astounding.

http://deadspin.com/skydivers-involved-in-fiery-two-plane-crash-caught-it-1458479178/@matthardigree

[Barry Donovan]

I think they did great.

[98ciHemi]

It looks like incompetence- but a plane isn't a car, and these planes in particular don't have great outward visibility. From the angle those planes hit neither pilot would've been able to see the other plane.

Sure, there was a failure in letting the planes get into that position- but accidents happen. If you end up in a location where you can't see the other plane and it can't see you- what are you going to do?

[SuperBuickGuy]

It looks like incompetence- but a plane isn't a car, and these planes in particular don't have great outward visibility. From the angle those planes hit neither pilot would've been able to see the other plane.

Sure, there was a failure in letting the planes get into that position- but accidents happen. If you end up in a location where you can't see the other plane and it can't see you- what are you going to do?

I'd start with telling the pilot you can see in the video to pay attention to flying - he was far too concerned about the people jumping out than flying the plane. They're not his problem, his problem is flying the plane straight, level, and avoiding mid-air collisions.

Here's a tip for him, there's nothing you can do for the parachutist other than fly straight and level - as this was a vertical crash; one of them wasn't flying level.

Further, at least from the instructors I've flown with, they say your most important job when flying is avoiding obstacles. This was complete stupidity on both pilots' part...

totally stupid, avoidable crash. It may even rise to criminally negligent. civilly negligent is a given because planes don't routinely crash into each other. But just as you can go to jail for texting and driving (distracted driving) - you can also go to jail for distracted flying.

[oletrux4evr]

This is total speculation, but here goes:

I suspect the skydivers were planning on some sort of 'formation' during free fall, and arranged to have the aircraft fly very closely together so they could join up faster once they exited the aircraft. If you watch the second video, it appears that either the higher aircraft (the one the video is shot from) descends into the lower aircraft, or the lower aircraft climbed into the higher one. I suspect the lower aircraft caused the collision when his jumpers left the aircraft, and the pilot was slow to compensate for the loss of weight, and subsequently climbed. In any case, the aircraft should have been staged horizontally, not stacked vertically. Major blunder by someone.

[dieselgeek]

I'd start with telling the pilot you can see in the video to pay attention to flying - he was far too concerned about the people jumping out than flying the plane. They're not his problem, his problem is flying the plane straight, level, and avoiding mid-air collisions.

Here's a tip for him, there's nothing you can do for the parachutist other than fly straight and level - as this was a vertical crash; one of them wasn't flying level.

Further, at least from the instructors I've flown with, they say your most important job when flying is avoiding obstacles. This was complete stupidity on both pilots' part...

totally stupid, avoidable crash. It may even rise to criminally negligent. civilly negligent is a given because planes don't routinely crash into each other. But just as you can go to jail for texting and driving (distracted driving) - you can also go to jail for distracted flying.

It's the frequent conclusion jumping that pretty much confirm for me, you're not who you claim to be. Probably a teenager using his uncle's photos or something. LMAO. Go on, tell us all about how pilots and aircraft are supposed to work, then tell us you're a pilot yourself or some other semi-believable story. )

[Barry Donovan]

tiny plane, the one that landed. little Cessna.. a bird fart can move that one around. They did very good.

[Dan Barlow]

Yeah I think those planes being that close together with people hanging on wings messing with the balance and aerodynamics , wasn't a good idea for either pilot. I'm sure the FAA will think it is the fault of one a bit more than the other. Probably the bottom one.

[Hemi Joel]

...I suspect the lower aircraft caused the collision when his jumpers left the aircraft, and the pilot was slow to compensate for the loss of weight, and subsequently climbed...

That is exactly what I was thinking as well. I was in a twin Beach when 13 jumpers bailed, and that plane shot up surprisingly fast before the pilot stablized it.

[SuperBuickGuy]

That is exactly what I was thinking as well. I was in a twin Beach when 13 jumpers bailed, and that plane shot up surprisingly fast before the pilot stablized it.

the article wasn't terribly clear about whether they jumped (the lower plane) before or after the collision. I've seen a lot of the video, and saw nothing coming out of the plane that was on fire and had a missing wing.... but the last part of the video shows the other pilot's emergency chute as he's approaching the ground....

[98ciHemi]

I'd start with telling the pilot you can see in the video to pay attention to flying - he was far too concerned about the people jumping out than flying the plane. They're not his problem, his problem is flying the plane straight, level, and avoiding mid-air collisions.

Here's a tip for him, there's nothing you can do for the parachutist other than fly straight and level - as this was a vertical crash; one of them wasn't flying level.

Further, at least from the instructors I've flown with, they say your most important job when flying is avoiding obstacles. This was complete stupidity on both pilots' part...

totally stupid, avoidable crash. It may even rise to criminally negligent. civilly negligent is a given because planes don't routinely crash into each other. But just as you can go to jail for texting and driving (distracted driving) - you can also go to jail for distracted flying.

Do me a favor- go for a drive. While driving, look at your right front tire. Can you see it? NO?!?! You negligent fool. That's what you are saying with regards to the pilot of the top aircraft.

Sure, the pilot was paying attention to his passengers. But he still had a very acceptable focus on the aircraft. It was not out of control or showing excessive movement. The other pilots here can throw in their .02 cents, but in all likelyhood it was the bottom aircraft climbing into the top- simply because it's pretty difficult to descend that fast, but very easy to climb that quickly, especially with a light bird.

Avoidable? Yes. It was certainly avoidable. There are a lot of things that could have been done to make things safer. But flying a plane isn't driving a car. Not even a little bit.

[jcharliem]

I'm not a pilot... yet, I would think descending would be quicker than ascending (regardless of what you're flying, driving or peddling). Gravity?

[98ciHemi]

A plane under power wants to fly- very much so. Getting it to descend quickly means forcing the nose down- and in my experience that is a forceful motion. You have to shove the yoke forward- and once you do that the plane is going to pick up airspeed and want to climb. It's why planes have flaps, spoilers or other devices that allow the plane to descend without gaining airspeed.

To get a rapid descent out of the plane I have to pull power, pull the nose up to bleed off speed, pull in the flaps and if I really want to drop fast, enter what we call a slip where I give opposite rudder and aileron input to allow me to drop faster. Climbing is a pretty simple matter of either adding power, in which case it'll start climbing without much change to airspeed, or I can pull back on the yoke and the plane will "jump" up a short distance before I have to level out and increase my airspeed. It's much easier to accidentally have happen than to drop the same distance. (In my experience/opinion, there are of course variable and the above does not cover all flight conditions)