Plane crash over Montana kills 17, terrorist suicide mission?

Could this possibly have been a suicide mission or did the pilot fall asleep?
Kids have been confirmed to be among the dead. Is it a coinsidence that they landed in a cemetary or are terrorists trying to send a message. Maybe it was just another accident.


here's the link


news.yahoo.com...

I don't think it was terrorists. Are you American? No offence, but your government has fear mongered you, so that is the first thing you would think of. I think it was just a horrible accident.

Cherry

here is a video on the aftermath

So, do you think it was the plane, the pilot, or a terrorist that hijacked it?




[edit on 22-3-2009 by lawbringer]

This was a tragedy, not an attack.

The people knew eachother on board. This was reported by witnesses. The number of passengers should never have exceeded 5-7 adults (with full fuel, the plane should not exceed more than 1000 lbs) The plane was carrying 17 people, including nearly a dozen kids.

So, possibly criminal negligence, but not terrorism. Quite simply, a tragedy.

The crash just happened what 5 or 6 hours ago? It's WAY too early to speculate on a cause, but it most likely was a mechanical failure. They were supposed to go to Billings, but rerouted to Butte for some reason. The aircraft was overloaded too, which almost definitely contributed to the crash. What would be the point of a terrorist taking over a plane designed to carry 12 people, and crashing it near a cemetery?

www.azhangar.com...

Most likely some kid of mechanical failure based on the statement by the gas station worker.

Lets put the terrorist panic button away on this. Not everything happens because of terrorist. Accidents do happen, and so do aircraft accidents.

Cheers!!!!

What kind of mechanical failure could cause a plane to nose dive 500 meters from its destination?

A small plane — possibly carrying children on a ski trip — crashed Sunday as it approached the Butte airport, killing 14 to 17 people aboard, a federal official said. The single engine turboprop nose-dived into a cemetery 500 feet from its destination.

I personally think th pilot fell asleep or had some kind of stroke or something. Wha would have caused the nose dive?

[edit on 22-3-2009 by lawbringer]

reply to post by lawbringer


Engine failure. The fact that it was overloaded could have caused the engine to overheat leading to engine failure. Fuel starvation, caused by the engine having to work harder than planned for on the flight, using more fuel.

There are any number of things that could have gone wrong mechanically.

It could have also been wind shear. At low altitude wind shear is much more dangerous and can cause crashes.

[edit on 3/22/2009 by Zaphod58]

reply to post by Zaphod58


Ok lets say the engine failed. Couldn't the pilot land safely in a field and glide in for a landing? I dont see how engine failure could result in imediate nosedive.

btw, the wind was only blowing 10 mph

[edit on 22-3-2009 by lawbringer]

Originally posted by lawbringer
What kind of mechanical failure could cause a plane to nose dive 500 meters from its destination?

An engine failure...a overloaded plane causing over-stress on the wingloading and control surfaces...flying too slow with the overweight loading...any one of those could cause a plane to nose dive, especially if there is any downburst or if the plane flies into an air turbulance pocket and drop like a rock.


Cheers!!!!

Originally posted by lawbringer
reply to post by Zaphod58

 

Ok lets say the engine failed. Couldn't the pilot land safely in a field and glide in for a landing? I dont see how engine failure could result in imediate nosedive.

Your forgetting, the plane was severely overloaded. Even if the engine did not fail, it was flying too slow for its weight, which would make controlling the aircraft even more difficult for the slow speeds.

IMO, there are three things that caused this accident.

1. Overloaded plane

2. Flying too slow for the load conditions

3. Pilot negligence in not recognizing his ship was overloaded.



Cheers!!!!

reply to post by RFBurns


Weren't most of the passengers kids? According to my source they were said to be cute kids. I personally don't think "overweight" kids are very cute. What causes a down burst anyway?

reply to post by lawbringer


In this case, no. He was already overloaded, just with passengers. That's not including their bags. That would have thrown the center of gravity off, which would have made it MUCH harder to control the plane.

The lower the altitude the less time there is to react. USAir 1549 was at 3600 feet when they lost power. This plane was probably at a couple of hundred feet.

"Overweight" isn't talking about the shape of the passengers. It's talking about the fact that the PC-12 was designed to carry 12 passengers and 1-2 crew. This flight was hauling 17 people on board.

Its really to early to say exactly what happened at this point.... It even mentions that the pilot changed his flight plan at some point during the flight.

For all we know the pilot could have had some kind of medical condition (heart trouble, etc) and was trying to get the plane down quickly at another landing site.

As far as a quick nosedive... the man could have passed out or even died, slumping into the controls, causing a nosedive.

Everything is pure speculation at this point.

reply to post by Zaphod58


My source says that 12 of the 17 people on board were children. If the children's weight is half the adults then the wieght would be equal to 11 total adults. So unless the kids were close to equaling the adults wieght, it could be the passengers that atributed to the plane being over weight. Good point about the bags, I didn't think about that.

[edit on 22-3-2009 by lawbringer]

reply to post by lawbringer


It doesn't matter if they were children or adults. Weight and balance on a plane that size is critical. An airline I occasionally flew on had a fleet of Cessna Caravans. When you checked in you had to give your weight, and weigh your bags. When you got to the plane, they told you which seat you were sitting in so the plane would be balanced.

If you have 12 seats in the cabin, and 2 in the cockpit, and put 17 people on the plane, your weight and balance has to be perfect. Even with kids on the plane. If it's not dead on, then you're going to have an accident.

reply to post by Zaphod58


So it was so important to get the balance perfect why didn't they? Or did thay? If your saying all kids weigh the same as adults... well I know a few but lets not even go there. I agree with TwiTcHomatic on this one, pilot probably slumped over the controls either by sleeping, dying who knows.

Here's a picture of the plane


[edit on 22-3-2009 by lawbringer]

reply to post by lawbringer


I'm not saying that kids weigh the same as adults. But the COLLECTIVE weight of the kids, adults, and baggage is what matters. You can't take a four passenger plane, put 6 people in it, even if two are kids, and expect it to handle like it only had four people on board. I flew light planes when I was younger, so I had to learn about weight and balance. Even with a large commercial plane, weight and balance is critical. Too much weight to either side of the center of gravity, and you can't balance the plane right.

We'll probably never know why they overloaded the plane, but I'll almost guarantee that it was a major contributor to the cause, and the pilot was perfectly fine at impact.

reply to post by Zaphod58


Can you give the souce that you found that says the pilot was fine before the crash and has no medical problems that could have atributed to the crash. List anymore info on the pilot if you find any. Any evidence of the pilots lack of experiance etc.