Pilot's Reckless Mistakes End in Deadly Disaster!

A King Air 350 pilot made several reckless mistakes and crashed just 17 seconds after takeoff, very tragically killing himself, the co-pilot, and all 8 passengers onboard.

I cover a lot of tragic events on this channel and I do my best to be extremely sensitive to the fact that the friends and families of the victims might end up watching this video. The point of a pilot debrief isn’t to ridicule or shame anyone. We all make mistakes and just because a mistake can be reckless doesn’t mean a pilot is reckless. There’s a difference. The goal is to review those mistakes to identify as many lessons as possible in order to hopefully save lives by preventing another tragedy like this from happening.

#aviation #flying #pilotdebrief

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[walter]

You reminding everyone that "Check Lists are written in blood", is the absolutely the BEST advice ever to remember for any pilot. Back in '73 when I started my flight training with a 75yo flight instructor (who had been in WW1), that was the first thing he told me. I never forgot that. Thank you to my first flight instuctor, Mark Brand! RIP my Brother.

[timmckeown]

Flying by the seat of one’s pants with passengers on board is nothing short of criminal negligence.

[LoriM-ezco]

my late husband was a naval aviator and told me that there are several things to always remember, First Fly the plane (aviate, second, navigate, third, communicate. Then keep your head on a swivel and your check list is your best co pilot . Treat your check list like its your first time in a plane each time. Thanks, Hoover your show and debrief is like listening to my late husband.

[rotorheadv]

As a former Marine Corps pilot, and with a brother with 34, 000+ commercial in everything from the DC-3 to A330-200, it boggles my mind the pilot didn’t use his checklist.

[Quillons]

It's amazing. Even in high performance planes that are certified for single pilot, it's usually the INSURANCE company that requires a second pilot in order to avoid things like this. What a waste and a shame. I've flown with and worked for people like this accident pilot. Few things will make you want to get out of an aircraft faster than flying with a person like this. My first flight instructor told me something I tell to EVERY ONE of my students. "At some point in your flying career you're going to be told to do something that's unsafe, illegal, or both. You will have to make a difficult decision. You can roll the dice and maybe beat the odds, or you can say 'no'. If you say 'no', you may go home that day without a job, but you'll go home and you'll kiss your kids good night that night." I said "no" to a vicious tyrant and lost my gig. Best decision I ever made. Be careful up there guys.

[davidchristensen]

It is interesting how certain personality traits are relatively easy to identify as essentially dangerous yet peers simply accept that “that’s just how he is”.

[davidhorizon]

The sad thing is, a pilot like that would probably never watch a great channel like this. He was way too confident in his skills.

[skateletsyo]

Man I watch your channel a lot, never thought I would hear you break this down. My brother in law was right seat on this flight. My source of inspiration to become a pilot. The thought of this flight is with me every time I fly.

[davidbrayshaw]

I'm not a pilot, but I was an AME in a past life. I remember flying with a 777 captain in his own personal Yak trainer. I was sitting in the right seat. He had me follow the check list and confirm everything that he did or what the instruments were reading at every critical point of the flight. Honestly, I got off the plane feeling like I'd done a day's work. It was a lesson in life, that flight. Use everything at your disposal to ensure a positive out come.

[bencompton]

Hoover, thanks for all that you do. I'm a retired military and airline pilot and often cannot watch to the very end of your videos because the sloppiness of the PIC sickens me!! How some of these pilots ever got through training is beyond me, they behave like they don't have even three brain cells touching! To skip the very basics of flying, like W&B and ignoring checklists is tempting fate. The saddest part of all your videos is the innocent victims. Keep up your amazing work of educating pilots on how to really be.a professional pilot. I'm not gay but I love you man!!!

[RichACV]

My mentor was someone who flew B-24's in WW2. He told me over and over about using the checklist, to verbally call out the items (even if you are by yourself) and physically touch each switch/control to ensure proper setting. I never deviated from this when flying. He also mentored me to be prepared during every phase of the flight for things that could happen, whether it's what do if X happened, or picking places to put the plane down in an emergency during the fight, to deer being on the runway while landing (especially at night, which by the way actually happened to me when landing at KLZU one evening, and thanks to him, I was ready for it).

Hearing about incidents like this really saddens me, considering the loss of life as a result of someone else's reckless actions, especially when they are the ones responsible for the safe flight.

[johnfranborra]

Thanks, Hoover. Reminds me of a story I wrote years ago for FLYING magazine. I summed up the account (about a potential accident chain stopped in the nick of time) with a personal observation: The two greatest vices in aviation are haste and complacency. This video is a textbook example of what can happen if we let down our guard. EVERY pilot needs to cultivate patience and humility.

[gwiyomikim]

“Take good care of me” - a passenger’s final plea to the pilot. The pilot’s systemic failures related to pre-takeoff procedures was an accident waiting to happen. Very sad.

[F_JSF]

I have been an aircraft mechanic for 23 years. I am not a pilot but have had some training. I specifically remember the CFI telling me to keep one hand on the throttle. Further more, I have seen many videos of multi-engine aircraft where both pilots have their hands on the throttle levers at max power during takeoff. I was wondering what your take is on that. Amazing job. You are absolutely correct. Safely is why we are here. When I was in A&P school, we had to watch some graphic videos of what not to do, and have an honest discussion as to where the mistakes were made. We do this so we can survive this career. Aviation is an amazing and rewarding career path, but only if you are willing to part entirely with your ego and learn from the mistakes of the those who came before you. That is why we debrief. To save lives. Full stop. Thanks for the great video.

[-sv]

This guy explains things so well, both in what he says and how he says it. This is why I watch.

[dougg]

Thankyou for not accusing Matt of the PIC failures. The old man was single pilot rated and what I’ve been told he pretty much told anyone in the right to shut up. Matt flew single pilot air ambulance in king airs when I worked with him. He flew his own aircraft on his off days. Matt was a good stick but put in the hands of an idiot. I’ve seen a lot older pilots step on the wrong ball when an engine fails at recurrent. They need to be grounded. Throttle roll back is common in the king airs and the PIC should have had his hands on the throttles the whole time. It’s happened to me once in a 90 and it takes a few seconds to realize that. Even today I’m pissed about this. Matt was a good friend who knew how to fly. When shit hit the fan they didn’t have enough time to do anything. If the old man would have kept his hands on the throttles during take off and allowed Matt to participate they would all be alive. I know Matt could or should have spoke up but the old man was rated single pilot and had an attitude of not working with others. Like I said me and Matt flew single pilot ops for air evac for years in king airs. He was very competent. The 600lbs over weight who gives a shit the airplane will do it but yes they were overloaded. I’m not saying Matt could have done more but when you fly with some of the older guys who don’t work well with others it can be a little hostile to intervene. RIP Matt you were a good friend. If the PIC survived he wouldn’t by now. Today this still hurts because Palmer was a good friend.

[boossersgarage]

this is a disgusting story about arrogance and selfishness.

[locustvalleystring]

It is chilling how quickly that flight went south. In 50 years of flying SEL I had just one engine suddenly quit and it was on approach to Milwaulkee. I neglected to switch tanks on that last leg. My passenger said he never saw somebody's hands move so quickly as I hit the fuel pump and switched tanks. We had plenty of fuel, just not in the selected tank. Checklists work en route also.

[Will-fnbz]

It was the fact that you said the last mistake is one that any pilot can make that earned my sub. This is the kind of unbiased, reasonable analysis that every pilot deserves that's been involved in an accident. Respect!

[Diesel]

I’m a King Air 350/360 Captain. Our before taxi checklist (From the AFM) “Engine Control Friction Locks”: “Set 4 ways from left to right” The Checklist “Book” is about 1.5 inches thick. Lots going on. Before taxi checklist, Autopilot/pitch trim/ yaw damp checks, Before Takeoff run-up checks with the checklist, icing system checks (If there will be icing). Final items checklist. This sounds like a classic case of power lever migration (Known issue with King Airs). Should have, just like you said, pushed the power lever forward. FYI, we always take off flaps up, unless we can’t make the TOFl (Shorter runways, etc). In that case, we use flaps approach with flaps approach v speeds. 400 feet AGL, flaps up, yaw damper engage call out. I’m curious to what the operator’s OPSPECs state they must use for weight and balance. For 135 legs, you can’t be just “Familiar” with W&B, you must calculate it either via APG, the chart with a plotter, ForeFlight, etc.