Mayday Magaliesburg GFA

[Thermalator]

<speculation>

Strong southerly wind causing curl over on that 3-5km wide shallow slope on the north side combined with 10kft DA strong thermals and dust devils...no way a PA28 outclimbs that gentle slope. A C177 did similar a few years ago on a steeper portion

[WagAero]

DAM Tough terrein to put her down on .
Hope for the best ito the flyers. Were they visitors at the Airspan weekend.

[John.com]

A friend of mine lives on the neighbouring farm, so we hiked in today.

Here is the location: 25°50'47.15”S 27°51'36.17"E

Mountain View airfield on the bottom-right.

[Snitch]

A friend of mine lives on the neighbouring farm, so we hiked in today.

Here is the location: 25°50'47.15”S 27°51'36.17"E

Mountain View airfield on the bottom-right.

That's way outside the Magalies GFA and under the Lanseria TMA that starts at 6,500ft

[Barros]

??
Very little speculation these days on this forum .

[Hawkeye]

Confirmed, was engine failure.......
I am doing a lot of filming in the area at the moment and was about 1km from where this occurred, the pilot did his best under the circumstances.... This is not a place you want to do a forced LOB..... Even the best of the worst will be a nightmare.....

[flysouth]

Was it operated by a lanseria based flight school - or where?

Yes it was operated by Lanseria Flight School when I learned to fly there in 1975 -1976. IIRC it was owned by Wits Flying Club and leased to the school. I liked to fly that aircraft over other Cherokees they had ZS-FTB and ZS-FAC, because FTP had 10 HP more than the stock 150hp! I may have done my first solo in the aircraft, must dig out the logbook!

[heisan]

Confirmed, was engine failure.......
I am doing a lot of filming in the area at the moment and was about 1km from where this occurred, the pilot did his best under the circumstances.... This is not a place you want to do a forced LOB..... Even the best of the worst will be a nightmare.....

Photo angles are not great, but it looks like the landing gear got snagged in the fence. Not sure if the sudden stop was better or worse than a very rocky roll out. Either way amazing how well the cabin structure held up to such a severe impact.

[Barros]

ZS -FTP was PA 28-180 180 HP
1968 Piper Cherokee

[PJL]

No fire and engine failure indicates a possible lack of fuel in the tanks!!

PJL

[MLyons]

No fire and engine failure indicates a possible lack of fuel in the tanks!!

PJL

Was thinking the same.
Either that or some new type of tanks/fuel bladders that can withstand a severe disassembly of an airframe and wings without spilling a drop....

[southside]

FTP this week and FTB last week - we are running out of PA28s

I learned to fly in FTB in the 90’s that’s a 140 if I recall, what a shame, was it written off ?

Not at all, looking at the pictures of the crashed aeroplane which I assume you did, that will buff right out

[Patrick AL]

No fire and engine failure indicates a possible lack of fuel in the tanks!!

PJL

Was thinking the same.
Either that or some new type of tanks/fuel bladders that can withstand a severe disassembly of an airframe and wings without spilling a drop....

While air in the fuel tanks is a common cause of engine stoppage, you may be reading too much into the lack of fire.

Fire requires 3 elements - fuel, oxygen and ignition. With a dead stop accident like this, there is no ongoing movement to generate additional ignition sources. So by the time the fuel and air mix there is nothing left to ignite it. So it is not uncommon to see such accidents where a significant volume of fuel is spilled, but there is no fire.

[John.com]

Confirmed, was engine failure.......
I am doing a lot of filming in the area at the moment and was about 1km from where this occurred, the pilot did his best under the circumstances.... This is not a place you want to do a forced LOB..... Even the best of the worst will be a nightmare.....

Photo angles are not great, but it looks like the landing gear got snagged in the fence. Not sure if the sudden stop was better or worse than a very rocky roll out. Either way amazing how well the cabin structure held up to such a severe impact.

I was at the site. The fence is to the west of the accident, running behind the tree and large rock which they impacted. From the eyewitness account, the approach was east-west, and was straight in. The fence was cut to allow access to first responders.

[John.com]

No fire and engine failure indicates a possible lack of fuel in the tanks!!

PJL

Was thinking the same.
Either that or some new type of tanks/fuel bladders that can withstand a severe disassembly of an airframe and wings without spilling a drop....

While air in the fuel tanks is a common cause of engine stoppage, you may be reading too much into the lack of fire.

Fire requires 3 elements - fuel, oxygen and ignition. With a dead stop accident like this, there is no ongoing movement to generate additional ignition sources. So by the time the fuel and air mix there is nothing left to ignite it. So it is not uncommon to see such accidents where a significant volume of fuel is spilled, but there is no fire.

I was on site after the aircraft had been removed, and can confirm ZERO fuel spill.