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Watch as Piper Malibu slams into snowbank at Courchevel Altiport
Watch as the pilot of thise Malibu Piper slams into a snowbank after being unable to bring the aircraft to a stop at Courchevel Altiport in the French Alps. (www.gatechecked.com) Más...It wasn't at 11:30, it was at 11:17.
It wasn't only minor injuries, one passenger left on a stretcher in an ambulance.
The main problem was the plane landed about 200 m after touchdown mark, almost at the top, so the hill didn't slow it down at all. Major pilot's fault, but AFAIK there's no go-around.
It took a few minutes to someone from the airport staff even notice the "crash" - in Courchevel there's often nobody in the tower. Ambulance arrived after ~30 minutes, about the same time as heli ambulance (looked like Augusta to me). Police was already there at the time.
The following morning they craned the piper out of the snowbank and put it next to the hangars. I saw just crumpled engine conver and a few scratches, from the distance nothing serious. Can't tell what about e.g. engine and there was a lot of snow on the windscreen, so I can't tell if it was cracked.
It wasn't only minor injuries, one passenger left on a stretcher in an ambulance.
The main problem was the plane landed about 200 m after touchdown mark, almost at the top, so the hill didn't slow it down at all. Major pilot's fault, but AFAIK there's no go-around.
It took a few minutes to someone from the airport staff even notice the "crash" - in Courchevel there's often nobody in the tower. Ambulance arrived after ~30 minutes, about the same time as heli ambulance (looked like Augusta to me). Police was already there at the time.
The following morning they craned the piper out of the snowbank and put it next to the hangars. I saw just crumpled engine conver and a few scratches, from the distance nothing serious. Can't tell what about e.g. engine and there was a lot of snow on the windscreen, so I can't tell if it was cracked.
I believe this to be a good assessment of what happened. You are correct THERE IS NO GO AROUND after about a 1/2 mile final as there is nowhere to go. The snowbank was a better and softer alternate than Alpine granite. It is a long and very windy road to the Altiport even from the village which would account for the delayed ambulance. I do not know how much help was available from the bar where the incident was videoed. 1750 ft is 533 meters and if he was 200m late to land he was as you suggest well up the hill.
Yes, almost at the top of the hill. Standard procedures aside, I believe go around would be possible for them if the pilot instead of touching down went full throttle. He apparently flared too early and then flew in parallel with the runway, not losing any height, so IMO he had enough momentum not to stall.
He'd have to look hard for some Alpine granite though, it snowed quite a lot that week :-) They removed snow from the runway no more than 2 hours before the accident. He also went over a large patch of leftover snow when he tried to brake and went into the bank with "thump" sound, rather than "bang", so the bank was rather soft.
He'd have to look hard for some Alpine granite though, it snowed quite a lot that week :-) They removed snow from the runway no more than 2 hours before the accident. He also went over a large patch of leftover snow when he tried to brake and went into the bank with "thump" sound, rather than "bang", so the bank was rather soft.
Good grief - wasn't even close. With the speed he was carrying, going around would've been a snap.