Skymaster down in Los Angeles

[mshac]

Originally Posted by kbecker

I just watched a youtube video of the accident aircraft, may have been taken on the day of the accident.

I saw it too. I thought to myself, what are the chances that some random airplane groupie would post a video of this airplane the same day it crashed?

I don't know if the video was new or old, but the belly was black from either leaking oil or, more likely, leaking hydraulic fluid.

I think his system was low on fluid. He was 61, so its possible the stress of the situation caused him to have a stroke or coronary event. This would explain the lack of a stall recovery. We may never know.

Also, the pilot requested 2500' when the controller asked him what he wanted after reporting the gear issue. According to the ADS-B tracking, he never initiated a climb from 2000'. Just another data point to consider.

[mshac]

Originally Posted by patrolpilot

That sounds spooky to me!

It would be spooky...Vlo is 140, so if you can keep your indicated at 140 or below, you really lose some altitude fast.

Have a switch like the flaps, so you can go to 1/3, 2/3, full according to your situation. If Vlo is 140, then maybe 1/3 would be 180, 2/3 160, etc.