C550 down in California French Valley Airport

Looking at that cockpit photo, I’m wondering if they were using a handheld GPS or something on the glare shield to fly that approach???


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Looking at that cockpit photo, I’m wondering if they were using a handheld GPS or something on the glare shield to fly that approach???


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I once owned a survival radio that also was capable of tuning a VOR radial. I think the batteries melted, and it is now in the sporty’s museum

Edit: i guess much more digital versions are still made.....
 
Looking at that cockpit photo, I’m wondering if they were using a handheld GPS or something on the glare shield to fly that approach???


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???

There is a Garmin GTN750 in the middle of the panel, directly above the gear handle and left of the comm radios. It's a very capable, touchscreen, WAAS-enabled GPS Nav/Com unit. Very common retrofit on these old jets.
 
It’s 2023. If I walk onto a jet and see steam gauges and the pilot isn’t @MikeD , I’m walking off the plane.
I have a bunch of time in a very similar CE-550. Out of all the apparent factors leading up to this accident, I bet about 10% of the problem was the old school avionics.

In other words, repeat the flight again, this time in a glass cockpit jet, with the same crew at the same time of day with the same external pressures and I bet 9 out of 10 times you'd get the same result.
 
It always amazes me how many people fly out late at night/early in the morning on biz jets to avoid getting a hotel for the night. We used to see that at TPA after the Super Bowl or NCAA Championship. Around midnight you'd have this massive exodus of biz jets.
 
???

There is a Garmin GTN750 in the middle of the panel, directly above the gear handle and left of the comm radios. It's a very capable, touchscreen, WAAS-enabled GPS Nav/Com unit. Very common retrofit on these old jets.

From the low rez photo it looked like an old radar display. My bad.


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Not clear who was PIC, but ... yeah


Lenders received his commercial pilot certificate in April, records from the Federal Aviation Administration show. He was piloting the Cessna C550 business jet along with co-pilot Manuel Vargas-Regalado at the time of the crash, said Michael Morris, the plane’s owner.
 
It always amazes me how many people fly out late at night/early in the morning on biz jets to avoid getting a hotel for the night. We used to see that at TPA after the Super Bowl or NCAA Championship. Around midnight you'd have this massive exodus of biz jets.

On my ME diplomatic and VIP flights, I tried to avoid the situation where a passenger is waiting at the airport due to weather or mechanical issue. I’d tell them to book another night, just in case, and don’t head to the airport until they get the green light.

In many cases, the pressure to fly is a result of pax sitting at the airport with no place to go.
 
In other words, repeat the flight again, this time in a glass cockpit jet, with the same crew at the same time of day with the same external pressures and I bet 9 out of 10 times you'd get the same result.
This is where I grumpily point out that if that rate is true, then all the things should be grounded, chained to concrete blocks, their tires deflated, their engines and other useful bits stripped and sold for a quick buck and what’s left of their airframes reduced and transformed into cans of Goose Island or other acceptable cold beverages.

Though there certainly is a bit of a pattern here.
 
I have a bunch of time in a very similar CE-550. Out of all the apparent factors leading up to this accident, I bet about 10% of the problem was the old school avionics.

In other words, repeat the flight again, this time in a glass cockpit jet, with the same crew at the same time of day with the same external pressures and I bet 9 out of 10 times you'd get the same result.

You still need someone who doesn't have delusions of grandeur about being the boss' best buddy and the ability to say no. Glass or no glass.
 
It always amazes me how many people fly out late at night/early in the morning on biz jets to avoid getting a hotel for the night. We used to see that at TPA after the Super Bowl or NCAA Championship. Around midnight you'd have this massive exodus of biz jets.
Is it that they're avoiding a hotel, or they have better things to do the following morning? Most clients use bizjets as "time machines" to get things done they'd otherwise be unable to.
 
Is it that they're avoiding a hotel, or they have better things to do the following morning? Most clients use bizjets as "time machines" to get things done they'd otherwise be unable to.

For the sports related charters, I think it's actually to avoid paying the crew's overnight expenses. Most of those seem to be buddies who pool their money together to pay for the charter. Nobody touching down at 2am is going to be functional the next day.
 
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