N135WT down

[lutorm]

I just received a notice from Sling Pilot Academy that N135WT, the Sling TSi demonstrator in Torrance, had an emergency and the occupants are in serious condition. https://www.foxla.com/news/small-plane- ... -2-injured has some pictures. Looks like a pretty hard impact. Does anyone have more details about what happened?

I've flown out of several of those LA airports and every time I think about what a terrible place it is for an emergency. Looks like they did a good job putting it down in a soccer field. Could have been a lot worse, hope they'll come out ok.

[SlingDriver]

I saw it a few days ago, very sad. Metropolitan areas leave little or no options for an emergency. Armchair quarterback is always easy, but I guess whatever happened and whatever decision making the pilot did lead it for an outcome which they are alive (at least as far as the information I found). I hope we know what happened as soon as possible to help prevent it from happening again. My top questions are, what caused the engine problem?, and what factors contributed to the pilot not pulling the chute and attempting to return to Torrance?

[BG8473]

I flew that plane about a year ago on an intro flight. Sad to hear about the crash. At least they survived. Looking at the trajectory of the impact (near vertical), I'm surprised the structure held up that well. Maybe the wing took some of the impact before the fuselage impacted.

Some early reviews about Sling aircraft claimed the structure collapses like an accordion during an accident. Maybe that was based on the LSA version which is designed around the unnecessarily restrictive low weight for LSA standards. The Tsi was never intended to meet the kite-like LSA standards. I hope the High Wing also has a crashworthy structure if the worst happens, especially if they whittle away material to reduce weight.

[ibgarrett]

Well, in all honesty, having the plane crumple can be a good thing. It absorbs that excess energy.

[lutorm]

Well, in all honesty, having the plane crumple can be a good thing. It absorbs that excess energy.

Yes, exactly. You definitely want it to crumple. Just not right where the occupants are...

[STGove]

Has the NTSB released any prelim on this accident?

Any new details?

@EdHefter

Passengers doing well? (Instructor & Student)

[SlingDriver]

Yes, exactly. You definitely want it to crumple. Just not right where the occupants are...

This is an important point, Diamond did that successfully.

[Stingy Pilot]

No NTSB report yet. Very sad situation. Both pilot and passenger are seriously injured. The passenger's family has sued which has lead TAF to withhold any information about the crash.

From a builder/owner standpoint, this is not helpful. The more we know about our plane, the safer the built.

[stathis]

Preliminary accident report is available here: https://asn.flightsafety.org/wikibase/345913

[ibgarrett]

Unfortunately nothing we already really knew about the incident. Hopefully we'll find out more in the future.