rickair7777

This. High performance TACAIR is the military requires taking some things on faith. High performance TACAIR in eastern block airplanes under part 91 generally requires taking a lot of things on faith.

Adlerdriver

I'm trying to figure out if you're saying "it" is a malfunction or external event we must be ready to handle because they can happen to "any of us at any time"......Or "it" is our demise in an aircraft mishap.

The first, I can agree with. If it's the second and you truly believe that you can die at any time, I think you need to find another line of work.

As James said above, fatal events that result from circumstances completely out of the pilot's control are rare. Events like this fellow pilot's death remind me to bring my A-game when I go to work, not that the outcome of my next flight is a roll of the dice and I should just hope it's not snake eyes.

Timbo

I would have thought it would have happened while doing some serious hard core acrobatics, putting 6G strain on the pilot and the jet, but to just be departing and then roll on in... something inn the flight controls broke obviously. Does the L39 have an ejection seat(s)?

I wonder who worked on it last and what they 'fixed'.

Getting back to the 'It can happen to any of us..." thing, yes, the more time you spend in an airplane, the more likely you are to die in an airplane. But your odds of being killed are still much higher in your car, driving to the airport!

Here's a bizarre one for you; a friend of mine landed his newly completed RV8 and turned off the runway to the left, to taxi to the ramp. The guy landing behind him bounced, lost directional control, veered off the runway to the left... hit and killed my friend who never saw it coming.

And remember that KC135 crash out at Fairchild, practicing for an airshow when they hit the wake turbulence of the B52, rolled over and crashed, but one of the engines bounced off the runway, hit and killed the boom operator who had gotten off the crew, but was watching their practice, sitting in his truck at the end of the runway.

These types of things make me wonder if when it's your time, it's your time, nothing you can do about it.

Adlerdriver

Case solved. NTSB can pack up and go home.

Timbo

I doubt the NTSB is involved, this was a part 91 accident, and there's not a whole lot left of the airframe to look at.

So it's not OK to speculate?

What's your best guess, or do you just have no idea?

Adlerdriver

Speculate if you want, but at least make it sound like speculation rather than as definitive as you did.

Single engine jet? I know what my first guess would be. I don't know enough about the aircraft or the pilot to do much guessing beyond that.

UAL T38 Phlyer

A witness to the accident, a friend of Mongo, and an A&P and pilot, said at 75 ft up, the engine emitted flame and smoke.

What Adler said.

L-39s have ejection seats, and many owners keep them operational.

rickair7777

The NTSB investigates all aviation accidents. They have staffers who specialize in GA/light aircraft, presumably they have somebody familiar with L39 and the like. The scope of the investigation will be far less than a 121 crash...maybe just one dude who spends an hour or two at the crash site, makes some phone calls and writes a report over a period of months.

Timbo

And we will probably never know what caused it because there's no black boxes or even much left of the aircraft. That's why I'd look at the maintenance records first.

Remember that Reno Air Race Mustang that lost the trim tab and did the hard pull up, roll over and crashed near the crowd? I think they had just modified that trim tab.

Timbo

What happens if you fuel a jet with 100LL? I was told it would keep running, anyone know for sure?