NTSB Preliminary Report CoeurD'Alene Mid-Air

LINKS:
NTSB Report:

Kathryn's Report:

ADS-B:

[greyjay]

This is precisely the sort of content which YouTube should support, in every way possible.
Demonetizing these meticulous forensic examinations of aircraft incidents, makes no sense at all. They are of interest not only to aviators, but to anyone else who appreciates the high quality and professionalism exhibited in Juan's video reports. They are the gold standard by which all other
aircraft accident reporting will be judged.

[blancolirio]

Some notes from some local CdA pilots...I know plenty of CA pilots who have moved into the area...Juan


"1. The Brooks Seaplane Beaver was flying on the LEFT side of the lake. Most pilots are taught since primary students to fly on the right side of rivers, mountain passes (unless strong winds dictate otherwise), and Lakes. Neil, the Beaver pilot, was corrected on this just two days before the accident when flying his mechanic (also a seaplane pilot). Contrary to the NTSB map, the accident occurred much closer to the west shoreline — right side for 206, left for Beaver.

2. The Brooks operation did not use radios, at all, ever. If both planes had been communicating on 122.8 (122.9, although shown on the chart, is not used), the accident probably would’t have happened.

3. If the seaplane (not sure about the 206) would have had wig-wag landing lights, strobes, and all other lights on, they may have seen each other in time to avoid.

4. You are right, Beavers do have blind spots, but I suspect proper scanning procedures weren’t being used, at least by the Beaver. How do I know? My wife and I were flying the morning of the crash and were almost run over by the Beaver. No ADS-B, no response to our radio calls, no acknowledgement of our wing-wagging. If I hadn’t dived, it could have been us that day.

In my opinion, we have what I call the “California Bush Pilot” attitude here in North Idaho. We have many pilots moving from California, and other states with much more restricted airspace, who now think, because the airspace here is uncontrolled, that means “out of control.” Screw the radio, screw proper pattern entries, screw the rules, “I’m a friggin’ Bush Pilot now!” "

[Nalla]

I am on the lake and this is the best info I have seen so far. My family friends pulled the Cessna logbook out of the water.

[kikigey]

FLARM saved me around 10 years ago. I was in a glider and another glider was directly heading towards me. When FLARM issued the highest collision alert we both flew evasive maneuvers and this was the first time I could see him. Time from first traffic information till highest alert level was maybe 5 seconds, so it goes really fast when heading directly towards each other.

[jonvenden]

For those that don't know the area I want to add to what Juan was saying about the congestion. 25 miles to the west is Spokane WA. Over there you have Fairchild Air Force Base, International Airport, and another active runway. Also to the south of Spokane are fields which are some of those can be crop dusted by plane or helicopter. Then there is a lot of grass seed raised in the area so at certain times of the year they burn those fields off so you get a lot of smoke. Then in a 100 mile radius of Spokane there is another dozen dirt fields (lot of those were put in place because of crop dusting) that range in no activity to some activity not including other paved runways that are used primarily for personal use aircraft with a lot of hangers and tie downs. I'm not a pilot or even in Juan's league of understanding on how things work but it is obvious that there is a lot of uncontrolled air space with a lot of randoms that can pop up with no warning. This is an area where you need to watch were your going very carefully.

[restojon]

That picture at the end. Like a Peterbilt to the heart.

I hope that the families and friends of those lost can find peace and tranquility in these difficult times. Thank you for your report, Juan.

[wdhewson]

Juan, this visual ability was taught in the military. It is easy to see objects moving ACROSS our field of vision, but hard to see objects going IN or OUT of our field of vision. I now use this information to help stay alive while motorcycling. Thanks.

[onlyme]

Juan gives the best airline crash analysis on the internet. He is trying hard to work himself out of that role by explaining the causes of these crashes so thoroughly. Here's hoping he runs out of material someday.

[txkflier]

Lakes are magnets for midairs. There are all kinds of things on and around lakes to look at instead of what’s flying toward you..

[geoffreyford]

many years ago I was flying a glider at 6ooo feet above the ground when I was aware of a speck closing on me I made a 90 degree turn to the right and watched the 4 engined piston engine plane pass on my left so close I could see the crew with their heads down looking in the office. If you come across a soaring bird and you are doing 130 knots the closing speed
is only 140 knots but the bird passes you like a rocket. By the way the 4 engined plane was an airforce plane a DC6 so you can tell the length of time since that important demonstration was had. Thanks for a great channel.

[kentknapp]

Best tip my father ever gave me (Maj USAF F-105D out of Korat '68, 34th TFS). Collision course head on, target does not move across the windscreen. I have always searched for dots forward, getting larger, quickly. Thanks for pointing that out Juan.

[dvr]

10:00 is the critical point here. The ground based repeater stations for ADS-B are nearly nonexistent throughout the mountain West. That means that an ADS-B equipped aircraft can't detect another aircraft unless the other aircraft is also equipped with ADS-B OUT.

I've been flying the Idaho backcountry and around the West for 30 years. I was weaned on forest service maps, learning the local landmarks, flying the right side of canyons and making position reports. It's good protocol and kinda fun to learn, but it's no insurance against other aircraft trying to share the same box of air you're in.

ADS-B is huge upgrade, but it's far from a complete solution right now because 1) there aren't enough ground repeater stations (and the FAA has no plans to put any more in), and 2) ADS-B OUT isn't required everywhere. Because I'm equipped with both IN and OUT, I can see other traffic that is also so equipped even down in the bottom of the canyons of the Salmon River. It's pretty amazing. But it's also just a fraction of the traffic out there.

Finally, it's fun to bash California immigrants, but the guys who I find most resistant to equipping--and even talking on the radio--tend to be locals who don't want to spend the money to equip or submit to potential surveillance/tracking by the gummint. California's got a lot of faults, but resistance to new technology and talking on the radio isn't one of them.

[henrymorgan]

I am not a pilot, but these reports are really interesting. Good job!

[hutzman]

It’s comforting to know if my plane ever goes down, Juan will get to the bottom of it.

[brucenadams]

Going into SJC with the company's 414. ATC advises us of opposing traffic at 11 o'clock, three miles. Neither Warren nor I saw the SW 37 until he was almost on top of us. Even something the size of a B-737 is almost impossible to see if it is flying straight at you. Also the closing rate is your speed plus his speed. Bad things happen really fast.

[cefinau]

5:01 gave me chills... uncontrolled, busy airspace, all flying over that beautiful lake

[Raptorman]

I have a version of of ADS-B in my DJI Mavic Air 2 drone -- they call it Airsense but it is a version of ADS-B. While flying the drone, I have about 3 hours flying it so far, I've had numerous indications on my FPV screen about aircraft in the area and usually I can here the aircraft as well providing additional confirmation of its proximity. It's useful to have this even in a drone as it alerts you to a threat and makes you more aware. If they can install ADS-B in a drone that cost $800USD there's no reason a similar system couldn't be mandated for ALL aircraft.

[hernanposnansky]

Juan,
A collision avoidance system which is similar to ADS-B, but does not require a transponder, is not expensive and in use in Europe, exists since 2004. It is called FLARM and very well described in Wikipedia.
It is mandatory in France.
In this country it is highly recommended by the Soaring Society of America (SSA) because it is better suited for aircraft normally operating close to each other like gliders climbing in the same thermal, or behind towplanes .
Most helicopters in Switzerland are equipped with FLARM, because it also contains a data base of the location of wires and powerlines, which are the main cause of helicopter fatalities in the narrow valleys of the swiss Alps.
The displays give similar information to what you have shown on TCAS. Audible and visual alarms are given when the predictive algorithms detect an imminent collision. The position of an aircraft is shown relative to your heading and altitude. See the article in Wikipedia for the exact details.
The name is a contraction of Flieger Alarm.
I mentioned this system in the comments on your prior video, where you gave a clear and detailed
description of TCAS
Juan, in the following reply the website for FLARM is given.
You can even get a miniaturized FLARM module for your Mavic drone.
Integration with ADS-B is also available.
This is what you mentioned in the time mark 9:50 of your video.

[jan]

Been watching you way too frequently lately, Juan. Thanks for all you do.

[kurtlyons]

Dear Juan. Wow and prayers to the families. I am not a pilot. Many years of standing watch on bridges of US Navy ships underway and years of piloting small craft. Constant bearing, decreasing range, CBDR, collision course. One sees it happen, yet ships collide. Obviously this is quite magnified by relative air speeds of aircraft when they are CBDR. One may only conclude collision avoidance MAY happen by employing the basic tech you suggested. BZ to you and your diligence to report with compassion tragic events.