I have often wondered what are some of the causes of planes crashing some minutes after takeoff. Do you know?

Question

I have often wondered what are some of the causes of planes crashing some minutes after takeoff. Do you know?

Answer 1

You can find many of the NTSB accident reports on their web sight if you want to look up a particular accident. For the most part, you will find that pilot actions or inactions, often contribute to the crash.



As pilots, we are taught that every accident involves what's called a "chain of events". Links of the chain combine to the point that the accident is inevitable. Break just one link in that chain, and the accident never happens. Often times, the crew are the only ones in the right place at the right time to break one of those links. I suppose "right place" is not the best way to put it but you see what I mean.



As far as the takeoff phase of flight goes as asked in your question, an interesting study was done several years back as it envolves large jet airliners. They looked at what has happened when the crew has elected to abort the takeoff as apposed to continuing the takeoff and subsequently returning to the airport. At first sight, you might think that an abort on the runway would result in the better result most times. Not true. As it turned out more than half of the abort attempts resulted in damage that would not have occured had the takeoff been continued. Even with a catastrophic engine failure. On the other hand, more than eighty percent of the crews that elected to continue the takeoff, were able to climb out to a safe altitude, evaluate the situation and either fix the problem or secure the aircraft to the point that a safe return to the airport and landing was assured.



This study has made the industry completely reevaluated the go-no go decision that is made during each takeoff. The decision speed, V1, as we call it, is the point that we reach in the takeoff roll where we must decide to continue with the takeoff or attempt to stop the aircraft on the available runway. We used to think that this number was sacred. If you haven't heard the copilot call "V1" and something happens, close the throttles, deploy the spoilers and stand on the brakes as hard as you can. Once you've heard the call "V1" take your hands off the throttle because no matter what happens now, we're committed to go. Since the study however, V1 has taken on a whole new meaning. We now will only abort the takeoff if there is real doubt that the airplane will fly. Running into a fuel truck on the side of the runway and taking off half the wing would constitute real doubt. A blown tire would not. Nor would the loss of an engine unless it happened at very slow speed.



Sorry for the length of this but it's no simple question to answer. A good one though.

Answer 2

The reason most problem occur at take off or shortly after is that this is the period of time when the engines are the most stressed out (they are at full power) and when a loss of engine would cause the most trouble. The flaps are deflected, the gear is down (this cause additional crash) and if the airplane is not flight worthy (due to being overweight -- which is illegal, but seemingly there always will be idiots to temps fate -- or due to some mechanical or environmental problems, like ice on the wings) this is when the problem will manifest itself, simply because the aircraft is not capable of going beyond the takeoff or initial climb out.



There is only one common denominator in airplane accident: there usually was more than a single cause (ruling out terrorist actions, actually). Airplane design and pilot training, and the fact that there are two pair of eyes to look around means that an accident is the combination of several factors, a chain of event that leads to the accident. And those are human error, mechanical problems, and meteorological conditions (which is some sort of human error; if the weather is that bad, a prudent pilot should not fly.)

And, thanks to the findings of investigations being acted on, with modification to design or training, there should not be two accident from the same set of causes.

As the saying goes: learn from the mistake of others, you'll never get the chance to do them all yourself.

Answer 3

I often perform accident investigation, as it is part of my job. There is no one thing that causes an aircraft to have an accident. Some people seem to think there is this Silver Bullet theory out there they can walk up and pick up a clue and say this caused it.



To understand accident investigation you have to look in the past history of the aircraft, flight, and people involved. On commercial aircraft as well as general aviation the mechanical things that used to cause accidents has been engineered out of most. This is not to say something mechanical will break, but all aircraft have a back system of some sort.



What bring aircraft down is human factors or a chain of events kind of like Swiss cheese effect when all the holes line up there will be an accident. If you break the chain of events plug one hole you can prevent an accident.



For example general aviation aircraft crash more often than commercial that is a fact. Why does this happen because the airlines use more checklists to prevent humans from making mistakes. The rules are the same for big airlines and small aircraft. So to take this one step why do airplanes run out of fuel (small airplane)? The pilot is required to check the fuel load onboard many airplane flight manuals state to visually look in the tanks. Why because the fuel gauges only have to be accurate when the tanks are empty. Why don’t pilots look in the tank (one hole in the cheese)? Next pilots are required to check weather condition. If you fly into the wind you will burn more fuel so pilot have to land more often to refuel many don’t check fuel burn during flight (second hole). Pilots are required to perform a preflight inspection of the aircraft prior to flight. If the fuel cap is the wrong direction of the vent hole is plugged the engine will not get the fuel required because the fuel is vented overboard and vacuum lock in the tank (third hole). Pilot is late and the sun is going down and pilot only has a day VFR certificate, but they are sure they can make it in the dark (forth hole). See how all these holes are starting to line up and now there is an accident.



There is more than one reason why engines fail, wheels fall off, airplanes run out of fuel, pilot fly into terrain, and on and on. On the Federal Aviation Administrations web sit you can find lots of data.

http://www.faa.gov/data_statistics/accident_incident/



The biggest factor is pilot error in most cases I have investigated because of the Swiss hole effect. The pilot could of broken the chain of events and did not. Every accident I have investigation and there have been many I could not point to one thing and said there is the Silver Bullet that caused the accident. As stated previous each accident is different.

Answer 4

Remember, i want to say that i read and heard that 75% of all aircraft accidents and incidents were because of the pilot's failure to do something. Now, airplanes for example are very safe. After takeoff, depending on the aircraft (single engine, multi-engine, there are different effects that can cause them to crash. most common is an engine failure or stall/spin. some pilots might get too slow after takeoff and stall the airplane and in some cases spin. due to the low altitude, they do not have time to recover. a stall you can recover in about 200-500 feet. a spin however, if you are caught off gaurd and have not done spin training, you are looking at a lot more. 1000+. I know when i have expected a spin, i have recovered in 1000 feet from a 1 1/2 turn spin, if i'm recalling correctly. But because there is so much going on, and if you look at the statstics, most accidnets occurr during the landing or takeoff phase of flight.

another cause is density alititude which is basically the same concept that when you are at a hight elevation, your body cannot funcation as quickly due to the lack of oxygen, well, density altitude is "comparable", but are based off of the same concept, but density alititude is caused by heat and the moisture in the air (humidity). .

Answer 5

I am guessing that you are talking about GA accidents in small aircraft... With small airplanes like that, if the engine fails shortly after takeoff there is not enough time to recover... There are many other possible causes however... such as a stall, caused by early rotation and lack of airspeed OR over-rotation resulting in a quick loss of airspeed... Also, wind shear is very dangerous with small airplanes because on climb out, you are only flying that airplane relatively close to stall speed and if the wind shifs suddenly to a tail wind, or even calm, depending on what the winds were when you took off, you could stall the airplane....



Long story short, STALLS are the worst thing that can happen to a GA airplane on takeoff because there is just not enough time to recover... Even when the engine quits, that wont cause the airplane to crash... it will be the pilot trying to stay airborne and loosing airspeed that will cause the airplane to stall and crash...

Answer 6

GA--engine failure and pilot error account for almost 100% of take off crashes. I have seen pilots with not enough hours think they have the experience to fly away for a weekend and then they get to an unfamiliar runway and make a serious judgement error.



COMMERCIAL-there is still a lot of pilot error, but other factors such as unpredicted wind shear or wake turbulence are causes also.



When booking a flight, choose non-stop if possible because this reduces the number of take offs and landings. Most commerical accidents happen on take off or landing, so if you fly a lot you can substantially reduce your exposure by choosing non-stops only. Also, totally avoid flying regionals if possible. They have the highest rate of take off and landing accidents. Even if you have to drive another hour or so to a metro airport, always avoid regionals.

Answer 7

something that soon can be caused by so many things..



1. Ice and snow on the wings.

2. Foreign objects being sucked into the engine causing engine failure

3. Wind shear, possibly wake turbulence caused by other airplanes.

4. Planes overweighted or with a center of gravity that is to far aft.

5. Pilots over rotating

Answer 8

In answer to a few comments above, if you are flying the GA aircraft properly and get an engine failure, it shouldn't neccesarily cause a crash, as the pilot should have built up enough airspeed to be able to recover and land if required. Maybe if hes a distance from the airfield, etc, but not rotation engine failures like mentioned if hes doing it right

Answer 9

It is Called "STALL". Like in Cars. If you are drivning MANUAL car for first time, you would probably stall right. The reason is your car is not going fast enough on applied GEAR. Same goes with the aircraft. If the wings of the aircraft CLIMBS UP more than 17 degree then it will start slowing very fast. If it does not have enoughspeed, then there is no LIFT. If not lift, the ground is so close to crash in to.



+That is why pilots say V1 and V2 word before taking off. V1 is the critical point, which could lead aircraft in to stalling. V2 is the rotation speed. Which means you can pull the nose of the aircraft.

Answer 10

I once experienced an aborted flight.

It was quite scarry as the aircraft was brought to a skidding halt in the last minute, almost at the edge of the runway.



The reason given by the airline was that the generator in the aircraft had failed.

Subsequently the fear comes to me on every takeoffs of flights.



But i am told that statistics reveal that there are less number of air crashes when compared with the car accidents occuring on the city roads.

Answer 11

Engine failure (even with twins)

- water in the fuel

- contaminated fuel (they used to get jet-A in the tanks by mistake), particulates, etc.

- other engine mechanical problems.

- fuel starvation (improper tank selection or other)

Control binding (that is why you do "full range" before you take off)

Gross trim settings or runaway trim (when motorized trim)

Prop failure (constant speed props usually)

Pilot error

-miss-calculating runway length, many other reasons

-not maintaining maneuvering speed (like Vmc with an engine out).

-many other pilot errors..

Wake turbulence

Unpredicted weather disturbance (wind sheer etc.)

Control surface failures

Bird strikes

Terrain strikes

Answer 12

Engine failures that lead into other mechanical problems. Pilot error but i will say this for the pilots that they got so much going on at the point they are doing the best they can. then ntsb says they should of did this, well put your butt in the plane and see what you can do at that point. Pilot error- the ones that where at the maybe condition should of said no . line mechanic 23 years

Answer 13

Pilot error, Mechanical error, Bad weather, detonation devices are just some of the many common different causes of planes crashing

Answer 14

For some of the bigger engines. The most critical time is going from 100% Take Off power to Normal cruise climb power. Thats why you wait for a good safe altitude before reducing power. Also, I've seen alot of accidents happen like this from water shifting in the fuel tank that wasn't drained correctly.

Answer 15

ice is the main problem. if it is on the leading edge of the wings it will spoil the shape and reduce the amount of lift produced by the wing but this should be spotted before take off, soetimes when its cold the ground crew will defrost the wings but while its sat waiting to take off ice could form again. also ice in the engines. the blades in the engine are the same kind of shape as a wing and also need to be ice free to work properly. this is more difficult to spot and get rid of. but the heat of the engine should hopefully melt this.

Answer 16

well engine failures, engine fires are most common.

sometimes wrong- or un-done preflight preparation -lets name fuel state check, refuelling trouble - can cause serious troubles. I personally have experienced the in flight engine failure due to the lack of preflight preparation - not enough fuel for the flight. result was instructor's forced landning. another what-if happened to my friend turned the fuel valve one position to the left unfortunately it was not from "right tank only" to "both tanks", but from "left tank only" to "shut off". at the height of lets say 300 feet above terrain, right after the takeoff. instructor restarted the engine and landed.



another problem is that aircraft are flying low and slow after the takeoff, so there is limited chance to solve whatever trouble that occurs. the low and slow feature linked with the fact that position of airfield is always known results in frequent problems with enemy that is shooting down landing/departing aircraft otherwise safe from his reach.

Answer 17

Ice on the wings, engine failure and pilot error (not in that order) are the most common causes of crashes right after take off.

Answer 18

Low altitude after take-off and the pilot attempts to turn 180 degrees to return to the runway.

Low. Slow. No where to go.

End of show.

You know?

Answer 19

Not enough speed, the plane stalls and falls on ground.

Answer 20

large bird ingestion into the engine intake causing a stall

Answer 21

pilot error

Answer 22

Something went wrong