Gulfstream G200 fiery crash in Dominican Republic.

[red750]

 

[facthunter]

Yeah. Pretty grim. High nose up attitude in the grass off the strip. You never know what you will hit there. Very violent. Left engine breaks clean off and no doubt FUEL spills everywhere from tank Pumps near to the Hot engine. Boom.  Nev

[Moneybox]

Why do planes burn so fiercely? I thought jet fuel was like distillate that doesn't ignite all that easily and burns slower than gasoline. 

[onetrack]

Moneybox, it's due largely to vapourisation and spraying. Larger aircraft are essentially flying fuel tanks - when the fuel tank is ruptured, it happens at speed, and the rupture is huge.

Jet A-1 is kerosene-based, and it's optimised for combustion at low temperatures. When the tanks are ruptured, the fuel sprays out in a mist, just like the injector in a diesel - aiding immediate combustion.

Add in a constant ignition source from hot engine parts, or from metals sliding on concrete or asphalt, creating a massive shower of sparks from aluminium and magnesium, and these flying small metal particles add "fuel to the fire".

 

There were no passengers on the Gulfstream, only the two pilots. Both are deceased due to injuries received in the crash. They were Americans, and they are identified as pilot Erick Javier Diago and co-pilot Rudy Ghazal.

The aircraft was registered in Puerto Rico and was bound for Austin, Texas. Immediately after takeoff, the crew radioed they had an in-flight emergency and were returning to the airport. There are reports of an engine failure.

 

Whilst attempting the emergency landing, the aircraft veered off the runway. One video from a long distance shows the aircraft landing on its gear successfully, but then veering off the pavement.

It's hard to see if it was lined up with the centreline, it doesn't look like it was, and it either landed on the grass, or left the pavement very quickly. 

 

It appears the aircraft hit something solid in the runway drain, possibly a concrete drain headwall that's not visible. It was going O.K. until that major impact with something that tore the fuel tanks open.

One commenter on Reddit says he used to fly Gulfstreams, and they were difficult to land at the best of times, with high landing speed due to small wing area.

Then he goes on to say, you need full weight on all the wheels before the thrust reversers deploy. Then, when they do deploy, they blast huge amounts of air onto the rudder, so you end up fighting the rudder pedals.

Maybe there was a faulty thrust reverser deployment that led to a landing roll deviation. I guess we'll find out later. RIP to those poor unlucky men.

 

https://xcancel.com/Conradoaviacion/status/2063765635797074233#m