Did you guys hear about the airplane crash today in downtown Atlanta?

[CatWoman]

:scared:

Plane crashes near downtown Atlanta
Two people aboard killed; no one hurt on ground

By RHONDA COOK and PAUL DONSKY
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 10/19/04

A twin-engine plane crashed shortly after takeoff this morning, plunging into an auto body shop and narrowly missing a national landmark, the birthplace of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., according to Atlanta police.

Sgt. John Quigley of the Atlanta Police Department said the twin-engine, six-seat BE55 Beech Baron left the DeKalb-Peachtree Airport bound for Venice, Fla. It crashed just before 11 a.m. into the Edgewood Collision auto body shop, near Edgewood Avenue and Boulevard, he said. The King home is about 100 yards away.

"We walked outside to see what the noise was," said Chas Weller, manager of Edgewood Collision. "One guy looked up, saw the plane coming for the building, and he said, 'Run,' and we ran."

Three or four seconds later, the plane hit the front of the shop.

"We're lucky to be here," Weller said. "My heart hasn't relaxed yet."

National Transportation Safety Board official Eric Alleyne said medical investigators removed two bodies from the plane's fuselage. A recovery crew from Griffin will begin removing the wreckage this afternoon.



http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/metro/atlanta/1004/19planecrash.html

[aquart]

1. Who died?

And did I hallucinate a cat winking at me?

[davidinalameda]

5. no

what cat

[DemBones DemBones]

9. No hallucination, cat winked at me, too, and another stuck out its tongue,

must be JENNA Cat. ;-)

[CatWoman]

10. BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

good one!!!

[mwdem]

2. Heard that, pretty weird, huh?

What is the reason for the crash, exactly?

[CatWoman]

11. still under investigation

from the story:

One of the most common types of accidents involving light twin-engine aircraft involves failure in one of the engines after takeoff. The failed engine creates excessive drag on one side of the aircraft while the good engine is producing maximum thrust on the other side.

This "asymmetric thrust" condition causes the aircraft to roll toward the failed engine and pilots can quickly lose control.

Pictures from the accident site confirm the plane dropped nearly vertically and hit the ground in a nearly flat attitude. All those characteristics are consistent with a loss of control due to a failed engine.

Twin-engine aircraft are particularly vulnerable in the moments after takeoff -- especially when they have heavy passenger or fuel loads.

Beech Barons are capable of flying on one engine -- but pilots must recognize the problem quickly and react correctly to retain control.

Weather at the time of the accident was marginally good enough for visual flight rules.

The automated weather station at DeKalb-Peachtree Airport reported light winds, 4 miles visibility with rain and mist, a few clouds 1,100 feet above the ground, a broken cloud layer at 3,400 feet and overcast at 4,600 feet.

The Baron was on an instrument flight plan, which requires the plane to carry enough fuel to reach its destination, fly to an alternate airport and still have enough fuel to fly at least 45 more minutes.

[mwdem]

12. Was the weather bad at the time of the crash?

I know the weather was bad in Atlanta this morning.

[CatWoman]

13. .....

The automated weather station at DeKalb-Peachtree Airport reported light winds, 4 miles visibility with rain and mist, a few clouds 1,100 feet above the ground, a broken cloud layer at 3,400 feet and overcast at 4,600 feet.

[mwdem]

15. It just seems weird, location & all.

[CatWoman]

16. it IS weird

:scared:

[mwdem]

17. I hope we're just seeing more to this than it is.

But it still has me wondering, looking at your map & all...

[davidinalameda]

3. I feel horrible for the two people killed

but I'm really glad it missed the MLK home

[Kire]

14. same here

that would be a national tragedy

[newsguyatl]

4. just a couple blocks from me

[CatWoman]

7. YIKES!!!!!

[dave123williams]

6. You'd think 2x engines would be safer; you'd be wrong...

If you lose an engine on one of those planes, you've basically got 800lbs of dead weight on one of your wings; down you go.

[flamingyouth]

8. I know exactly where that is

I've only spent two days in Atlanta, but I visited the King Center while I was there. Scary, indeed, and miraculous no one on the ground was killed.:scared:

[jukes]

18. hoping it wasn't

2 liberals...

:scared: