Wed, Sep 15, 2010
Skydiving Plane Down With Nine People On Board
New Zealand's civil aviation authority has issued a warning to
skydiving operators about overloading Fletcher FU24 aircraft after
an accident which fatally injured nine people at Fox Glacier.
The Transport Accident Investigation Commission (TAIC) put out a
directive Monday telling operators that the number of people in the
main cabin should be limited to six. The move follows an accident
in which all nine people aboard the converted cropdusting aircraft
were fatally injured when it went down just after takeoff at the
end of the runway at Fox Glacier Airport.
TVNZ.com reports that the TAIC has learned that overloading the
main cabin can lead to exceeding the aft CG envelope on the
aircraft, though they have also stressed that they have not
determined that improper loading was the cause of the accident. The
directive also requires operators to weigh skydivers and their
equipment, and consider their position in the plane when making
weight and balance calculations (seems like SOP to us, ed).
Fletcher FU24 File Photo
Five of those involved in the accident were employees of Skydive
New Zealand. The others were tourists from overseas.
TAIC chief investigator Tim Burfoot said "It is too early to
confirm whether weight and balance issues contributed to this
accident, but there is sufficient concern that a safety issue
exists which needs to be acted upon urgently by other operators of
this aircraft type." He said that an interim report on the
accident should be finished next month, and any urgent safety
recommendations would be made at that time. But much like the NTSB,
Burfoot said a final report could take as long as two years to
prepare. TVNZ reports that there are three more FU24 aircraft in
use as skydiving planes in New Zealand.
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