Engine trouble, excess weight suspected in Tokyo plane crash

"whether the flight was actually being used for tourism—which is banned at the small airport"

That's odd. I know someone who is booked on a commercial flight from Chofu to Oshima for summer hols.

Is having 10 dogs legal there? Here in Babbitt MN, USA 55706 it's illegal to have more then 4 animals in your house. Sad, and my condolences to the families of the victims.

There's this, and the fact that the guy was illegally training pilots using the planes at this company. Quite the company indeed. Negligent at BEST.

Mori the lady lost her life in this crash. Who cares about how many animals you can keep n your house in Babbitt MN, USA 55706

NHK news said 'leisure flights' involving aerial sightseeing are banned in order to reduce the number if flights and noise for people living around the airport. But the pilots get around this ban by writing 'training' rather than 'sightseeing' on the forms.

I don't know about a blanket ban on transporting paying passengers for tourism. There is a small airline there that transports people to Japanese islands. I'm guessing alot of people must go there for tourism.

There's this, and the fact that the guy was illegally training pilots using the planes at this company

what does illegally training pilots have anything to do with this accident? even if that were true, it did not cause this pilot to crash the airplane.

and risking your life to save dogs? as much as i love dogs, there's no way i would put my life in danger to save one. for another human being, yes, but not for a pet.

and risking your life to save dogs? as much as i love dogs, there's no way i would put my life in danger to save one. for another human being, yes, but not for a pet.

Yes, you have pets, but I have family members and would not hesitate to go into a burning house for my dog.

reports said Tuesday.

Reports from whom? Unless official reports this is just gossip.

why should a planes fuel capacity be questioned, most pilots take off on a full tank anyways, its decrease the risk of running out of fuel should you be forced to stay in a holding pattern due to bad weather airport congestion. from the look of the plane it seems to be a four seater anyways. so unless the passengers and pilot were sumo sized and or they were carrying excessive cargo/luggage then these planes are designed to take off with a full load of fuel /passengers. Engine troubles will be the deciding factor. these planes in most countries are required by law to have regular engine fuselage inspection after every 100hrs of flight. if there properly maintained they can fly 50~60yrs.. my father owned a 40yrs old Cesna and it was in excellent condition and flew great. hes since updated to a newer model, mostly for the more efficient engine and higher cruising speed.

A full tank of fuel shouldn't be "too much weight", the manufacturer fit the plane with an appropriately-sized fuel tank.

Same goes for the passengers. Unless this was a two-person plane, or the five passengers were all 200kg+, the "too much weight" theory doesn't make sense.

wtfJ,

Sometimes weather/temp conditions dictate that aircraft have to reduce weight for takeoff, either fuel, passengers, cargo or any combination of!

Yes, you have pets, but I have family members and would not hesitate to go into a burning house for my dog

This was so unnecessary; she could have survived this incident . You should always prioritize saving human lives and yourself before saving pets. Yes pets are important, but not as important as a human life.

The investigators are obviously looking at the engine, and aircraft loading including gross weight and center of gravity, as well as all of the other airframe systems, maintenance history, design tendencies, the pilot's mental and physical health, recent and total experience in aircraft type, weather, et cetera. They are going to look at all of the factors that may have affected this flight. Has any spokesperson for the investigation said that they are focusing on weight and/or engine factors? If not, then media accounts mentioning this are misleading. That said, some back of the envelope performance calculations based on weather, and loading of 100kg less than max gross do not look good, and this regardless of any potential mechanical issues.

For the ambitious, a PA-46 350P pilot's operating handbook (POH) can be viewed here: http://www.rebay.at/fliegen/manuals/pa46_350_manual.pdf and the weather at time of accident is included here: http://aviation-safety.net/wikibase/wiki.php?id=178067

For those without aviation training, all aircraft have performance limits based on weight and balance, available power, and weather, among other factors. You cannot assume that a plane with full fuel and full seats will get airborne with a given length of runway length and in any weather; pilots have a duty to be mindful of these limitations and must do the math.

That's odd. I know someone who is booked on a commercial flight from Chofu to Oshima for summer hols.

Commercial flights are fine. "Leisure flight" in this case is when pilots take paying passengers on flights over the city for photographs etc rather than flying them from point A to point B as a means of transportation.

Badge213, In this case he was attempting to fly to Izu Oshima.

@mirai hayashi

You should always prioritize saving human lives and yourself before saving pets. Yes pets are important, but not as important as a human life.

That's a matter of opinion. The world woul be a better place without us war creating, polluting, "rule-the-world" thinking sapiens. She's a hero, if you ask me.

Badge213, In this case he was attempting to fly to Izu Oshima.

Yes, it is theorized that he loaded on excess amount of fuel (5 times the actual amount needed for such a flight) because he planned on making a round tour of the island for the passengers to take photographs etc.

Full fuel is 120 gallons @ 6 lbs/ga. = 720 lbs.

That leaves about 1,000 lbs. for passengers/cargo. Gross weght - empty weight of this aircraft 1,746 lbs.