Fatal 14-19 accident in California

fholbert

fholbert

Administrator
I saw this in today's FAA accident reports and didn't know if the group was aware of this accident. I met the owner of this plane at Columbia last year and he was there again this year. Aircraft was a very nice all red with white stripes. For rumor control I have NO IDEA who was killed in the crash.

Very sad.

Frank Holbert
BL17-30A

IDENTIFICATION
Regis#: 522A Make/Model: BL19 Description: BELLANCA 14-19
Date: 07/16/2006 Time: 0000

Event Type: Accident Highest Injury: Fatal Mid Air: N Missing: N
Damage: Destroyed

LOCATION
City: ARCATA State: CA Country: US

DESCRIPTION
ACFT CRASHED UNDER UNKNOWN CIRCUMSTANCES, WAS SUBJECT OF AN ALERT NOTICE
WHEN CONTACT WAS LOST 7/16, THE ONE PERSON ON BOARD WAS FATALLY INJURED,
THE WRECKAGE WAS LOCATED 6 MILES FROM AIRPORT, ARCATA, CA

INJURY DATA Total Fatal: 1
# Crew: 1 Fat: 1 Ser: 0 Min: 0 Unk:
# Pass: 0 Fat: 0 Ser: 0 Min: 0 Unk:
# Grnd: Fat: 0 Ser: 0 Min: 0 Unk:

___________________________________________

Serial Number 2075 Type Registration Individual
Manufacturer Name BELLANCA Certificate Issue Date 01/23/2002
Model 14-19 Status Valid
Type Aircraft Fixed Wing Single-Engine Type Engine Reciprocating
Pending Number Change None Dealer No
Date Change Authorized None Mode S Code 51510134
MFR Year 1951 Fractional Owner NO



Registered Owner

Name STEELHAMMER VIC
Street 21309 BOTTLETREE LN #201
City SANTA CLARITA State CALIFORNIA Zip Code 91321
County LOS ANGELES
Country UNITED STATES
 
I'm sorry to say that it is confirmed. Bob Seals called me a few minutes ago; he spoke with local FAA and said they found the wreckage after a lengthy search - it was first called in by ATC. He also mentioned that nobody but Vic flew the airplane. You may recall Bob has twice restored 522A (nicknamed Phoenix)

I know all of our hearts go out to Vic's family and his many friends in both the Bellanca and Stinson worlds.

A sad day indeed.
 
Nobody knows, yet, Lynn. Even the FAA has no info. Hell, there isn't even weather data in the report. Though we tend to crave details when one of our own goes in - I know I do - all we're ever going to get is a saddness impossible to articulate. It's central to our avocation, but impossible to grow accustomed to.

Goddamn it!

Jonathan
 
Posted on Mon, Jul. 17, 2006

Missing plane found near Blue Lake

Associated Press

BLUE LAKE, Calif. - A musician flying to Humboldt County to attend a music camp died when his single-engine plane crashed in a remote area near Blue Lake.

Search and rescue teams found his plane just before noon Monday.

The Humboldt County Sheriff's Office received a report early Monday that the plane flying from Los Angeles had not landed as scheduled Sunday at the Arcata/Eureka airport.

A California Highway Patrol helicopter team discovered the wreckage later that morning.

The pilot was the plane's only occupant. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

The sheriff's office has not released the pilot's name pending the notification of his family.
 
Pilot killed in crash near Arcata
Chris Durant The Times-Standard

Santa Clarita man's plane hit tree, went down late Sunday

ARCATA -- A pilot and trombone player on his way to Humboldt County for a music camp died late Sunday when his 1951 Bellanca fixed-wing single engine airplane hit a tree and crashed.

Federal Aviation Administration officials said Monday that the plane, with tail number N522A, hit a tree and went down late Sunday.

Records show the plane was owned by Vic Steelhammer, 49.

His wife confirmed with the Los Angeles Daily News that Steelhammer was on his way to Humboldt for a music camp.

Lt. Dave Morey of the Humboldt County Sheriff's Department said his agency was made aware of the crash around 12:30 a.m. Monday and at first light about a dozen deputies and volunteers began searching.

Initially the search was centered on the Kneeland area but late in the morning a California Highway Patrol helicopter assisting in the search spotted the crash in a remote area off Fickle Hill Road. The land where the plane crashed is owned by the Green Diamond Resource Co.

He said the pilot died at the scene and the plane is in “multiple pieces.â€
 
I never got to meet Vic face-to-face. He had some very incouraging words for my restoration and even sent some pics of his Cruisemaster (beautiful A/C).
I just can't believe this...
 
Here's a nice picture of Vic in front of N522A

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v41/cruisair/bdde214e.jpg

Happier times...
 
Arcada - the airfield Vic was trying to reach that terrible night - was build by the Army Air Corps during WWII after an extensive study they conducted. They were looking for a place that had the most consistent, dense marine layer formation in the country. The Brits were performing similar work in England. The goal of these projects was the same: find a way to develop 0/0 IFR landing equipment or develop equipment that can burn off enough fog to create achieveable landing minimums.

In short, his flight was doomed the moment his commited to it, alas.

This is a clearly a cautionary tale for all of us delivered at a price far too dear.

1. Whenever planning a flight that will take you well outside familiar weather patterns, we should have a chat with people who know those patterns well. I can almost hear the chorus of "No S*&t!" but good pilots and smart people fail to do so all the damned time.

2. Do not expect AWOS/ASOS radio reporting amidst severe terrain until you're practically on top of the reporting station. The old trick of hitting the test button to break squelch and hear the AWOS at longer distances probably will not work here.

3. We all know we cannot see clouds or fog at night unless they're backlit. I recall seeing the lights of Roanoke, VA vanish below me one night, and the laxative effect it had as I was performing a 180 degree turn, cursing myself for not obtaining temp/dewpoint info before I left Charlottesville. The lights on the ground vanishing clue only works if there are lights on the ground, which there were not in Vic's case or in most cases when flying over desolate regions at night. Plus, temp/dewpoint forecasts are hard to come by as well in such areas of the country.

Of course there will always be questions of fatigue as well as the safety of flying at night. I am not inclined to go there.

This has been one of those events that knocks the joy of flying out of me for awhile. There is no comfort to be taken from something like this, only lessons.

Jonathan
 
Do you know what the weather was at Arcada that afternoon? This accident happened at 5:00 pm so it was not dark. Arcada has a 200' DH on their ILS was Vic instrument rated? His plane had a GNS 430 so I assume the plane was.

How does this happen? Controlled flight into the side of a mountain. I remember Frank Talmaz (Spell?), big time movie studio pilot did the same thing near Palm Springs in the late 70's. The Lear jet out of Brown Field last year, two man crew flew into the side of a mountain at night.

In June my friend three hangers down, ATP 16,000+ hours in GA, spun a BE-33 into a house at Reno in good VFR. A well know BSV pilot did the same thing in July in CO, he also had 16,000 hours, also in a SE Bonanza, also a CFI.

These are good pilots and it's easy to say; "I would never do that." But we do, again and again. If the 16,000 and 20,000 pilots are doing it those of us with 2000 and 3000 hours don't stand a chance.

It makes one do some sole searching...
 
I was referring to your posted news report uptopic, Frank, for information regarding time of day. Did you receive subsequent news reports that you did not post?

Jonathan
 
Jonathan Baron said:
I was referring to your posted news report uptopic, Frank, for information regarding time of day. Did you receive subsequent news reports that you did not post?

Jonathan
Click to expand...

I was going by the accident report and converting to local time.

IDENTIFICATION
Regis#: 522A Make/Model: BL19 Description: BELLANCA 14-19
Date: 07/16/2006 Time: 0000
 
Jonathan Baron said:
I was referring to your posted news report uptopic, Frank, for information regarding time of day. Did you receive subsequent news reports that you did not post?

Jonathan
Click to expand...

I stand corrected, look at the following. It answers a few questions too.

This is preliminary information, subject to change, and may contain errors. Any errors in this report will be corrected when the final report has been completed.

On July 16, 2006, about 2332 Pacific daylight time, a Bellanca 14-19, N522A, impacted a tree during an instrument approach to Arcata Airport, Arcata, California. The owner was operating the airplane under the provisions of 14 CFR Part 91. The private pilot, the sole occupant, sustained fatal injuries; the airplane was destroyed. The personal flight departed from the Whiteman Airport, Los Angeles, California, about 2149, with a planned destination of Arcata. Instrument meteorological conditions prevailed, and an instrument flight rules (IFR) flight plan had been filed.

The airplane became the subject of a search and rescue alert notice (ALNOT) when the Seattle Air Route Traffic Control Center lost contact with the pilot. The airplane's last reported altitude was 5,200 feet mean sea level (msl). The wreckage was located on July 17, 2006, 6-8 miles southeast of Arcata Airport on the approach for runway 32. The airplane impacted a tree and was destroyed.
 
I regret posting an ultimately feeble attempt to attach some manner of sense to this tragedy. My motives were misguided but clear. These odd corrections, true or false, from you, Frank, have no clear motive I can understand. Couched within tales of Frank Tallman’s death, somebody spinning into our planet in a Bonanza, or 16,000 hour airline pilots meeting their fate when flying for themselves seem too strange…no…too conventional. Triple tail folks are anything but conventional. What made Vic stand apart, trombone and all, was his humor, sly presence, ready self-deprecation, and a gleaming red flying machine fashioned in the final year of G.M.’s career.

Of all the type groups in all of GA I have found the triple tail people to be among the most interesting and downright eccentric of the bunch. Love your ride, man, but for the dough I have stuffed into my 14-19 I could have bought me a Norse flying God with twin turbos, fifteen autopilots, twelve nav/coms, and three approached approved GPS doodads. Those last three would be there so that all fifteen Georges would all be coupled to something. Heck, I could fly twenty knots faster for only 110 more horsepower.

Here’s to you, Vic! Damned few like you, sir.

And now I’ll shut the hell up on this matter, but never forget.

Jonathan
 
Bellanca - Champion Club -

I wanted to comment on the posts that have been here on the club's forum. I am Vic's brother and fellow avaiator, Bob Steelhammer. I am also the President of the International Stinson Club (ISC). I have attached this months ISC Presiden's Message.


SAD NEWS
As I write to you this month, I have mixed emotions. I have mixed emotions about flying, about airplanes and the people that are close to you. As most of you know that my older brother, best friend and aviation mentor, Vic Steelhammer crashed and perished in his airplane (1951 Bellanca Cruisemaster – N522A) on 16 July 2006. He was in instrument conditions and on final approach to the Arcata, CA airport (KACV). He was flying to the area for a music festival that he was playing in. This month’s ISC President’s Corner is dedicated to Vic Steelhammer.

Dealing with the loss of someone close to you under any circumstances is never easy. To loose an aviation mentor, a big brother and someone who was a true champion of Stinson airplanes makes it even tougher. Vic was a past president of the International Stinson Club (ISC), past club Director, contributor to the Technical Corner and had received the clubs most prestigious “Murdock Awardâ€
 
Bob:

My dad is on the wall at Udvar-Hazy.

Second, Harold McMurrin here in Huntsville may work with you. I know it's a 3-hour drive, but maybe it's a start :?:

feel free to contact me directly at cruisair@hotmail.com
 
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