Germany: T-28 breaks up in mid-air, killing both occupants
Posted by muck2@reddit | aviation | View on Reddit | 21 comments
A North American Aviation T-28 Trojan crashed in Germany today, killing both occupants. Citing local officials, public broadcaster SWR reports that the aircraft broke up in mid-air over a village near Ludwigshafen. One person was injured trying to escape falling debris. Several homes were damaged.
Some reports suggest the affected aircraft was N728NA, built in 1951. https://www.jetphotos.com/photo/12015366 It had departed Aachen at 10:45 a.m. local time.
wearblue@reddit
There was an audible loud bang, it sounded like an explosion. Source: I heard it
Kanyiko@reddit
Question - what was the weather like at the time of the accident?
wearblue@reddit
Raining cats and dogs. Low cloud ceiling.
I'm wondering if the explosion was the cause of the disassembly or if it was the other way round.
Kanyiko@reddit
Suspected as much. Not wanting to speculate, but I got a gut feeling the aircraft went from good visibility into clouds and the pilot got disoriented.
The sound would have been the aircraft tearing itself apart as it exceeded its maximum speed in a dive; the explosion your friend saw would be the wings separating from the fuselage and the fuel from the wing tanks causing a fuel vapor cloud that ignited.
Horrible thing, but sadly an all too common cause of general aviation accidents.
wearblue@reddit
FR24 shows a steep right turn before impact. I suspect disorientation in weather leading to a stall.
Kanyiko@reddit
Doesn't look like a stall. Airspeed was consistent for most of the data, around 200 kts. Then it increased by about 22 kts over 8 seconds, by another 34 kts over the next 8 seconds, and by another 20 kts over the next two.
Sounds like a gradual and unnoticed turn that went into a graveyard spiral.
wearblue@reddit
Yeah, that was my “but” in another comment.
Sorry I'm still a bit shaken, I'm not used to airplanes crashing into my neighborhood \^\^
Kanyiko@reddit
Nobody is. You always read about it happening, but in the back of one's mind it always happens somewhere else, and never where you are.
(Speaking from experience, had one or two go down in my neighbourhood.)
Remarkable-Ask2288@reddit
Where do you live so I can avoid it.
Blurockcreek@reddit
😂
Kanyiko@reddit
About 1 km from an airport treshold. A small plane stalled in on approach 24 years ago some 400 m from here (hit the middle of a street but missed everything); 36 years ago a plane crashed after a mid-air collision some... 50 meters from the house (but I didn't live here back then).
fireandlifeincarnate@reddit
Stall? Not overstress in a dive recovery?
wearblue@reddit
Stall in the clouds, recovery or another source for an overstress and then the RUD.
BUT FR24 shows a 40 knots increase of groundspeed. Something must have happened up there. 3000 feet drop in less than one minute, after that the transponder cut out.
West-Organization450@reddit
I was thinkin similar to you…but also purely speculative. Sounds like the textbook ‘graveyard spiral’ situation. Overspeed into overstress pull and then bang. Only positive would be that ground injuries weren’t worse. Tragic nonetheless.
FlyNSubaruWRX@reddit
Spatial awareness…..
flightwatcher45@reddit
Remember noise travels slower than light, obv lol, the bang may have been terra firma impact. RIP
Kanyiko@reddit
Seeing the raw data on ADS-B Exchange, the last minute is intriguing.
09:25:23Z: 204 kts 9800 ft
09:25:30Z: 194 kts 9800 ft
09:25:39Z: 200 kts 9700 ft
09:25:45Z: 199 kts 9600 ft (at this point the aircraft starts into a right-hand turn)
09:25:53Z: 194 kts 9400 ft
09:25:58Z: 192 kts 9200 ft
09:26:04Z: 207 kts 9000 ft (at this point the right-hand turn gets a whole lot tighter)
09:26:05Z: 206 kts 8800 ft
09:26:08Z: 208 kts 8600 ft
09:26:16Z: 230 kts 8600 ft
09:26:24Z: 264 kts (no altitude data)
09:26:26Z: 284 kts 4700 ft - descent rate of -11504 ft/min (last reading)
Never-exceed speed for the T-28 is, IIRC, 300 kts, so if the data is true and the aircraft went from 264 to 284 kts over the span of two seconds, it would have exceeded its Vne around two second later at an altitude of around 4000 to 4250 ft.
My gut feeling is VFR into IMC and spacial disorientation.
Easy_Money_@reddit
Sad. RIP to the occupants
(Source, not my photo)
Professional-Wolf587@reddit
RIP
West-Organization450@reddit
RIP to both occupants…tragic. It will be interesting to see the investigation. Overstress, corrosion, or possibly something else. There’s still a fair number of Trojans flying so hopefully we will find out what happened with this one.
post-explainer@reddit
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