Bad news from today's AOPA epilot news.  Thankfully, nobody was
    seriously injured.

    Mark S.


    MISTRAL ENGINE PROTOTYPE CRASHES IN FLORIDA
    A Piper Arrow powered by a prototype Mistral
    ( http://www.mistral-engines.com/ ) rotary aircraft engine crashed
    after the
    engine lost power following takeoff from Palatka Municipal-Lt. Kay
    Larkin
    Field in Florida. The owner, retired physician Stephen Roth of
    Deland, Fla.,
    received minor injuries. The aircraft was used in 2004 for engine
    testing
    (
    http://www.aopa.org/members/files/pilot/epilot/2004/040409epilot.html
    ) at
    Embry Riddle Aeronautical University in Daytona Beach, Fla.


    Dang!!! Real bad news. Glad to see your OK Steve.

    I hope it was highly insured.

    What date was that Mark? I do not have an AOPA password as I am not
    a member.

    As far as I can tell the NTSB has no record yet.
    http://www.ntsb.gov/ntsb/AccList.asp?month=5&year=2008
    <http://www.ntsb.gov/ntsb/AccList.asp?month=5&year=2008>

    What happened Francois?

    BTW  Steve, I did not know you were a physician. I thought you were
    a Phd ex
    Embry Riddle.


    Paul Lamar ...No rotor no motor.


Paul,

Its from today's AOPA epilot newsletter, i.e. Hot off the press.

Mark

So it happened today?
Did they say the date of the crash?

Steve, please tell us what happened when and if you read this and if you can.

Here's the story in the Jacksonville News...with a rather fast video
(well, playing at a frame rate different than it was recorded, so it
LOOKS fast <G>)

www.news4jax.com/news/16474292/detail.html

Harley Dixon

Glad to see Steve is OK.
Can you capture that video as mpeg or wmv Harley?

I suspect somebody put in Jet A. The engine looks a lot
like a PT6. Near identical. Could be a cracked exhaust manifold.
Things to check.


Paul Lamar


PALATKA, Fla. -- A small plane crashed Tuesday morning in woods about two miles
from Palatka's municipal airport, but the pilot was pulled from the burning
aircraft before he was seriously hurt.

The Piper Arrow aircraft went down about 9:30 a.m. near the intersection of
St. Johns Avenue and Moody Road. The fuselage made it to the ground and
caught fire, but a wing was stripped off and was lodged in a tree, according
to Putnam County Sheriff's Office Maj. Keith Riddick.

Pilot Stephen Roth, 61, of Deland, was the only person on board.

Several witnesses, including a former Marine pulled Roth from the cockpit
and put hour a small engine fire.

"I just took the first course of action, and just tried to get the gentleman
out -- not worrying about the fire," said James de Cordova.

Roth, a retired physician, was transported to Putnam Community Hospital
with minor injuries. He was treated and released and returned to the
scene to collected personal items from the wreckage.

Authorities said plane had just taken off from Kay Larkin Field when
it developed engine trouble and Roth turned back toward the airport.
He crashed short of the runway.

The two-seat plane went down just across St. Johns Avenue from the
student services building of St. Johns River Community College.
Witnesses said the plane narrowly missed one of the college buildings.

"He missed this building by only two or three foot and swooped right
over the power lines," Jim Bradley told Channel 4's John Dunlap.
"He tried to turn up in between them trees, and it was just over from there."

According to a Federal Aviation Administration database, the
plane was manufactured in 1978 and owned by Mistral Engines USA Inc. in Deland.

The Florida Highway Patrol is handling the local investigation,
but the FAA would be determining the cause of the crash."




The Rotary Engine NewsLetter. Powered by Linux.
ACRE NL web site. http://www.rotaryeng.net
Youtube key word UTUBPLEASE
Copyright 1998-2008 All world wide rights reserved.