Flydubai Flight 981

z987k said:
Okay. By 500 feet if the AP is still on, your intentions should be to autoland. I think that's a touch late to take it and have a normal approach to landing.
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Take a look at Exemption 5549 (if your shop has it). One of the requirements to be able to fly a CAT I ILS to mins as a high mins/restricted captain is the use of either the autopilot or HUD to DA.
 
I am still wondering, why they stayed in the hold for so long and didn't divert.
There are numerous alternates around Rostov that are open at night. Having flown in the area quite a bit and also diverting in the middle of the night, once, I found everyone, from ATC to ground staff very helpful. ATC even made phone calls to our company about the diversion, without being asked (usually no/sporadic ACARS coverage in that area).
Krasnodar(URKK) and Sochi(URSS) come to my mind, as closest alternates within Russia. Both airports have 24hrs immigration and it's not more than 15-25min. flight time from Rostov. Knowing that most passengers were Russians and considering the current political/immigration tensions between Turkey and Russia, I can imagine why they probably did not consider Trabzon(LTCG) or Samsun(LTFH), both good alternates just across the black sea, in Turkey. But why stay in the hold for around two hours with no real weather improvement in sight?
 
Gonzo said:
Nope, I might just be feeling lazy. Hell the ATR, EMB, and CRJ didn't even have autoland and I would leave the AP on to lowest altitude I could if I was feeling lazy.
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Absolutely. 2am after a 5 leg day, weather sucks and you're beat? Autopilot until the book says you have to disconnect it, bruh.
 
Interesting post from one of their pilots on PPRUNE:
I hope they will have a look into the fatigue reports. Pilots filled dozens of ASR regarding fatigue, nothing happened.... Flying 3 nights in a row then 2 days off and you start again 3 nights. Pilots have been complaining about being exhausted and fatigued last couple of months, and the morning of the accident Chief Pilots starts in the office that this accident has nothing to do with fatigue...
. And one more thing I had 2 flights in flydubai last 4 years when the operations tried to force me to go back to the original destination after being decided to divert.... So you fly the aircraft in very bad wx conditions and from Dubai OPS calls you on SATCOM or Stockholm radio and all they want you go back hold and "try another approach as they say it"... It just happened so many guys but people don't dare to speak up, as they are afraid of losing their jobs....
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So much about the safety culture...
 
I flew the 800 and we would only engage one autopilot unless making an auto land.

I then flew the 300 for a different operator and we would engage both autopilots on the ILS. We would just brief that auto pilot would be disconnected prior to 500 ft to prevent the nose up trim being applied. Engagement of the second autopilot was optional however if you planned to disconnect lower on the approach.

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Derg said:
@Rocketman99

Yup, says it all.
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I'll cut you!

On a related note, one of my good buddies from 9L is over there. I was pretty distraught waiting to hear back from him the other night when I heard about the crash. I was relieved it wasn't him, but that doesn't make the crash much better.

And as for disconnecting the autopilot... I am firmly in the camp of if I am going to land the plane and the conditions are squirrely, I will get the autopilot off early to see what the hell is going on. Not a fan of click click-flare-pray down at mins, that's kinda late to get a good feel for what's being done to the plane from the outside.
 
New CCTV angle out, not sure what to make of it other than they came down REALLY quick.



As someone who flew most recently in the Middle East, company management can put A LOT of pressure on crews to complete the "mission". With a less than accepting attitudes towards diversions. First capt I flew with over there left for flydubai and has been over there 1+ year now, glad he wasn't on board. He also had some damning things to say about chronic fatigue, duty periods, and general pushing of limits over there.
 
Derg said:
The readers comments section is in-sane.
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Does Elizebeth's comment fall in the "insane" column or "insider's only knowledge" column?

"Elizabeth Ek3 hours ago
All boeings have uninterruptible autopilot systems in their planes. This system allows the plane to be remotely controlled. They were taken out of Israeli planes. Why do other countries trust this system? Has this system ever helped any boeing plane?"
 
gne in prog said:
Does Elizebeth's comment fall in the "insane" column or "insider's only knowledge" column?

"Elizabeth Ek3 hours ago
All boeings have uninterruptible autopilot systems in their planes. This system allows the plane to be remotely controlled. They were taken out of Israeli planes. Why do other countries trust this system? Has this system ever helped any boeing plane?"
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There is no freaking way she is being serious...
 
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