the adsb data shows hes losing airspeed only a few hundred feet above the ground after takeoff, my guess is loss of thrust on take off / partial power climb to a full engine failure.
That looks to be a Vans RV6A (Nose wheel RV6), " Leon P Archambault " is the builder, so he's listed as the manufacturer. Looks like he completed it in 2017, so it has quite a while on it. The RV6 is probably the most commonly built and most reliable Experimental Crafts in existence, so it'll be interesting to see what the cause was.
That's true, but per the aviation safety network, it's also been involved in 408 accidents including this one, with a total of 154 fatalities. I believe all of them are considered "experimental" aircraft because they're built by the customer. There was a local reporter asking the Methuen police chief about that in a press conference and he wasn't familiar with that term.
This is some of the worst radio coms from a licensed pilot. Nothing is said in a standard way. Clearance is not read back properly. Something seems off.
ATC ground recordings can be bad and calls missed because the line of sight from whatever amateur antenna is being used to both the Tower and the aircraft can be easily blocked by other buildings. I highly doubt the Tower would have released him had he not been reading anything back.
Sad to see this outcome. I'll be interested in what the NTSB report has to say. From what little information I've been able to gather so far, this is an 80-year-old pilot, with a class 3 medical certificate, who was not instrument rated. He was flying a build it yourself experimental class ' Vans' kit aircraft which looks like it cost about $72,000 when new. This type of aircraft has been involved in 408 accidents to date and with 154 fatalities. The aircraft received its license in 2017. Oddly enough, the tail number of this aircraft was also used in the past on a Pan Am Boeing 707 and later an Airbus A300 flown by Air France, so the tail number itself has some history. The weather in the area that day was good, warm temperatures with sunshine, a little bit of clouds here and there and light winds. He was flying out of a private pilot airfield in a small town, and crashed in a river very close to the airport itself. As you heard, he stated he had a mechanical issue with the aircraft but did not clarify what it was and his communication with ATC seemed pretty poor, but that could be due to his age or some other underlying medical condition. From what we heard here it appears he did not declare a mayday and nobody discussed fuel amount or souls on board. It did sound like at one point the air traffic controller stepped on top of a transmission that the pilot was making, shortly after he stated he had a problem with the aircraft, making the radio transmission unintelligible. I haven't seen any flight data if there is any to be had so I'm not sure what his altitudes and speeds were like. I believe the stall speed of this aircraft was somewhere in the neighborhood of about 55 mph. Rescue teams had a very difficult time getting to where the plane was due to river embankments as steep as 12 ft, and there was confusion as to what town the pilot actually crashed in, with initial report saying he was in North Andover, later being amended to Methuen. North Andover Fire and Police deployed rescue teams, including a rescue boat, and called for mutual aid from the surrounding communities including Methuen and Lawrence, and dive teams were sent over from Beverly and Salem NH. The depth of the water was estimated by the North Andover deputy fire chief to be about 5 or 6 ft deep. Upon their arrival, the plane was found to be upside down and the pilot was found, deceased, still trapped under the airplane. I saw footage taken by helicopter of the fire fighters trying to climb onto the belly of the aircraft and tapping it to see if they could get a response, extrication tools at the ready. A tragic outcome.
@@Flight_Follower Very welcome. If I hear anything new I'll post another comment. I'll keep tabs on your channel for updates. Thank you for the work you do.
@@clarkridlen1966 I would tend to agree. It's a cheaper way into aviation, but I wouldn't trust myself to put the plane together properly. The experts with decades of experience in Washington have a hard enough time keeping their planes in the sky as it is these days. I'd liken it to this: Just because I know how to make a sandwich doesn't mean I should be assembling and wiring a convection oven. Again, I understand plenty of people are able to fly these planes safely, it's just not a risk that I would take.
It was, it was covered (briefly) by NBC Boston, WHDH, Boston 25 (formerly Fox 25), WCVB News Boston, WHAV, Yahoo and MSN, as well as some even smaller local newspapers. Small general aviation plane crashes don't capture the imagination of the nation since they happen somewhat often and don't affect a ton of people compared to a large passenger liner. If you search for this plane crash online you'll also find a bunch of articles about another crash in the same town, operating out of the same airport in 2017, also resulting in a fatality.
Everyone bashing on this man's age - "not sharp", "sounds drunk", "shouldn't fly", ad infinitum. Yet he was obviously a lot more capable and on the ball than the geezer sitting in the White House. Let that sink in.
Again, not everything has to be an excuse for MAGA PR... I would rather have an older experienced pol than s FAILED, convicted felon, SA, and nazi-lover in the white house again.
Ouch. That's sad. This is another crash this month where "an old guy" crashed for no apparent reason, I am thinking about Bill Anders, he was 90. I do think that as people get older they need to look carefully as to whether committing aviation is still a good idea. If you forget why you went into a room or you can remember the name of that thingmy-bob or you find it hard to get off the sofa.....it's high time to stop flying. I am 54 and I know that I am not nearly as sharp as I was when I was a youngster and goodness know what I will be like at 90. I used to fly gliders but I know that I wouldn't do it these days, I know what an idiot I can be and getting older doesn't help with this.
I had the same impression. His speech was that of an elderly, perhaps confused person, maybe under the influence , of something. He did not seem to be able to handle the behavior of that plane. He inverted it , over the water.......and clearly died either on impact or he drowned. Sad.
@@linanicolia1363???? When you have fixed gear there is an extremely high chance of flipping as you hit the water no matter what. Flipping has nothing to do with impairment.
I would bet on dysarthria and ATC knew him. Otherwise they'd deny takeoff clearance if they suspected alcohol was involved, or at least ask him if he was ok.
Either drunk or very very old and doesn’t have his wits about him anymore…. Another pilot adding to the death toll when this guy obviously shouldn’t have been flying….
Sorry but all of you know for a damn fact those radio calls were atrocious and people like him shouldn't be in the air ... When you lose someone to some old gezer that doesn't make the right radio calls or non at all like we did in Winter Haven you will understand why radio calls such as these the atc shouldn't have gave him clearance
Dude sounded hammered.
VERY! I'll be interested in the final report on this one, cause he didn't sound like the typical "old man" pilot.
We had very little information when we worked on this…will post updates when available
@@paulis7319well…I’m OLD. He sounded old to me!
Sad outcome non the less😢
the adsb data shows hes losing airspeed only a few hundred feet above the ground after takeoff, my guess is loss of thrust on take off / partial power climb to a full engine failure.
@@aeromatt Fuel selector in the "off" position could cause that, too. Then again, many other things could also cause it.
Dude, this happened like 10 minutes away from me. I was JUST over there…I’ve been looking into this airport as a potential tiedown location. Unreal…
That looks to be a Vans RV6A (Nose wheel RV6), " Leon P Archambault " is the builder, so he's listed as the manufacturer. Looks like he completed it in 2017, so it has quite a while on it.
The RV6 is probably the most commonly built and most reliable Experimental Crafts in existence, so it'll be interesting to see what the cause was.
That's true, but per the aviation safety network, it's also been involved in 408 accidents including this one, with a total of 154 fatalities. I believe all of them are considered "experimental" aircraft because they're built by the customer. There was a local reporter asking the Methuen police chief about that in a press conference and he wasn't familiar with that term.
This is some of the worst radio coms from a licensed pilot. Nothing is said in a standard way. Clearance is not read back properly. Something seems off.
It's his AGE!
Age and high emotion....looking at possible death
Something definitely seemed off..
If a plane is just about to crash, there is no time for many questions
@@garyhoward4064 He was on the ground asking for clearance and his radio work was atrocious
I notice he never repeated ATC's instructions only acknowledged. Don't know why they let him get away with that.
ATC ground recordings can be bad and calls missed because the line of sight from whatever amateur antenna is being used to both the Tower and the aircraft can be easily blocked by other buildings. I highly doubt the Tower would have released him had he not been reading anything back.
Sad to see this outcome. I'll be interested in what the NTSB report has to say. From what little information I've been able to gather so far, this is an 80-year-old pilot, with a class 3 medical certificate, who was not instrument rated. He was flying a build it yourself experimental class ' Vans' kit aircraft which looks like it cost about $72,000 when new. This type of aircraft has been involved in 408 accidents to date and with 154 fatalities. The aircraft received its license in 2017. Oddly enough, the tail number of this aircraft was also used in the past on a Pan Am Boeing 707 and later an Airbus A300 flown by Air France, so the tail number itself has some history. The weather in the area that day was good, warm temperatures with sunshine, a little bit of clouds here and there and light winds. He was flying out of a private pilot airfield in a small town, and crashed in a river very close to the airport itself. As you heard, he stated he had a mechanical issue with the aircraft but did not clarify what it was and his communication with ATC seemed pretty poor, but that could be due to his age or some other underlying medical condition. From what we heard here it appears he did not declare a mayday and nobody discussed fuel amount or souls on board. It did sound like at one point the air traffic controller stepped on top of a transmission that the pilot was making, shortly after he stated he had a problem with the aircraft, making the radio transmission unintelligible. I haven't seen any flight data if there is any to be had so I'm not sure what his altitudes and speeds were like. I believe the stall speed of this aircraft was somewhere in the neighborhood of about 55 mph. Rescue teams had a very difficult time getting to where the plane was due to river embankments as steep as 12 ft, and there was confusion as to what town the pilot actually crashed in, with initial report saying he was in North Andover, later being amended to Methuen. North Andover Fire and Police deployed rescue teams, including a rescue boat, and called for mutual aid from the surrounding communities including Methuen and Lawrence, and dive teams were sent over from Beverly and Salem NH. The depth of the water was estimated by the North Andover deputy fire chief to be about 5 or 6 ft deep. Upon their arrival, the plane was found to be upside down and the pilot was found, deceased, still trapped under the airplane. I saw footage taken by helicopter of the fire fighters trying to climb onto the belly of the aircraft and tapping it to see if they could get a response, extrication tools at the ready. A tragic outcome.
Thanks a lot for the additional informations
@@Flight_Follower Very welcome. If I hear anything new I'll post another comment. I'll keep tabs on your channel for updates. Thank you for the work you do.
I don't recommend DIY kit planes. Unless you get one from Tower Hobby.
@@clarkridlen1966 I would tend to agree. It's a cheaper way into aviation, but I wouldn't trust myself to put the plane together properly. The experts with decades of experience in Washington have a hard enough time keeping their planes in the sky as it is these days. I'd liken it to this: Just because I know how to make a sandwich doesn't mean I should be assembling and wiring a convection oven. Again, I understand plenty of people are able to fly these planes safely, it's just not a risk that I would take.
7+1+5 = 13. No thanks
LiveATC poster here, When I first pulled that, I was hesitant to post, whatever happened, it wa quick. RIP
According to Aviation Safety Network it is a Vans RV-6A
Just hearing this whole transmission breaks my heart from beginning to end.
The pilot sounds like he’s drunk.
And/or old
Internet records state this pilot was 80 years old.
Incredible
He was right over the airport, how could he not land? did he pull a sully
Is this near Boston? How come it wasn't in the news?
Approx 30 miles north of boston
It was, it was covered (briefly) by NBC Boston, WHDH, Boston 25 (formerly Fox 25), WCVB News Boston, WHAV, Yahoo and MSN, as well as some even smaller local newspapers. Small general aviation plane crashes don't capture the imagination of the nation since they happen somewhat often and don't affect a ton of people compared to a large passenger liner. If you search for this plane crash online you'll also find a bunch of articles about another crash in the same town, operating out of the same airport in 2017, also resulting in a fatality.
I bet he didn't drain water from fuel. Being old doesn't excuse failure to maintain and completely pre flight your airplane. Rest In Peace.
Well, the outcome is really sad but then he sounded as if that is the destination he planned for.
May be elderly but competent with engine failure from information here. Defer judgement.
We had very little information when we worked on this…will post updates when available
Those RV's have short wings they glide like a brick especially with a engine failure.
“Glide like a brick”
Trying to visualise
Sad...
Sad indeed
RIP
Everyone bashing on this man's age - "not sharp", "sounds drunk", "shouldn't fly", ad infinitum. Yet he was obviously a lot more capable and on the ball than the geezer sitting in the White House. Let that sink in.
More likely, the demented geezer trying to get in.
Again, not everything has to be an excuse for MAGA PR... I would rather have an older experienced pol than s FAILED, convicted felon, SA, and nazi-lover in the white house again.
Ouch. That's sad. This is another crash this month where "an old guy" crashed for no apparent reason, I am thinking about Bill Anders, he was 90. I do think that as people get older they need to look carefully as to whether committing aviation is still a good idea. If you forget why you went into a room or you can remember the name of that thingmy-bob or you find it hard to get off the sofa.....it's high time to stop flying. I am 54 and I know that I am not nearly as sharp as I was when I was a youngster and goodness know what I will be like at 90. I used to fly gliders but I know that I wouldn't do it these days, I know what an idiot I can be and getting older doesn't help with this.
The pilot had dysarthria. Wonder if there was alcohol involved. May he rest in peace.
I had the same impression. His speech was that of an elderly, perhaps confused person, maybe under the influence , of something. He did not seem to be able to handle the behavior of that plane. He inverted it , over the water.......and clearly died either on impact or he drowned. Sad.
@@linanicolia1363???? When you have fixed gear there is an extremely high chance of flipping as you hit the water no matter what. Flipping has nothing to do with impairment.
I would bet on dysarthria and ATC knew him. Otherwise they'd deny takeoff clearance if they suspected alcohol was involved, or at least ask him if he was ok.
@linanicolia1363
He didn't invert it over the water, it happened when he impacted the water.
Either drunk or very very old and doesn’t have his wits about him anymore…. Another pilot adding to the death toll when this guy obviously shouldn’t have been flying….
Lets wait for the investigation report…its too early to be that harsh on him
@@Flight_Followerexactly we know nothing.
I was hoping someone would come along that knew everything and wasn't afraid to let everyone know.
You gathered all that with just 3 minutes of audio!
Impressive. You ever considered a career in Government?
Sorry but all of you know for a damn fact those radio calls were atrocious and people like him shouldn't be in the air ... When you lose someone to some old gezer that doesn't make the right radio calls or non at all like we did in Winter Haven you will understand why radio calls such as these the atc shouldn't have gave him clearance
80 year old can barley drive cars
Or spell.
@@twentyrothmans7308 lol.. Now I can't stop laughing..