View Full Version : Centennial Airport (KAPA) Mid Air Collision
This happened a few days ago. Two planes collided on approach to Centennial Airport in Greenwood Village.
Everyone walked away.
I have my own thoughts and ideas about what happened.
Here's a good thread on an aviation forum I follow, that has professional pilots, along with the latest information regarding the crash.
Mid Air in the US - PPRuNe Forums (https://www.pprune.org/rumours-news/640394-mid-air-us.html)
The guy speaking in spanish in one of the videos is commenting on how the people are running. I'd be running too, if a plane is falling on me!
I agree with the commenter who said the Cirrus overshot his turn to final.
Maybe I'm just not a good enough pilot, but I wouldn't have felt comfortable running a simultaneous approach with that Metroliner. I probably would have gone a bit longer on base, but.
My personal opinion is that the ATC told the pilot to follow the plane before him, which was landing on 17L, and in the second sentence he says, land on 17R.
"Follow the plane in front of you (landing on 17L), and land on 17R."
Very confusing instructions, from a lay mans perspective.
Lucky outcome. Either way, pretty nice free publicity for those folks at Cirrus and Fairchild, and well deserved.
This happened a few days ago. Two planes collided on approach to Centennial Airport in Greenwood Village.
Everyone walked away.
I have my own thoughts and ideas about what happened.
Here's a good thread on an aviation forum I follow, that has professional pilots, along with the latest information regarding the crash.
Mid Air in the US - PPRuNe Forums (https://www.pprune.org/rumours-news/640394-mid-air-us.html)
The guy speaking in spanish in one of the videos is commenting on how the people are running. I'd be running too, if a plane is falling on me!
Great link! Thanks for posting.
http://youtu.be/Y-FLYyj6moM
https://youtu.be/Y-FLYyj6moM
My personal opinion is that the ATC told the pilot to follow the plane before him, which was landing on 17L, and in the second sentence he says, land on 17R.
"Follow the plane in front of you (landing on 17L), and land on 17R."
Very confusing instructions, from a lay mans perspective.
Either way, the Cirrus pilot overshot both runways
Centennial is a crazy busy airport. I'm not surprised by the number of incidences around it.
I once read it was the #7 busiest Airport in the US. I don't know anything about airports though to know if that is true.
It is amazing the tail on that metro didn't rip off. Some on the threads assert that when loaded you often have to jack the tail up to get the rear door to close because of sag in the superstructure. Doesn't sound like it's designed to operate with half the structure chopped off in flight, and is barely strong enough with all of it, lol.
DenverGP
05-15-2021, 13:49
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Ph7OR6C90w
Aloha_Shooter
05-15-2021, 18:06
My personal opinion is that the ATC told the pilot to follow the plane before him, which was landing on 17L, and in the second sentence he says, land on 17R.
"Follow the plane in front of you (landing on 17L), and land on 17R."
Very confusing instructions, from a lay mans perspective.
Haven't read up on this accident and never finished ground school due to 9/11 but what's confusing about "land on 17R"?
DenverGP
05-15-2021, 19:00
My personal opinion is that the ATC told the pilot to follow the plane before him, which was landing on 17L, and in the second sentence he says, land on 17R.
"Follow the plane in front of you (landing on 17L), and land on 17R."
Very confusing instructions, from a lay mans perspective.
If you watch the vid I just posted a link to, it's more clear that they were told to follow a cessna on final approach to the same 17R.
And regardless of which runway he was heading for, he overshot the final turn for either of them leading to the collision.
Dlesh123
05-15-2021, 19:07
I once read it was the #7 busiest Airport in the US. I don't know anything about airports though to know if that is true.
From the 2017 FAA data, it appears that is is number three for General Aviation airports.
Van Nuys Airport (KVNY), Van Nuys, California: 155,420 local GA operations + 332,117 itinerant GA operations = 487,537.
Phoenix Deer Valley (DVT), Phoenix, Arizona: 130,886 local operations + 243,075 itinerant = 373,961.
Centennial Airport (KAPA), Denver, Colorado: 153,744 local operations + 133,098 itinerant = 286,842.
Ernest A. Love Field (KPRC), Prescott, Arizona: 177,233 local operations + 85,290 itinerant = 262,523.
Long Beach Airport-Daugherty Field (KLGB), Long Beach, California: 151,912 local operations + 101,734 itinerant = 253,646.
Portland-Hillsboro Airport (KHIO), Portland, Oregon: 160,261 local GA operations + 83,381 itinerant = 243,642.
Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport (KIWA), Phoenix, Arizona: 166,519 local operations + 66,727 itinerant = 233,246.
Falcon Field (KFFZ), Mesa, Arizona: 175,051 local + 53,307 itinerant = 228,358.
Grand Forks International Airport (KGFK), Grand Forks, N.D.: 212,325 local + 12,634 itinerant = 224,959.
Gillespie Field (KSEE), San Diego/El Cajon, California: 140,189 local + 68,061 itinerant = 208,250.
Dlesh123
05-15-2021, 19:16
It is amazing the tail on that metro didn't rip off. Some on the threads assert that when loaded you often have to jack the tail up to get the rear door to close because of sag in the superstructure. Doesn't sound like it's designed to operate with half the structure chopped off in flight, and is barely strong enough with all of it, lol.
The doors in a Metro have a fairly finely machined device call a Click-Clack, several of them around the frame of the door. Any dirt plays havoc with them. When the door is latched they extend into the frame around the door and then in the last bit of movement expand to make a strong connection across all of the structure. Plenty strong enough in flight, but yes, it often takes a little tweaking of the fuselage to get the click-clacks to fully engage. Some evidence of how well they work is you can see the door held to the frame in front and ripped the fuselage skin in front of it where the door attaches.
The keel part is pretty strong in a Metro but with any monocoque structure it is all suppose to be there for the designed strength.
Dlesh123
05-15-2021, 19:21
At least with the Cirrus pilot surviving and with no physical trauma/injuries, he may be able to recall and explain why he flew the path that he did.
The doors in a Metro have a fairly finely machined device call a Click-Clack, several of them around the frame of the door. Any dirt plays havoc with them. When the door is latched they extend into the frame around the door and then in the last bit of movement expand to make a strong connection across all of the structure. Plenty strong enough in flight, but yes, it often takes a little tweaking of the fuselage to get the click-clacks to fully engage. Some evidence of how well they work is you can see the door held to the frame in front and ripped the fuselage skin in front of it where the door attaches.
The keel part is pretty strong in a Metro but with any monocoque structure it is all suppose to be there for the designed strength.
Thank you for the detailed info!
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