Latest word from the NTSB is fatigue cracking was found in the spar. Seems a bit fast to come up with that diagnosis, considering they just retrieved the wing from the water yesterday, but I’m not an investigator… maybe it’s as obvious as the proverbial dog’s b*****ks. Very sad all the way around, what a loss for the people on Bimini…
Lynn
Investigators: Cracked Wing Might Have Contributed To Plane Crash
POSTED: 1:15 pm EST December 21, 2005
MIAMI — The wing that fell off a seaplane before it crashed, killing all 20 people on board, had cracks in the main support beam that had probably gone unseen for a long time, federal investigators said Wednesday.
“The examination of the wing roof has found indications of a fatigue crack in the wing spar,” said Mark Rosenker, acting chairman of the National Transportation Safety Board. “This crack appears to extend to a majority of the spar at the location of the separation.”
Rosenker stopped short of saying the crack was the sole reason the right wing fell off the 58-year-old Chalk’s Ocean Airways plane Monday shortly after it took off from Watson Island for the island of Bimini in the Bahamas.
But Rosenker said in a news conference that the crack should have been found and repaired, although it would have taken “a very serious” inspection to find it.
Investigators removed parts of the plane from the crash scene Tuesday and planned to scour maintenance and flight records for evidence of work done on the plane.
Flight 101 plummeted into the Government Cut channel off the southern tip of Miami Beach before horrified beachgoers.
The cracks were in the main support beam that connected the wing to the fuselage. Rosenker said that if Chalk’s officials had known about the crack, “they would have repaired it and we wouldn’t be here today. I don’t think they knew it.”
Crews that began raising the plane from the 35 feet of water Tuesday removed the rest Wednesday. Rosenker said inspectors would closely examine the remaining part of the support beam.
Rosenker said the plane’s age could have been a factor in the cracking. The plane was retrofitted in the 1980s with more powerful engines, but it wasn’t clear what role if any that played in the cracking, Rosenker said.
Chalk’s officials had no immediate comment Wednesday.
Rosenker said the NTSB would have discussions with the Federal Aviation Administration and Chalk’s about whether to ground the airline’s remaining four Grumman G-73T Turbine Mallards.
Seems as if the investigators know what they are talking about.
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