Re: El Portillio plane crash/guessing
I haven't heard any more information other than what I posted on Bravenet. The plane was a Cessna 207 Statioair, a six seater with 7 souls on board, operating in high density altittude conditions, further reducing the limited lift capabilities of the Cessna.
When the FAA rates a plane at "6" persons, they figure each person to be 170#, so the gross load (Rated at approx 1200#, 7 people =1050, 60 gals of fuel+oil=approx 350#, camera equip?50#. 1400+ pounds in a plane rated for 1200 at average density altitude 68o, 20% humidity, so the actual useable lift could have been as low as 900-1000#) total could have been below 6 people even though they had 7 aboard. The heat and thin density of the air over the DR could also contribute to less lift for the plane, but unless I was there it's only a guess.
The 207 is a very difficult plane to crash, if the pilot is half competent, the plane will nearly fly itself, and if not given adverse control functions, it will sometimes "float" to a 50K "crash", something you might "walk" away from if the nose was kept up. but again...who knows
They were taking photos, often the pilot will be low and slow trying to accomodate the photographers, the plane with that much weight would have little time and limited power to recover from a low altitude stall.
The unfortunate part of the story is 7 dead people, no matter the reason
Tom
