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Five Bodies Found In Plane Wreckage In Orchard Near Bakersfield
BAKERSFIELD (AP) — Five bodies were recovered from the wreckage of a small plane Sunday, a day after the aircraft disappeared from radar and the crash was found in an orchard in central California, local and federal authorities said. The Federal Aviation Administration was investigating to find possible causes for the crash that killed five people, Kern County sheriff’s Sgt. Mark King said. The victims have not yet been identified. Air traffic controllers lost contact with the single-engine… (losangeles.cbslocal.com) More...
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Just posted a photo of this one last night. Sad, sad story.
I looked at the flight track (available on FR24), and mentally overlayed it with the storm system that came through the area yesterday. It brought heavy rains to areas of Southern California, but the NE end of it extended all the way Yosemite where it dumped snow. Not something to be trifled with.
The planned route seems to have been intended to avoid the worst of it, but it obviously didn't work out. Near the end they made a sharp left towards Bakersfield, it looks like they were trying to divert.
I don't know how reliable the flight track data for this flight on FR24 is, but if it is accurate the airspeed was north of VNE for about two minutes while still gaining altitude, just before disappearing from radar.
The planned route seems to have been intended to avoid the worst of it, but it obviously didn't work out. Near the end they made a sharp left towards Bakersfield, it looks like they were trying to divert.
I don't know how reliable the flight track data for this flight on FR24 is, but if it is accurate the airspeed was north of VNE for about two minutes while still gaining altitude, just before disappearing from radar.
I don't get why FlightRadar24 has the complete tracking, all the way to point of impact, and FA has no tracking at all.
It was going VFR then picked up IFR in mid-flight, so Flight Aware couldn't track it. FlightRadar however has the ability to track some VFR aircraft, and in this case, FR24 picked it up.
I just read the information on Kathryn's Report you linked to with you picture submission, it seems likely that the plane broke up in flight:
"A sheriff's officer said it may take a day or two to identify all of the plane debris before the investigation on the possible cause can begin. He said the debris field was about a quarter of a mile in length from north to south."
"A sheriff's officer said it may take a day or two to identify all of the plane debris before the investigation on the possible cause can begin. He said the debris field was about a quarter of a mile in length from north to south."
