Fatalities Reported After Jet Crashes into Homes in Indiana Neighborhood

Just coming in and not looking good. 2 dead so far according to NYPost.

Looks like this went right through a house. How would it be to have a cock pit in your living room? Just hoping there are no more casualties. 2 is 2 many.

SOUTH BEND, Ind. (TheBlaze/AP) – A private jet apparently experiencing mechanical trouble crashed Sunday in a northern Indiana neighborhood, hitting three homes and killing two people aboard the plane, authorities and witnesses said. The Beechcraft Premier I twin-jet had left Tulsa, Okla.’s Riverside Airport and crashed near South Bend Regional Airport, Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Roland Herwig in Oklahoma City said. Two of four people aboard the plane were killed, Herwig said.

Looks like a mechanical problem but still under investigation.

Part of the neighborhood southwest of the airport was evacuated. Buses transported up to 200 people to a nearby shelter, Red Cross volunteer Jackie Lincoln said. Mike Daigle, executive director of the St. Joseph County Airport Authority, said the jet attempted a landing, went back up and maneuvered south to try another landing, but eight minutes later the airport learned the plane was no longer airborne. “There was an indication of a mechanical problem,” Herwig said.

And a little boy got 'Nicked' on the forehead. Wow. This little guy is blessed beyond all measure. After looking at these pics, the little guy just got 'nicked'...He's going to have one hell of a tale to tell his class mates on Monday.

Stan Klaybor, who lives across the street from the crash scene, said the jet clipped the top of one house, heavily damaged a second, and finally came to rest against a third. Neighbors did not know if a woman living in the most heavily damaged house was home at the time, and a young boy in the third house did not appear to be seriously injured, Klaybor said. “Her little boy was in the kitchen and he got nicked here,” Klaybor said, pointing to his forehead.

www.nypost.com...

I don't know if it's only me but when I see news of a plane crashing in a populated area it just seems surreal. And I know that the people on the ground at point zero feel it even more so.

Peace

reply to post by jude11

The Associated Press reported that the plane was registered to 7700 Enterprises of Montana LLC in Helena, Mont., which is owned by Wes Caves and does business as DigiCut Systems in Tulsa, Okla. The company makes window film and paint overlay for automobiles.

abcnews



Probably not much correlation, and honestly is probably irrelevant information but get this, this is about the same guy who owned the plane...

The company executive, Wes Caves, hired Susan Terry in July 2007. Soon after she started work at DigiCut Systems, Caves made it clear that he wanted to have a personal relationship with her. He told her that he took good care of his former assistant, with whom he had an affair, by compensating her well and buying her a Rolex watch and a Lexus. Soon after Terry started work, Caves gave her a $10,000 raise, a credit card for the purchase of gas and additional health insurance for her family at no cost to her.

Caves took Terry out to dinner in September 2007, where he told her he wanted to talk about secrets. Believing that he knew about her criminal history, Terry divulged to Caves that she had been arrested for operating a house of prostitution and had been known as the “Heidi Fleiss of Tulsa.” She said she told Caves she was not interested in having an affair with him.

After the dinner, Caves suggested that Terry should move into a different position and ignored her for a week, according to Terry. He then apologized for his behavior and acknowledged she was entitled to work in an environment where she was not being chased around a desk.

In October 2007, Caves allegedly began commenting about Terry’s body, frequently sought hugs and often grabbed her.

At a company dinner in November 2007, he allegedly removed his shoes and put his feet on her legs underneath the table, and later he tried to kiss her.

In December 2007, Caves told Terry he was in love with her and told her he wanted to take her shoe shopping. After she rejected his offer to be taken shopping, Caves became offended and ignored her for a period, then apologized. The comments about her body then allegedly resumed in January 2008, in addition to groping.

Terry testified that Caves told her 15 to 20 times during her employment that he wanted to have sex with her. He allegedly made 50 sexually suggestive comments between February to July 2008, comments that she recorded on a digital recorder, including how “hot” he thought she was and his not giving up on chasing her.

In July 2008, Caves gave Terry a $15,000 pay increase and told her she owed him a kiss each morning in exchange for the raise, according to Terry. After more groping, Terry had a phone conversation with her husband where they discussed filing a claim with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). On the same day she filed her EEOC claim, her computer was taken down and all of her e-mails were erased. Terry recorded a conversation between Caves and her where she told him she liked the job and did not want to put it in jeopardy but wanted the advances to stop. Caves replied that he wanted to “unwind” the matter reasonably and didn’t want to simply tell her she was fired.

Caves subsequently sent an e-mail to Terry, informing her that the company would no longer purchase gas for her vehicle. In November 2008, there was a companywide layoff and Terry lost her job. Terry filed suit claiming a hostile work environment, retaliation and wrongful discharge in violation of Oklahoma public policy.

Source

Sounds like this guy just can't have anything work out in his favor.

It looks like possibly some kind of fuel problem. Usually they burn when they crash like this, but there is zero evidence of fire in this instance. That's unusual, not unheard of, but unusual.

Originally posted by Zaphod58
It looks like possibly some kind of fuel problem. Usually they burn when they crash like this, but there is zero evidence of fire in this instance. That's unusual, not unheard of, but unusual.

Good catch!

Very near the airport as well. Perhaps a gamble on remaining and reserve fuel didn't work out?

Peace

reply to post by jude11


My opinion is that they either misjudged how much fuel they would need (winds were weaker than they forecast), or they developed a fuel leak in flight. Judging by all the reports saying they had a mechanical problem, I'd say they developed a fuel leak. I don't know why they couldn't get it on the ground the first time, but a go around would burn excess fuel, and they ran out. That's just my opinion based on a quick scan of articles, and the pictures from the scene. I'm sure more info will come out in the next few days, and that my opinion may change as it does (but my track record isn't half bad on these events, I'm usually right more than I'm wrong on my first opinion).

They said there were four on the plane, and have confirmed two dead. They reported three people at the hospital, two on the plane dead, but they aren't sure if anyone else is in the third house. They have to shore it up before going in.

Originally posted by Zaphod58
reply to post by jude11

 

My opinion is that they either misjudged how much fuel they would need (winds were weaker than they forecast), or they developed a fuel leak in flight. Judging by all the reports saying they had a mechanical problem, I'd say they developed a fuel leak. I don't know why they couldn't get it on the ground the first time, but a go around would burn excess fuel, and they ran out. That's just my opinion based on a quick scan of articles, and the pictures from the scene. I'm sure more info will come out in the next few days, and that my opinion may change as it does (but my track record isn't half bad on these events, I'm usually right more than I'm wrong on my first opinion).

They said there were four on the plane, and have confirmed two dead. They reported three people at the hospital, two on the plane dead, but they aren't sure if anyone else is in the third house. They have to shore it up before going in.

edit on 3/17/2013 by Zaphod58 because: (no reason given)

Or a different mechanical failure leading to a fuel dump? Which would be a definite safety measure if they knew they were not going to make the landing strip.

Peace

reply to post by jude11


Possible, but a lot of these smaller planes don't have a fuel dump capability. Some do, but not all of them. As small as the Premier 1 is, I would say it probably doesn't. It's a VLJ, most of which don't have a dump capability, as their range is pretty short. The Premier 1, with one pilot and four passengers has a range of a little over 1600 miles, and a max takeoff weight of 12500 lbs.




There are two versions, the Premier 1, and the Premier 1A. The 1A, incorporated a new cabin, and updated systems. According to the articles, this was a Premier 1. The design is fairly new, it was introduced in 2001.

They should check the area three blocks away and make sure no buildings collapsed..


And look, the plane did not vaporize upon impact either.....interesting.

Originally posted by thesmokingman
They should check the area three blocks away and make sure no buildings collapsed..

edit on 17-3-2013 by thesmokingman because: (no reason given)

edit on 17-3-2013 by thesmokingman because: (no reason given)

Yup,

In free fall speeds as well.

Gotta make sure.

Peace

Just noticed...

What is the 103rd Battalion doing there?

Peace

reply to post by thesmokingman


So now we're comparing steel and concrete buildings to wooden houses?

reply to post by jude11


Probably helping with moving people to shelters. They had to move 200 people to shelters after the crash. The quickest way to move them is either bus, or military truck. If a large number of buses aren't available, then military trucks usually are. If it's a Guard unit, which I'm pretty sure it is (either Guard or Reserve) then the State Attorney General has the ability to call them up to assist. This is one of the missions of the Guard.

Originally posted by Zaphod58
reply to post by thesmokingman

 

So now we're comparing steel and concrete buildings to wooden houses?

I don't know that house seems to be standing still, and like you said, its only made out of wood

reply to post by thesmokingman


It was also the third house impacted, which means that while it was hit by a plane, it was hit by a plane that had already lost a lot of momentum to previous impacts. It also didn't suffer a massive explosion inside it, or any fire of any kind. The plane in question is also tiny. I posted a picture of it in a previous post. Most people can't even stand upright in it (it has a 5.5 foot diameter fuselage).

Usually when a plane runs out of fuel
there are only fumes in the tanks.
The engines have stopped running, and
depending on the altitude the plane must
descend from the engines might even be
cold.
When it hits a flammable object with no
engine running, no hundreds of gallons of
fuel spraying all over everything as the wing tanks
burst open, no sparks or hot engines to cause
ignition, there usually is no fire.

And people wonder why Rainman hated to fly.
second

Originally posted by Zaphod58
reply to post by jude11

 

Possible, but a lot of these smaller planes don't have a fuel dump capability. Some do, but not all of them. As small as the Premier 1 is, I would say it probably doesn't. It's a VLJ, most of which don't have a dump capability, as their range is pretty short. The Premier 1, with one pilot and four passengers has a range of a little over 1600 miles, and a max takeoff weight of 12500 lbs.




There are two versions, the Premier 1, and the Premier 1A. The 1A, incorporated a new cabin, and updated systems. According to the articles, this was a Premier 1. The design is fairly new, it was introduced in 2001.

This was a Beech 390, which I can confirm has no fuel dump capability. And it is NOT a VLJ. A VLJ has a maximum certified gross takeoff wight of 10,000 pounds. The 390 has a max takeoff gross weight of 12,500 pounds, which makes it eligible for certification under Part 25 as a single pilot small jet. And I would doubt fuel starvation. Tulsa to South Bend is 650 nautical miles and the 390 has a range of 1430nm. The Williams FJ44 is a pretty economical turbofan. Even more probative is that the pilot reported electrical problems to ATC.

reply to post by F4guy


It wouldn't be the first time I've seen an experienced pilot misjudge fuel required for a flight. Or an experienced pilot assume there was enough, and that the other pilot checked, while the other pilot assumed the first pilot checked. Yes, it has a range of 1400 miles, but that doesn't mean that it departed Tulsa full of fuel, or that they planned to depart Tulsa full. We just don't have enough details to tell yet. But the few times I've seen no fire of any kind after an impact the cause of the crash was usually fuel starvation.

And yes, it was a Beech 390, also known as the Premier 1. It's not a VLJ, but one of the sources I used listed it as one, which is why I said it was. My mistake.

reply to post by Zaphod58


Wouldn't the pilot be able to glide the plane into an open field or highway instead of crashing it into a residential area?