Ping
That crew really screwed the pooch.
a late term abortion and they feel the pain
And in related news, at least one of the 2 fatalities was killed by the rescue firetruck!?! See: http://abclocal.go.com/kfsn/story?section=news/state&id=9162574
Crew under-experienced in visual approaches or lack of manual flying skills, IMHO.
To you GPS addicted pilots, if the ground glide slope station is inop, does your GPS provide you with an accurate glide slope reading?
(In my time a GPS approach was a non-precission approach). Regardless, the conditions were visual but I’ve known too many pilots to rely on instruments and autopilot too much even on severe clear days.
From seeing the video and hearing some of the recent speed reports, I am putting money on that the crew fell asleep and woke too low and too slow. The pLane was in full stall and when they tries more power and a pull up they were too close to the ground so they tail in, belly crunch and then wing roll. It is a classic case
From what I’m reading - the sink rate was too fast plus they added power, pulled back and did a departure stall - same as that 757 out of Porto Rica years back ....
It could be that the crew thought that they were coupled to a glide path that was in fact out of service OR that they had not selected correctly on the auto throttle/auto land or that they were just really damn tired and unable to function. It is more than likely that they had been awake for possibly 24 straight hours when you count the time from when they left home/hotel until the time of the accident. They had flown all night, in the dark or twilight on the northern great circle and found themselves having to perform the most difficult part of their job just when their bodies were telling them it was bedtime back home. I have flown many a Red Eye and I guarantee you that you are not at your best after a 12 or 13 hour all niter. Think about that the next time you jump on that 14 hour non stop from LAX to Sidney or even worse the non-stop from Singapore to JFK.
Maintain Thy Airspeed, Lest The Ground Rise Up And Smite Thee.
They managed to get the plane in a position of reverse command. The harder you pull back the faster it sinks.