Cessna 421 Unresponsive Over Gulf of Mexico
- Thread starter Zidac
- Start date
African_Swallow
Well-Known Member
[in reference to Payne Stewart's crash] "The plane flew more than halfway across the United States, apparently on autopilot, until it crashed in a South Dakota field." (last part of the article from above: http://news.blogs.cnn.com/2012/04/19/pilot-unresponsive-as-small-plane-circles-above-gulf/)
Just a brainstorm...envisioning a future where if the autopilot is engaged, intercept aircraft can "remote in" and take control over the aircraft through the autopilot and fly (like a drone) it to safety, or at least away from further harm like a populated area. I'm sure this would be relatively attainable with existing technologies.
-A.S>
Just a brainstorm...envisioning a future where if the autopilot is engaged, intercept aircraft can "remote in" and take control over the aircraft through the autopilot and fly (like a drone) it to safety, or at least away from further harm like a populated area. I'm sure this would be relatively attainable with existing technologies.
-A.S>
Fly_Unity
Well-Known Member
It would be expensive to mandate GA to be equipped with this. Less likely to happen in a two crew environment
May work great until a hacker takes over the system.
I think he's flying a SR22 in the northeast today. saw a fb post from him.
Or it's just his groundspeed fluctuating has he makes the circle. If you look on the track west headings are always slow and east headings are always fast.
TFaudree_ERAU
Mashin' dem buttons
Ah, good point.
GatorFC
Well-Known Member
News down here is reporting the pilot as a local doctor.
Slidell doctor's plane down in the Gulf
Slidell doctor's plane down in the Gulf
WWL said:
nocturnalaviator
AI Jedi
Why 27000 as filed altitude for a 421? Sounds like the baron crash when he went down from the lower 30s
Sent from my ADR6350 using Tapatalk 2
Sent from my ADR6350 using Tapatalk 2
TFaudree_ERAU
Mashin' dem buttons
It's capable, and there's a good tailwind?
nocturnalaviator
AI Jedi
I know it's capable but nvm he did have a good tailwind. Highest I flew a 421 was 25k fuel flows didn't make that much difference from 19-25. I found it performed best in the mid teens. RIP sucks.
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WacoFan
Bigly
Probably a stupid question - but if you are flying single-pilot in a pressurized airplane are there any precautions that can be taken against hypoxia, or protocols to be followed. How much more dangerous is single-pilot than dual in a pressurization problem scenario - would both pilots zap out at the same rate?
Forgive the ignorance - real airplanes have huge roll down from windows like my avatar - so I'm inexperienced in such matters.
Forgive the ignorance - real airplanes have huge roll down from windows like my avatar - so I'm inexperienced in such matters.
WestIndian425
Well-Known Member
Sad news.
I overheard the military trying to raise this aircraft on guard recency while I was doing an IAH-ABQ turn. So that's what it was!
I overheard the military trying to raise this aircraft on guard recency while I was doing an IAH-ABQ turn. So that's what it was!
trafficinsight
Well-Known Member
PGT
Well-Known Member
Have one of these http://www.sportys.com/PilotShop/product/13010
I would also recommend people go to a chamber to actually experience it first hand.
Schinpop
Well-Known Member
This doesn't look like the Payne Stewart type of pilot incapacitation - unless the AP wasn't on. At 8:30, things go wrong, and it looks like the airplane may have been in reasonable trim, but no one (or thing) was flying it. If the AP was on, it would have just stayed straight and level, run out of fuel, and then gone through the stall/recovery cycle until it ran out of altitude.
The paper this morning said the plane is in 1500 feet of water. We'll probably never know...
The paper this morning said the plane is in 1500 feet of water. We'll probably never know...
Mark815
Well-Known Member
I want to agree. Did you guys see the track log? The plane got up as high as 33,000'!! I can't imagine the autopilot being on, I just wonder if the AP disconnected but it was still trimmed out well enough to keep flying along like that? The thing that throws me off completely, is the initial turn off course is to the southwest. I don't quite understand how it made such a long turn to the southwest and then began turning to the northeast before starting all those turns.
I feel bad saying it, but does anyone think it was suicide? How would the AP disconnect (which I'm assuming it did, otherwise it wouldn't be climbing and turning like it was)other than forced control input or a possible stall? The ground speed doesn't seem to ever get low enough though to stall.
Seems like a good plan if the guy was thinking suicide. Go up to high altitude on a trip that takes you over the gulf. Dump the cabin in the middle of the trip and just pass out. You're over the ocean so you'll never hit anything/anyone. Hopefully that's not what it was, either way, sucks to hear
USMCmech
Well-Known Member
You're overthinking this a lot, and there is a large difference between the AP in a jet and an AP in a Twin Cessna
The AP was probably on in a cruise climb trim and power setting.
At some point the cabin pressure failed and/or the pilot lost consienceness.
The airplane kept climbing untill it entered a power on stall (which will be at a much higher airspeed at 33K than at sea level).
The stall caused the AP to disconect, and the airplane pitched nose down and slightly wing low
After pitching down, the plane recovered to a cruise climb and stalled again in a phugoid (sp?) osscilation. This kept going on for some time.
At some point the different fuel burn from the engines shifted the lateral CG and caused the plane to roll the other way.
Eventually it ran out of gas and crashed.
moxiepilot
Well-Known Member
Ya'll overthinking this, because there is nothing conclusive since the NTSB hasn't published any findings...