Plane Crash Near Charleston, WV

Law Enforcement ^

[VeniVidiVici]

Plane crash near Charleston, WV. Plane was being escorted as it was not communicating with tower. No indication yet of foul play.

Waiting for news to catch up.

Admin Mod, no link as of yet. Please delete if need be due to this.

[operation clinton cleanup]

Maybe the plane can but the pilot can't?

Looks like the autopilot did its job...

[jdm]

"It flew right over Chicago?"

No kidding. He dodged a bullet there.

[VeniVidiVici]

Thanks for the links, Abigail. That flightaware site is awesome!

[LetsRok]

The airport is named after Chuck Yeager.

[Armedanddangerous]

Ok, this is strange...

Im in Boone County WV. Im a newspaper editor, and I keep the scanner on at all times.

In the last hour, the Racine Fire Department Fire Rescue search team was just called out for a search of something...I dunno what..

The Boone County sheriffs office is in route, including the sheriff himself and the chief deputy.

Racine MIGHT be in the area where this plane might have gone down.

The funkiest thing is, the 911 dispatch just told the sheriff that Homeland Security had been notified of whatever the hell it was that went on.

There is definately something going on..I dunno what though..

[VeniVidiVici]

Initial indications had the plane coming down north of Charleston.

But what else could be happening in Racine, WV at 12 midnight? ;-)

[Abigail Adams]

Let us know if you have any more info to share! It makes sense that they would contact DHS, as it was a plane not responding to communications and was being escorted at some point.

[GodfearingTexan]

i read yeager's autobiography. in it he described using his military aircraft to take folks home on leave, and they would land it in little cleared out spots on top of mountains. then they had the take-off going over the edge of a cliff. it was a do-or-die take-off every time. he had some serious balls.

[Armedanddangerous]

Theres definately something going on. The county emergency services director is out and on the air, and the county director of homeland security, which is just another guy in the same office.

They dont roll out for a lost dog or something. Something is going on that isn't normal, Im unclear what though..I will continue to monitor.

[Moose4]

Pretty airplane. Barons just look fast standing still.

Looking at flightaware.com, this guy kept that plane in the air a LOT. St. Paul, Colorado Springs, San Bernadino, Vegas, Seattle, Montana, and he was headed back to St. Paul (home, I assume). And that was just in the past week.

}:-)4

[VeniVidiVici]

Background on Stewart's flight

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Both pilots and all four passengers, including professional golfer and 1999 U.S. Open winner Payne Stewart, were killed in the crash of a Lear 35 jet near Mina, SD on 25 October 1999. The jet, originally on a flight from Orlando to Dallas, strayed off course over northern Florida and continued flying to the northwest until the fuel apparently ran out.

U.S. Air Force pilots reported that the cockpit windows were obscured by frost. The conditions of the windows are consistent with a loss of pressurization and a subsequent rapid drop of temperature. It is likely that the pilots and occupants may have lost consciousness due to hypoxia, or a lack of oxygen. Between the last communication between the aircraft and air traffic control and the aircraft's final descent, the aircraft was reportedly flying as high as 45,000 feet.

http://www.airsafe.com/stewart.htm

[Armedanddangerous]

Not a peep for the past ten minutes or so..radio traffic wise.

I am beginning to think they got a report of a plane down, and took it to mean the plane in question. They then called out the searchers.

[gidget7]

I for one, hope that is what it is. Prayers to the pilot of that plane, regardless.

[cpdiii]

"It USUALLY means they've had a comm failure"

If he had a comm failure he would have been squawking 7600 on his transponder.

[buccaneer81]

I forget where Payne Stewart's plane was heading when the pilots were incapacitated, but he was several hundred miles off course when it finally went down.

He was headed to Dallas from Florida and the plane crashed in South Dakota.

[El Gato]

A Beechcraft Baron is a twin-piston-engined plane. It doesn't normally fly at altitudes where oxygen or pressurization is required, though there are some with turbocharged engines that can fly up there at those altitudes. I'm also surprised that one could make it from Montana all the way to West Virginia, especially if he was only planning to fly to Minneapolis.

Sounds like the pilot had a heart attack, stroke or whatever.

[Armedanddangerous]

Just watched the beginning of WOWK news in charleston, and they didnt mention any plane down, so who knows?

[sissyjane]

Here's something for the TM.

[A.A. Cunningham]

Pressurized Barons weren't introduced until '76 with the 58P.

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FAA Registry
N-Number Inquiry Results

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N18LL is Assigned

Assigned/Registered Aircraft

Aircraft Description

Serial Number		TG-65		Type Registration		Individual
Manufacturer Name		BEECH		Certificate Issue Date		09/24/2002
Model		56TC		Status		Valid
Type Aircraft		Fixed Wing Multi-Engine		Type Engine		Reciprocating
Pending Number Change		None		Dealer		No
Date Change Authorized		None		Mode S Code		50237530
MFR Year		1968		Fractional Owner		NO

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Registered Owner

Name		XXXXXXX XXXXXXX X XX
Street		XXX XXXXXXX XX
City		XXXXX XXXX	State	XXXXXXXXX		Zip Code	XXXXX-XXXX
County		XXXXX
Country		UNITED STATES

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Airworthiness

Engine Manufacturer		LYCOMING		Classification	Standard
Engine Model		TI0-541 SER		Category	Normal
				A/W Date	04/09/1974

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Other Owner Names
None

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Temporary CertificateNone

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Fuel ModificationsNone

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Beech 56 TC Turbo Baron Horsepower: 380 Gross Weight: 5990 lbs
Top Speed: 252 kts Empty Weight: 3650 lbs
Cruise Speed: 247 kts Fuel Capacity: 142.00 gal
Stall Speed (dirty): 73 kts Range: 737 nm

Takeoff Landing
Ground Roll: 1005 ft Ground Roll 1285 ft
Over 50 ft obstacle: 1420 ft Over 50 ft obstacle: 2080 ft

Rate Of Climb: 2020 fpm Rate of Climb (One Engine): 410 fpm
Ceiling: 32200 ft Ceiling (One Engine): 18600 ft

[A.A. Cunningham]

hypoxia