King Air Suicide

[rayban]

RCMP NEWS RELEASE

On April 15, 2009 at approximately 4:30 PM MST a King Air charter flight en route to Cambridge Bay from Yellowknife declared an on board emergency situation while in flight. The incident occurred approximately 100 NM southwest of CYCB. On board were 2 pilots, a male and female passenger. The distress call referred to an unruly pass on the aircraft.

Members of the Cambridge Bay detachment met the flight as it arrived at the CYCB airport. It was learned that a 20 year old male resident of CYCB had opened the exit door and jumped out of the aircraft . The pilots made every possible effort to prevent the male from jumping but were unsuccessful.. The aircraft was traveling at FL230.

Due to the diligence and quick reactions of the pilots , the aircraft was brought to a safe landing at the CYCB airport without injury to the crew of remaining passenger.

Cambridge Bay RCMP are still investigating this incident. The search for the missing male is being delayed at this time due to poor weather conditions in the search area.

......End of press release....

Wow, congrats to the crew for handling this in a way that ended in a safe landing for them. My best wishes go out to the crew of that aircraft. Just goes to show, one can never know how their day will end.

[who me ?]

Sad thing to do.


I would think that the crew would take it pretty had.


But thinking about it, wondering how someone could open the door
on a pressurized aircraft, in cruise , FL 230 ?
I realize that the aircraft would be de pressurized once it descended
for landing.

[privateer]

Hollyshit, My friend was the copilot. Something he'll never forget.

[jet a1]

when i heard about this at work i too was wondering about the how tough it would have been to open the door. even a twotter with flaps 10 at 90kts, the door takes quite a bit to open. good job to the crew! which company was it?
jet.

[MUSKEG]

I wonder about this just a little. I'm not sure that someone could open that door with several thousand pounds of force pushing out. The door bolts would have tremendous drag on them. Also the pressure lock should have prevented the door handle from moving but wierd things happen when you least expect it. That door would definately have ripped off when it released and probably pulled him out out with it.

[GFJH]

What's up with everyone trying to kill themselves using A/C latley, what ever happened to the good old fashion noose?

[privateer]

apparently the door stayed attached.

[Donald]

Company is named in article:

http://www.cjcd.ca/news_nugget.boa?item ... 480097.xml

"Unruly" Man Jumps from Airplane en Route to Cambridge Bay


RCMP in Cambridge Bay say a 20- year-old man jumped out of a charter plane that was en route to Cambridge Bay from Yellowknife yesterday afternoon. The crew on the King Air 200 declared an emergency during the flight and reported that there was an unruly passenger on board. Cambridge Bay RCMP met the flight when it arrived and were told the man had opened the exit door and jumped out while the aircraft was travelling at approximately 23,000 feet above sea level. Adlair Aviation operates the King Air plane. Owner Paul Laserich says they are expressing condolences to the man’s family but not commenting further at this time. The Transportation Safety Board is assisting the RCMP in the investigation.

[rayban]

Just a few questions.

I wonder if it was perhaps the emergency exit over the right wing that the pax removed for his speedy demise?

I'm really curious to know if the crew had any injuries to their ears considering the rapid depressurization?

And last but not least, I hope that poor passenger knows that he will have a CADORS on his file for leaving controlled without a clearance.

In all seriousness, I feel for the crew that had to deal with that situation, I know some of the crews up there and they're all dedicated and caring people doing a great job under trying conditions. They have my respect and support.

[Invertago]

Gonna go, might as well go in style I guess...

[TheBigE]

Thumbs up to the crew...Im not sure the guy cares his final act will result in a CADORS though...of course I wonder if it ever crossed his mind that after he swan-dived from the plane that he would probably end up as a rather tasty bite to eat for some ravenous monster of the north...

All joking aside though, the guy must have been feeling something bad to have an overpowering feeling of needing to get out of the airplane.

[mcrit]

Gonna go, might as well go in style I guess...

No.....going in style is being sexed into a heart attack by a bunch of 19 yo hotties when you're 80ish.

[VikVaughan]

Gonna go, might as well go in style I guess...

No.....going in style is being sexed into a heart attack by a bunch of 19 yo hotties when you're 80ish.

Hey, this guy pulled it off

[Lurch]

I wonder about this just a little. I'm not sure that someone could open that door with several thousand pounds of force pushing out. The door bolts would have tremendous drag on them. Also the pressure lock should have prevented the door handle from moving but wierd things happen when you least expect it. That door would definately have ripped off when it released and probably pulled him out out with it.

I have never shut or opened a door on a King Air but do they open toward the inside before going out like the airliners?

If they open like every pressurized plane that I have flown the door only opens out, So once you release the locks the pressure will force the door open when it tries to equalize with the lesser outside air pressure.

I'd think it would be easier on a pressurised plane then un-pressurised to open the door.

Lurch

[flyinthebug]

Gonna go, might as well go in style I guess...

No.....going in style is being sexed into a heart attack by a bunch of 19 yo hotties when you're 80ish.

Hey, this guy pulled it off

Yep but DB did it with a chute and a purpose. This bonehead just went crazy and jumped out.

Great job by the crew under a very stressful situation.

Fly safe all.

[AuxBatOn]

I'm really curious to know if the crew had any injuries to their ears considering the rapid depressurization?

Usually, problems with the ears come when you go down. If you do the hypobaric chamber, you'll do a rapid decompression from 0 to 25K in a fraction of a second and this is no problem at all.

[flyinthebug]

Everyone onboard is ok. Heres the rest of the article.

http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/capress/0904 ... ane_jumper

The pilot of the Adlair Aviation King Air 200 declared an on-board emergency Wednesday as the cabin of the plane quickly depressurized, filling the cockpit with a roar of frigid, Arctic air.


The plane, a twin-engine turboprop, managed to safely put down with its door wide open at Cambridge Bay.

Paul Laserich, general manager of the small family-owned airline that has operated in the North for more than 25 years, paid tribute to the two pilots.


"I am quite proud of my flight crew. They brought the ship safely back," Laserich said Thursday. "Everybody is OK. They are a little shaken up. They are OK. That is what is most important."


He declined to say anything about the 20-year-old Cambridge Bay man who jumped.

[iflyforpie]

I have never shut or opened a door on a King Air but do they open toward the inside before going out like the airliners?

If they open like every pressurized plane that I have flown the door only opens out, So once you release the locks the pressure will force the door open when it tries to equalize with the lesser outside air pressure.

I'd think it would be easier on a pressurised plane then un-pressurised to open the door.

Lurch

Actually, most doors need to open in a little bit before opening outwards. This is either because they are plug style doors (Boeing 737 for example) that need to be made smaller before going out the door opening, or they need disengage the latches (that are held by the pressure) before they are free to swing open.

However, the low pressurization of the King Air and the fact the door opens outwards and down would make it far easier to do than on an airliner. I remember on the Duke we used to fly that if the right rear passenger put their leg up against the door, it would cause the cabin pressure to go down considerably.




According to the instructor that taught the 727 course at Flightcraft, the Cooper Vane was a scarecrow device that would be ripped of by the 3000 psi of hydraulic pressure used to open the rear air stairs. I never had a chance to try it out. You would have to dump cabin pressure to open the rear bulkhead door.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cooper_Vane

[Brantford Beech Boy]

Assuming no mechanical malfunction with the door or pressurization system, I would be curious as to how the passenger was able to overcome the pressurization safety bellows built into the locking mechanism.

Also, was this a medevac? a mental patient transfer?


BBB

[username:]

That's like a 40 second fall. Talk about slow and painfull!

Anyway, great job by the crew

[Flying Low]

More like 2 minutes if you spread eagle it. Terminal velocity is 120 mph in spread eagle and he was about 4 miles up. Now...if he decided to cannon ball it.......

[username:]

Yikes! Yah, I didn't do the math, but still...

[GFJH]

That's like a 40 second fall. Talk about slow and painfull!

Anyway, great job by the crew

slow forsure but i would say painless, instant death when he gets back to earth

[jet a1]

just a thought here...in an unpressurized a/c if you've got pax that are a bit wild (drunk hockey teams etc) you can climb up to help them get sleepy....would it be possible for a pressurized a/c to lower the cabin pressure enough to over come the safety bellows built into the locking mechanism?
crazy stuff...

[Ref Plus 10]

I don't know about a King Air 200, but if I remember correctly, the max PSID on a 100 is only 4.6 PSI, which basically means if you can push harder than 5 pounds with your thumb on the safety switch, the door's all yours, and at that point, the pressure differential will throw the door open, and the airflow will do the rest.

If it was the main door, I'm super thankful that it stayed attached...that's a lot of weight to be flailing around the stabilizers...

Good job crew.