Chalk Airlines Fatal Crash

[LAJim]

I used to skydive some 15 or so years ago in another state. One of the larger skydive operations had a de Havilland Twin Otter, a popular jump plane that could carry 20 - 22 jumpers, so you could launch a 20-way with in-air video. Nice plane, but it was an open secret that the owner/operator was cooking the log book. The Otter had a known issue with structural failure in the main wing support, and the FAA required a very expensive wing replacement after a specified number of either hours or takeoff-landing cycles (forget which). This plane was well over the limit, but not according to the log book.

That plane never crashed to my knowledge, and I think the wing was eventually replaced, but every other jump plane I was on or around eventually crashed. The last one killed everybody on board and put the local (University town) skydive operation out of business.

If you think about dive boats you've been on with "deferred maintenance" issues, the same factors are at work with any small business operating old and overworked aircraft. I'm not saying Chalk was in this mode, but everyone knows that 60 year old aircraft must have cracks in the airframe. If you aren't required to tear open a wing to look for them it might be easier to hope they aren't bad and don't go looking for problems.

Jim

 

[DanBMW]

I used to skydive some 15 or so years ago in another state. One of the larger skydive operations had a de Havilland Twin Otter, a popular jump plane that could carry 20 - 22 jumpers, so you could launch a 20-way with in-air video. Nice plane, but it was an open secret that the owner/operator was cooking the log book. The Otter had a known issue with structural failure in the main wing support, and the FAA required a very expensive wing replacement after a specified number of either hours or takeoff-landing cycles (forget which). This plane was well over the limit, but not according to the log book.

That plane never crashed to my knowledge, and I think the wing was eventually replaced, but every other jump plane I was on or around eventually crashed. The last one killed everybody on board and put the local (University town) skydive operation out of business.

If you think about dive boats you've been on with "deferred maintenance" issues, the same factors are at work with any small business operating old and overworked aircraft. I'm not saying Chalk was in this mode, but everyone knows that 60 year old aircraft must have cracks in the airframe. If you aren't required to tear open a wing to look for them it might be easier to hope they aren't bad and don't go looking for problems.

Jim

Curious about your statement referring to the poor maintenance of jump planes. I started jumping in the mid 80's and was not aware of the poor maintenance problem. Still jump at Z-hills and most skydives are out of Otters. Pretty wide brush!

 

[Tom Az]

Please be kind in your remarks about the pilot. She is/was a dive instructor and her husband you just might have seen some of his films on the Discovery channel.

 

[DandyDon]

Please be kind in your remarks about the pilot. She is/was a dive instructor and her husband you just might have seen some of his films on the Discovery channel.

A fine suggestion regardless of whom, where, how, etc.

A little sadder to us perhaps that a professional diver was lost in this horrible accident.

Warmest condolences to her husband, other family, and friends.

 

[Tom Smedley]

The last flight that I did on Chalks was from Lauderdale to Walkers Cay and back. The return trip was on N142PA. I have searched and searched and found that it was flight 101 and the newsfolks seem to have all the maintenance and safety history on the seaplane that was lost. However, I can't seem to find a tail number. I have seen that the co-pilot was from Wyoming and that an heir to the Bacardi's, a missionary from North Carolina, as well as friends and relatives of everyone on Bimini was onboard. However, I cannot find information on the reported Dive Instructor/SO of a Discovery Channel producer pilot. Does anyone know this information?

 

[DandyDon]

However, I cannot find information on the reported Dive Instructor/SO of a Discovery Channel producer pilot. Does anyone know this information?

Tom AZ seems to know.

This came out an hour ago...

Airline Grounds Fleet After Seaplane Crash

By ABBY GOODNOUGH and MATTHEW L. WALD
Published: December 22, 2005

MIAMI, Dec. 21 - The airline whose 1940's seaplane crashed here this week grounded the rest of its fleet Wednesday after investigators found a large crack in the wing spar of the plane involved in the deadly accident.

A spokeswoman for the Federal Aviation Administration said the company, Chalk's Ocean Airways, voluntarily stopped flying pending rigorous inspection of its four remaining Grumman G-73T Turbine Mallards, all built more than 50 years ago.

Investigators, meanwhile, finished removing the wreckage of Chalk's Flight 101 from the shipping channel where it crashed just after takeoff Monday afternoon, killing 15 adult passengers, 3 infants and 2 pilots, many of whom were found still strapped into their seats. The next task, they said, was to investigate why the so-called fatigue crack went undetected and whether the age of the plane, built in 1947, was a factor.

"Age will certainly play a role in that type of a crack," said Mark V. Rosenker, acting chairman of the National Transportation Safety Board. "Clearly, the age of an aircraft is a concern, but at the same time, if an aircraft is maintained properly, it should last a very long time."

Mr. Rosenker said the plane's cockpit voice recorder had been recovered but was unreadable. At the Chalk's headquarters in Fort Lauderdale, investigators spent the day scrutinizing the inspection program for Chalk's planes, developed by the airline and approved by the F.A.A., to determine whether it was adequate and had been carefully followed.

The airline industry has worried about metal fatigue since 1988, when part of the roof peeled off an Aloha Airlines plane in flight, sweeping a flight attendant to her death. Though only 19 years old, that Boeing 737 had an extraordinarily high number of takeoffs and landings, and a federal inquiry found that inspections had failed to find small cracks in its fuselage.

After the incident, Congress required enhanced inspection of planes more than 24 years old and carrying more than 29 seats. At the same time, the F.A.A. required closer inspection of smaller old planes.


Fatigue can be found by several inspection techniques, experts say, and the spot where it was found on the seaplane - on the spar, an internal beam of aluminum, near the fuselage - is the first place to look.

While the crack is clearly of great interest to the safety board, it is probably months away from saying for sure whether metal fatigue caused the crash.

The small seaplane fleet owned by Chalk's Ocean Airways flies numerous daily flights between South Florida and Nassau, Paradise Island and Bimini in the Bahamas. Its owner, James Confalone, bought the company in bankruptcy court in 1999.

But while he had ambitions to expand the operation, it has continued to struggle financially. A Dun & Bradstreet report this year described the company as having a "high risk of severe financial stress, such as a bankruptcy, over the next 12 months."

Andy Lehren contributed reporting from New York for this article.

 

[DennisW]

For what it's worth, There are some fly by night operations that may not care a whit if their pilots and customers are killed in an aircraft that is not properly maintained. Those people should be charged with 1st degree murder if a pilot or passenger is killed on thier airplane. From what I have heard (and it is heresay only) the majority of these operations are jump operations.

A pilot that knows there are maintenance problems with an airplane and flies it anyway is just as guilty. The pilot has the responsibility to do her/his best to determine if the aircraft is airworthy before they take off.

This pilot, nor did the operator know there was a stress crack in the wing spar and there was no reason to suspect this problem. It's something the pilot cannot inspect and it isn't an easy inspection for a mechanic. Does that mean it can't be done? No, but there are no requirements to do it either. Maybe there should be a thourough spar inspection for older aircraft. Further, there is research that can be done where placing sensors at critical locations on an airframe, data can be gathered that may be able to forecast stress failures. Unfortunately, our current administration would rather go to Mars than fund aeronautical research at NASA.

Chalks has a reputation for being one of the safest operations in the business. They are an excellent airline and I hope they continue to operate their Grumman aircraft.

Again, my thoughts and prayers are with the family and friends of the passengers and crew of this flight. It is indeed a sad, sad time for these people.

 

[ReneeC]

I personallly know one of the investors/owners of Chalks and can tell you that he was / is extremely proud of this fleet, very conscious of maintenance and certainly absolutely devastated by this tragedy.

My heart hurts for not only the victims and their families but also for the people behind Chalks. This little airline is their life and their recurring passengers were their family. Please be kind in your speculations of the circumstances.