[kellyhound]

Air traffic controllers at Hobby Airport on Thursday twice ordered the pilot of a small private plane to go around and make another attempt at a safe landing before it crashed into a nearby parking lot, killing the three people who were aboard.

The single-engine Cirrus SR-20 crashed shortly after 1 p.m., striking a car parked at an Ace Hardware store in the 6800 block of Telephone - about a mile northwest of the airport.

The pilot and two passengers were killed on impact.

An investigator with the National Transportation Safety Board said the tower at Hobby Airport told the pilot the airplane was approaching the runway at too high an altitude.

"On the second approach, they were also too high. The air traffic controller again directed the aircraft to go around," said NTSB investigator Tom Latson.
As it was making a third attempt to land at Hobby, the airplane apparently stalled and lost power.

Witnesses saw it dive nose-first toward the ground, Latson said.

The airplane collided with a car but narrowly missed any nearby buildings, power lines and a propane tank. There were no other reported injuries.

"That is remarkable," Latson said.

The airplane departed from the airport in Norman, Okla. about 10:15 a.m. Thursday for the flight to Houston.

According to the Federal Aviation Administration, the airplane is owned by Safe Aviation LLC in Moore, Okla. and left about 10:15 a.m. Thursday for a flight to Houston.

In a Facebook post on Thursday, the Thunder Valley Raceway Park in Noble, Okla. identified the victims as Tony Gray, his wife Dana and brother Jerry.

Everyone at (Thunder Valley Raceway Park) would like to extend our deepest sympathies to the Gray family. We have no words to describe the loss to the (Thunder Valley Raceway Park) family, as the Gray family have been long time racers, sponsors, and friends at the track, they said. They ended it with: "Race in Peace."

FAA records also list a Dana Frances Gray from Moore, Okla., as having a license to be a private pilot.

Audio showed that the pilot, identified as Dana Gray, 46, was told at least twice to turn around and make another attempt to land. She was also told that she was she's flying too high and has to turn around to land at Hobby Airport.

The pilot can be heard nervously laughing as she says, 'Trying to get down again.' An air traffic controller says 'no problem.'

Just before the crash, a traffic controller says: 'Ma'am, ma'am, straighten up, straighten up.'

Gray, her husband Tony, 52, both racing enthusiasts, and Tony's brother Jerry, 27, all died in what National Transportation Safety Board investigator Tom Latson described as a 'violent impact'

The airplane was equipped with a unique parachute system that is designed to prevent such crashes. If necessary, the pilot can pull a handle on the cockpit ceiling that will trigger the Cirrus Airframe Parachute System. It is designed to provide a crucial extra layer of safety.

When the handle is pulled, a rocket will shoot out and draw out a parachute. The force of the rocket also releases straps once connected to the fuselage that within seconds become part of the harness for the unfurling parachute.

"It appears the rocket motor deployed either immediately before or just after impact," Latson said. "The rocket motor did deploy (but) the parachute did not."

Last year, a private plane with the same parachute system successfully set down in a neighborhood cul-de-sac in northwest Harris County after the pilot reported having engine problems.

Company officials have said their system works when the plane is at least 500 feet above the ground and flying about 130 knots.

The investigation into Thursday's fatal crash will continue Friday. The manufacturer of the aircraft and the engine will be involved in the inquiry.

After that, the aircraft will be taken to Dallas and stored in a secure facility until the investigation continues, Latson said.

[William May]

Looks like a stall-spin accident.
If you look at the wreckage, you can see the ballistic chute cover is off, and the lanyards and everything are trailed on the ground. You can also see the launch tube. All of this is in the area just behind the cockpit structure.
It doesn't look like the chute had time to deploy.
Lucky there was no fire.

[FNAL]

According to the ATC audio, it seemed like she was fighting with a pretty decent crosswind and a bit of a tailwind too. Unfortunately, even a slight tailwind increases the length of runway needed for landing much much more than one would think. Maybe she was not watching her airspeed after departure and stalled it.

There was also another Cirrus crash local to where I'm at. It was a training flight practicing power off approaches. Pilot got too slow and stalled and landed short of the runway. The pilot died and the co-pilot (instructor) is in critical condition. The co-pilot actually gave me my tailwheel endorsement and was a great guy, hope he recovers.

But damn, that stall/spin awareness is a killer.

[Broadjumper]

Seems women can't fly any better than they drive...

[Caveman5150]

If I had a dollar for every PPL that spun in a Cirrus on Base-to-Final...
No one seems to think there's any problem with them...
17 Spin crashes in a decade? If a Lexus blew up 17 times you can bet they would recall them.

[Barton Farley]

Ace is the place with the helpful hardware......

[dreadead]

Not that I'm disappointed or anything, but how is it possible, with an impact as severe as this, that there isn't a speck of blood or a body part to be seen??

[Clubhouse]

More here....

http://www.kathrynsreport.com/2016/0...ation-llc.html

[FNAL]

Originally Posted by dreadead ↗

Not that I'm disappointed or anything, but how is it possible, with an impact as severe as this, that there isn't a speck of blood or a body part to be seen??

It is a fairly low quality security camera so seeing and verifying such things would be tough. Also the occupants are buckled to their seats and the aircraft was in a flat spin so the inertia from impact was directed downward instead of out the sides like one would find in a car accident.

[Pyramid_Head]

What are the odds?