[Cap'n Wannabe]

From the Age..

Man fighting for life, flights grounded after Stawell crash

A Sydney man is fighting for his life and another man from Melbourne has suffered serious head injuries after a light plane crash near Stawell, in Victoria's west.

Emergency crews were called to the scene of a light aircraft crash at Black Range about 12.45pm on Friday.

A witness told the ABC he saw the aircraft in a spin before it disappeared behind trees.

A 28-year-old man from Kellyville in Sydney was flown by air ambulance to The Alfred hospital in a critical condition, an Ambulance Victoria spokeswoman said.

He remained in a critical condition on Saturday afternoon, a hospital spokeswoman said.

The second man, age 40, was flown to Royal Melbourne Hospital with suspected head and facial injuries. The Altona Meadows man was in a stable condition on Saturday afternoon.

It is believed the fixed-wing aircraft crashed just north of the Stawell airfield shortly before 1pm.

Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) has been notified of the incident and the investigation into the cause of the crash is ongoing.

The single engine aircraft has been identified as belonging to Soar Aviation, a training school for pilots.

According to the flight school's website, Soar Aviation is based out of Moorabbin Airport, Melbourne and Bankstown Airport, Sydney & Bendigo Airport.

The company has grounded it's entire fleet at all bases, a statement on its Facebook page said.

"The incident that occurred at Stawell has activated a comprehensive emergency response, " it read.

"Soar Aviation and emergency response teams have incident response management and procedures in place in the event of an incident of this nature."

"Soar Aviation’s priority is the safety and security of our employees, students, visitors, and those involved in the incident."

Here's a video of a similar - but different - crash of a Bristell NG5 (the same type that crashed at Clyde earlier this year, and at Stawell the other day..)
Stall/spin, and into the ground.

A bit of background on the Clyde crash:
I flew that same aircraft when I did my RAAus AFR.  I was told by the CFI that stalls were not performed in that aircraft, but wasn't given a reason why.  Never flew it again - I switched to the Sling II.

In the Stawell crash, the aircraft had a different wing design.  Not sure why, but it was adopted by Bristell at some point.
I have heard around the traps that stalls weren't performed in the Soar Bristells either.  Still no reason given..

So, do we have an aircraft that, in spite of what the POH says, you cannot stall lest it kill you?

Note para 2.8 page 2-8:

Airplane Category: ELA, LSA
The BRISTELL LSA is approved for normal and below listed maneuvers:
 Steep turns not exceeding 60° bank
 Lazy eights
 Chandelles
 Stalls (except whip stalls)

WARNING
Aerobatics and intentional spins are prohibited !

And para 3.7 page 3-8:

WARNING
Intentional spins are prohibited!

There is no an uncontrollable tendency of the airplane to enter into a
spin provided the normal piloting techniques are used.
Unintentional spin recovery technique:
1. Throttle - idle
2. Lateral control - ailerons neutralized
3. Rudder pedals - full opposite rudder
4. Rudder pedals - neutralize rudder immediately when
rotation stops
5. Longitudinal control - neutralize or push forward
and recovery dive.


I know it's just an LSA, and not a real aircraft, but if this is what the next generation of pilots are being trained on...