Plane hits power lines.

[Notebook]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/7568045.stm

Shocking!

N.

 

[Urwumpe]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/7568045.stm

Shocking!

Better power lines as cable car lines. :dry:

 

[pete.dakota]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/7568045.stm

Shocking!

N.

"Fly-by-wire", taken too literally.

 

[astrosammy]

How can that happen?
Maybe the plane just wanted to do what birds do :lol:.

 

[ar81]

They were lucky. Wires are softer than soil.

 

[Urwumpe]

They were lucky. Wires are softer than soil.

Depends on the wires. At 250 km/h, the inertia of a massive cable makes it harder as concrete.

But luckily, this plane looks like a ultra light, not really fast.

 

[Notebook]

I'm sure I've seen similar incidents, could have been micro-lights? I'd say it was magnetic attraction, but I think that plane(Europa?) is plastic?

N.

 

[Eagle]

I'm sure I've seen similar incidents, could have been micro-lights? I'd say it was magnetic attraction, but I think that plane(Europa?) is plastic?

N.

Micro-Whats?

 

[Notebook]

er, pea-bulbs!

N.

 

[Moonwalker]

Micro-Whats?

Microlight aircraft which actually is the same as ultralight aircraft.

In this case it is a Europa XS:

http://cdn-www.airliners.net/aviation-photos/photos/0/6/4/1373460.jpg

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Europa_XS

 

[Andy44]

Wow, lucky to be alive. They didn't show what happened to the aircraft after they removed the people. I'm thinking the lightly damaged vehicle was probably unceremoniously dumped onto the ground and wrecked.

BTW, didn't the Spirit of St. Louis clip a powerline on it's climb-out during Lindbergh's record flight?

 

[Eagle]

Microlight aircraft which actually is the same as ultralight aircraft.

Oh, thanks. I was trying to figure out if you meant some kind of lights on the powerlines attracted the plane (like a mosquito zapper).

 

[Notebook]

Now that would be danger to navigation!.
No, its another of my failed atttempts at humour, (only because no-one was injured).

N.

 

[Moonwalker]

They didn't show what happened to the aircraft after they removed the people. I'm thinking the lightly damaged vehicle was probably unceremoniously dumped onto the ground and wrecked.

The aircraft was recovered by a large mobile crane. Very happy ending of that dramatic situation. Nobody got seriously hurt and the only damage of the plane happened to its landing gear as far as i know.

The most worse thing was that the crew, the 65 year old man and his wife, had to wait for almost three hours until they got rescued. It certainly was a real nightmare hanging with an airplane headfirst on 380k volt powerlines about 20 meters above the ground. And that only on a fragile landing gear. They really got a second life. I'm rather delighted for them!

 

[Andy44]

Hitting power lines was always my biggest phobia about flying light planes. The field I got certified at had large high power lines running perpendicular to the runway about a mile or so from the end of the strip, and you would have to be very low indeed to come anywhere near them on approach. But during night approaches, when you couldn't see the unilluminated cables, you were always fully aware that the damn things were passing beneath your seat, just waiting to reach up and grab your wheels.

It wasn't a fully rational fear; but you could picture yourself suddenly snagged and flung to the ground 60 feet below in the inky darkness, and that scared me more than any other hazard.

 

[Native Son]

Hitting power lines was always my biggest phobia about flying light planes. The field I got certified at had large high power lines running perpendicular to the runway about a mile or so from the end of the strip, and you would have to be very low indeed to come anywhere near them on approach. But during night approaches, when you couldn't see the unilluminated cables, you were always fully aware that the damn things were passing beneath your seat, just waiting to reach up and grab your wheels.

It wasn't a fully rational fear; but you could picture yourself suddenly snagged and flung to the ground 60 feet below in the inky darkness, and that scared me more than any other hazard.

I have bad dreams about hitting power lines. Andy, your situation mimics mine. The power lines are located a mile down from the runway end and all I can do at night is say:

"Thank god for VASI."

 

[tblaxland]

The most worse thing was that the crew, the 65 year old man and his wife, had to wait for almost three hours until they got rescued. It certainly was a real nightmare hanging with an airplane headfirst on 380k volt powerlines about 20 meters above the ground. And that only on a fragile landing gear. They really got a second life. I'm rather delighted for them!

The 20m fall would have been the biggest issue. Reviewing the video they were suspended from the earth wire and they are lucky it did not burn through when it contacted the line wire given its relatively light gauge.

An instance comes to mind where the mast of a sailing boat (on a trailer) made two phases of the 415V power lines come together. The cables quickly burned through and fell to the ground but remained live for a good couple of seconds before the upstream protection cut in. Fortunately no injuries. The moral of the story: always de-step your mast before you move far from the water.

 

[Moonwalker]

"Thank god for VASI."

What about PAPI?

 

[Urwumpe]

What about PAPI?

Don't forget MAMI! :lol:

 

[Linguofreak]

Don't forget MAMI! :lol:

Groan... Awful pun.