Above – Site where the Houghton family plane impacted on July 7.  New paint helps the cosmetics, but doesn’t heal our broken hearts.

Warning:  Nothing gruesome below but if you don’t like specifics, you might skip.  The specifics aren’t bad at all, but it might be harder if you know them.  The facts show that they didn’t suffer.

As part of my healing, tonight I visited the crash site in Watsonville.  It’s not the first time.I was there at 2am after the crash.  The Watsonville police were SO nice to my wife and I that morning and allowed me behind the tape to get closer to the wreckage.  I wanted to be where my brother and his family were last alive.

At the site this evening, I was there at the same time of the crash and I learned a few things.  The first is that they did not suffer and they died instantly.  I know this because I measured the angle of impact.  They flew directly over an 11 foot tree without clipping the top and the main fuselage impacted 33 feet after the tree, indicating at least a 30 degree downward angle.  This type of downward force is the least survivable angle of impact for the human body.  With the angle to the body, speed, and angle of impact of the airplane, it is many, many times more force than is survivable.  Their death was instant and they did not suffer.  They had already perished before impacting the building some 40 yards later and before the fire.

Sorry if that was too specific, but it’s the way Luke, my late 12 year old nephew, would have described it.  I was talking to a grief counselor about how to break news like this to kids, and he said for 10-12 year old kids, a slightly more direct approach is better and it’s good to answer the questions.

I walked around the crash site for over an hour.  I found a few small pieces of plastic from the blue and amber colored lights (above).  By the way, my brother would have done all of this and more for me.  I have said before that I’m all cried out for a few days, but while exiting and passing the site on Airport Blvd I yelled, “I love you David.”  That was too much and  I broke down crying and had to pull over.

Update 7/18/11 10:24pm:  Today I saw the official death certificate which included analysis from the coroner.  It confirmed what I’ve said above.  The immediate cause of death was fatal neck injury.  This type of high speed injury causes instant death.  Given a modest crash speed of 80 miles per hour, they all died immediately in 1/30 of a second when they first hit the parking lot.

I watch a lot of educational television on PBS.  I saw a show on the beginning of the space program in the early 1960s.  When they were sending monkeys into space they found that the monkeys would survive if they put them in a laying down position.  If they sat them upright, the monkeys wouldn’t survive because neither humans or monkeys can survive significant G forces in any position other than laying down.  In other works, to be more survivable, the impact of the crash has to push you flat on your back.  Speaking to the 10 – 12 year olds, how many of you drive around with a bed?  It’s not practical.  This is similar to a car hitting you from behind and pushes you back into your seat and headrest – it’s more survivable.  In this case, the plane stalled and basically did a nose-dive into the parking lot.  If the impact of the crash pushes you forward and down so that your head wants to go toward your lap, such as in the case of the Houghton family, your neck is very fragile here and cannot handle the force of that.  There is tremendous force at work and it causes instant death.

Not counting the steep climb-out, they probably only knew they were in trouble for about 4 seconds after their stall and before impact. Some might want to know what a stall is.  Let’s take the example of a car going up a hill.  If it’s not powerful enough to get up the hill it’s going to lose momentum and come down the hill backwards.  In the case of an airplane, if it’s put into a climb that’s too steep, it will also slow down, but under a certain speed, the wings no longer will hold the airplane and do what’s called a “stall.”  The airplane basically falls out of the air.  The pilot can point the nose down and try to regain airspeed to get the wings flying again, but if they are already near the ground, there is not enough room and they are going to crash.  In this case, we’re told that the pilot (my brother) was trying to climb over a fog bank, and before he knew it, his airplane stalled.  They didn’t have enough time and altitude to recover airspeed, so they crashed into the ground.

I know there are a lot of 10 – 12 year olds parents who read this, so hopefully you will have the answers now to tell them along with some analogies.

The main point is David, DeDe, Luke and Ryan did not suffer.  They died instantly.  They died before they hit the building and they died before the fire.  I hope that provides comfort.  If they were here they would say that they love all their friends and they want you to know they enjoyed being with you while they were here.  They’re on a new adventure now and they’re very happy.

Update 7/22/11 2:31pm:  Preliminary report from the NTSB is now available.  They came in from a higher altitude than I thought, which means a higher speed.  I estimate at least 160mph, and hitting at 30 degrees means  300 g-forces, and it all happened in 1/60th of a second.  This is much more than a human can tolerate in any position, even lying flat.  They died instantly and it gives me comfort to know that none of them suffered.  I really miss them.

Update 12/3/13: The final reports are available.  My first assessment of speed was more accurate as they weren’t going that fast.  This is sad for us and I don’t want to discuss it here any further.  We love them so very much and miss them terribly.

Above – Family photo from an adventure a few years ago.

HiRez of above photo:
http://www.davidhoughtonfamily.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/HoughtonMex.jpg

UPDATE:  7/8/11 12:30pm:  We’re looking for a more up-to-date family shot.  The whole family just led a trip to Bonaire a few weeks ago.  Please send full resolution photos via yousendit to john at johnhoughton.com.  Question came in about which boy is which.  Luke is in the green shirt.

CORRECTION: 7/8/11 This post initially listed David’s age as 45.  David was going to turn 45 on Monday.  He is actually 44.

Update: 7/8/11 9:30pm: Sandi sent in the above picture from Bonaire as David and DeDe enjoy dinner at Captain Don’s.  This is from last week.  We are VERY happy to have this recent photo.  If you have more, please send to john at johnhoughton.com.  Thank you.   Full resolution photo here: http://www.davidhoughtonfamily.com/images/Bonaire_P6270110.JPG

There are three or four video stories here and some are up-to-date as of a few hours ago:
http://abclocal.go.com/kgo/story?section=news/local/south_bay&id=8239296

Above – David and DeDe in their scuba shop in 2009.

Above – One of my brother’s rough-and-ready
photos from his African Safari with the family.

Above – My late nephews Ryan on left and Luke on right as they play with
their dog “Critter.”  Critter wasn’t in the plane and is safe with us.

We are actively reading – please leave comments below.  We loved David, DeDe, Luke and Ryan so very much and can’t believe they are gone.  Thanks everyone for your love and support.