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Hawker 800 crash in Owatonna, MN in a Thunderstorm

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Hawker 800 crash in Owatonna, MN in a Thunderstorm

Old 07-31-2008, 08:27 AM
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Default Hawker 800 crash in Owatonna, MN in a Thunderstorm

kstp.com - At least 7 dead after plane crash in Owatonna


At least 7 dead after plane crash in Owatonna

EYEWITNESS NEWS has confirmed that at least seven people are dead after a plane crashed during a landing at Owatonna Degner Regional Airport Thursday morning, according to the Federal Aviation Administration.
The corporate jet was reportedly flying from Atlantic City, New Jersey when it crashed near the northwest section of the airport.
According to preliminary FAA reports, the plane is owned by East Coast Jet. The plane was a Hawker 800 series jet, according to Viracon, a glass fabricator company.
Don Pyatt, president of Viracon, said the customers were from "a couple of different companies" who were coming to the glass manufacturing plant to discuss a "major project" in Las Vegas. Pyatt declined to say what companies were involved or what the project was.
Viracon said the victims were scheduled to meet at their Owatonna-based offices, before taking off again for Tennessee.
Severe weather passed through the region earlier in the morning, causing serious damage to structures in the area.
The crash came as a line of storm thunderstorms moved across southern Minnesota, knocking out power lines, snapping trees and damaging agricultural buildings.
In Clara City, about 120 miles northwest of Owatonna, the high winds blew a grain bin and grain conveyor across state Highway 23, knocking down the primary power line to the city.
"We have major, major damage in town," Roger Knapper, Clara City public works emergency management director, told the West Central Tribune of Willmar. "You can look anyplace and there are trees all over the place."
Wind speeds were estimated at 80 miles an hour when the storm hit the small town about 7 a.m.
The storm continued east, hitting Mankato about 8 a.m. with 60-mile-per-hour winds. KTOE-AM reported that some roads were blocked by fallen branches, there were scattered power outages and a VIP tent at the Minnesota Vikings training camp was damaged.
Owatonna is a town of about 20,000 about 60 miles south of the Twin Cities.
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Old 07-31-2008, 11:35 AM
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I think it was an East Coast Jets flight. My source is flightaware.com
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Old 07-31-2008, 12:38 PM
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You are correct.

Judging on the debris field seen in pictures and the position of the a/c, it appears to have been moving at a good rate of speed upon impact. With 80mph winds reported and severe tstorms, I hope that the pilots would have known better than to even attempt this landing (obviously).

I'm no expert, but how much would a microburst play a roll in this if that had happened? Or a major wind gust from behind/low-level windshear?

Last edited by SevereClear; 07-31-2008 at 01:44 PM.
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Old 07-31-2008, 12:43 PM
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I don't like second guessing pilots without a lot of info, but if the media is correct about the winds and thunderstorms in the area it is hard to understand even attempting to land. As a disclaimer of course remember we are talking about the news media and hard facts...something that is a bit foreign to most of them.
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Old 07-31-2008, 01:03 PM
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God bless the pilots and the passengers.

I've worked an accident before and I feel also for the people on the accident site. Nothing can prepare you for what you see when a jet hits the ground at a high rate of speed and burns for an hour or so. Not much left of anything recognizable for the jet or people.

Without playing monday morning quarterback these guys were most likely very talented and its hard to believe that they intentionally flew into something like this. They could have very easily been going through a light return on radar. Severe storms nearly always have cyclonic rotation in them ie. tornadoes. However, they are usually horizontal not vertical. Tornadoes also exist mainly in the green returns on the storm. As pilots, where are we always cocked and loaded to aim the aircraft when deviating. Hard to tell what they saw but I hope it wasn't just a race the storm situation. Either way, its tragic.
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Old 07-31-2008, 01:43 PM
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Very tragic indeed. More facts will make their way out - the media tends to twist facts in a bad way. Time will tell...I'm really curious as to the wx there at the time of landing.
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Old 07-31-2008, 01:51 PM
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Reports are the storm had largely cleared the area at the time of accident and winds were considerably less than the 80 kt. gusts reported earlier. But that's not to say there still couldn't have been some microbursts or lingering gusts in the wake of the storm passage.
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Old 07-31-2008, 02:06 PM
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Amazing how fast this got on the net, http://static.cbslocal.com/station/w...unications.mp3
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Old 07-31-2008, 06:14 PM
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www.kare11.com has some good video.

Sounds like the storm had passed. Aerial footage shows they must have gone around/missed approach. The debris field is past the runway and leading away from it.
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Old 07-31-2008, 08:19 PM
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Whenever we talk about a pilot who has been killed in a flying accident, we should all keep one thing in mind. He called upon the sum of all his knowledge and made a judgment. He believed in it so strongly that he knowingly bet his life on it. That his judgment was faulty is a tragedy, not stupidity. Every instructor, supervisor, and contemporary who ever spoke to him had an opportunity to influence his judgment, so a little bit of all of us goes with every pilot we lose.

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