Posted on 07/31/2011 9:31:55 AM PDT by lbryce
There’s going to be a lot of Sunday armchair QB’ing on this one. My two cents? They were in a stall situation and didn’t realize it. They hit the water almost flat (tail a bit down).
I don’t think these guys had a clue what their airspeed was.
I don’t think these guys had a clue what their airspeed was.
No mention of throttling up (whether they did or not)? I’d like read a full transcript of what was said, the media accounts of this are too disjointed. Journalists write what they think is important, and it’s pretty clear that they don’t know much about anything. (Journalism is the special olympics of college majors.)
So true. As much as I respect them in some venues, their Special Forces, for instance, the French are just so damn French. Honestly, I don’t understand how they can stand it. It’s like this all the time.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Aoqvq0Btn1c&feature=related
It didn’t sound that way to me.
It sounded like the plane was not responding and the instruments were having a serious malfunction...systemic
Two things of possible error stand out:
Captain coming in earlier rather than later
and why no response to the first stall warning...crickets
The rest they sounded reasonable to me but the bird just wouldn’t respond
Is it known what the final descent rate was? Still something like 125 mph?
Semi agree. Pitch dark. Ice jammed instruments. Conflicting data from those that worked (perhaps partially, instruments get crazy if sensor ports blocked with ice then starts to melt away).
What difference does it make if you're the captain of a passenger jet with hundreds of people aboard?
Your break time comes up, you take a break. That's it.
Flying without visual on instruments that are not working is virtually impossible. The only thing that could possibly have saved them is the experienced captain’s intuition. He should have been at the controls as soon as he entered the cockpit.
Is it known what the final descent rate was? Still something like 125 mph?
That’s airspeed, not descent rate...and an almost fully fueled Airbus with no flaps is probably quite close to stall speed at 125 knots (not MPH).
Oh, geez. I hate flying already, this didn’t help. I only fly about once every 2 years, home to visit my family. And I am anxiety-ridden and convinced I’m about to die from the minute that plane leaves the ground till we land again and come to a complete halt.
Wow, that destroys the breakup in flight theory. What was the visibility?
Of course!
It's stated clearly in his union contract.
Someone fought for his right to a break.
Fly by wire, die by software.
I suggest alcohol. Lots of alcohol.
Or Xanax.
They had a reliable backup instrument for airspeed, altitude, and attitude, but didn't use it.
Greyhound, THAT was funny.
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