cargopusher
New Member
This was the FO's first official week on the job- he just passed the final ck ride last week - he was laid off a few yrs. ago w/ a charter operation - nice guy--
not a good week to be a pilot (more crashes)
- Thread starter montanapilot
- Start date
farwellbooth
Well-Known Member
Sorry to hear that Aloft.
av8trxx
Well-Known Member
Re:Corporate Airlines
Plane lacked cockpit safety device
By Alan Levin, USA TODAY
A commuter plane that crashed Tuesday in foggy, dark conditions in Missouri and killed 13 people was not equipped with a cockpit safety device that could have warned the pilots they were flying dangerously low, an airline official said Thursday.
Federal Aviation Administration officials required in 2001 that "terrain avoidance warning systems" be installed by March of next year on all airline planes with six or more seats. Corporate Airlines, the operator of the Jetstream 32 plane in the Missouri crash, had not completed installing the warning devices on its fleet, said spokesman Brannan Atkinson. (Related story: Survivor recalls screams)
The warning system has a computerized map of the world's terrain that lists every hill, radio tower and skyscraper. If pilots stray too low, a computerized voice automatically calls out: "Terrain! Terrain!" If pilots don't respond, it orders: "Pull up! Pull up!"
Officials with the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) have not yet said why the Corporate Airlines plane crashed into a wooded area about 2 miles from Kirksville Regional Airport.
But information released by investigators Thursday night is consistent with dozens of other crashes around the world in which pilots flying in poor visibility accidentally sink too low as they approach an airport and hit the ground.
A crash of that type has never occurred on a plane equipped with the terrain warning system, which costs $25,000-$35,000 on small aircraft.
"It is one of the true breakthroughs in aviation safety," said Capt. John Cox, safety chairman for the Air Line Pilots Association. "If you're carrying passengers, it should be in the airplane."
Corporate Airlines leased 17 of the 19-seat Jetstream 32 planes and flew under contract with American Airlines. The airline planned to install the devices on all its planes before the March 29 deadline set by the FAA, Atkinson said.
Preliminary information from the plane's black box recorders indicates that nothing was wrong with the plane, said NTSB member Carol Carmody. The pilots descended as if they had no idea how close they were to crashing, according to the NTSB. Flying a plane into the ground during low-visibility conditions is the single biggest killer in aviation, according to accident statistics.
An older version of the terrain warning system, which was installed on the Corporate plane, switches off when a pilot readies the plane for landing. Carmody said the pilots in the accident received no warning.
Thirteen seconds before impact, Capt. Kim Sasse, who was flying the plane, said "field in sight" to indicate he could see the runway, Carmody said. Then the cockpit recorder captured the sounds of the plane hitting treetops. The tape stopped three seconds later.
Sasse, 48, of Ramsey, N.J., and co-pilot Jonathan Palmer, 29, of Cincinnati had been on duty for 14 hours and 41 minutes, Carmody said. The investigation will examine whether fatigue contributed to the accident.
Low clouds hovering 300 feet above the airport would have made it difficult to land the plane. The pilots were required to stay at least 356 feet above the ground until they could see the runway.
METAR around the time of the accident (ca 00:33Z):
KIRK 192355Z AUTO 03007KT 6SM BR OVC007 09/09 A2995 RMK AO2 CIG 004V009 SLP1486//// T00940089 53011 TSNO=
KIRK 200019Z AUTO 04005KT 3SM BR OVC003 09/09 A2995 RMK AO2 TSNO=
Plane lacked cockpit safety device
By Alan Levin, USA TODAY
A commuter plane that crashed Tuesday in foggy, dark conditions in Missouri and killed 13 people was not equipped with a cockpit safety device that could have warned the pilots they were flying dangerously low, an airline official said Thursday.
Federal Aviation Administration officials required in 2001 that "terrain avoidance warning systems" be installed by March of next year on all airline planes with six or more seats. Corporate Airlines, the operator of the Jetstream 32 plane in the Missouri crash, had not completed installing the warning devices on its fleet, said spokesman Brannan Atkinson. (Related story: Survivor recalls screams)
The warning system has a computerized map of the world's terrain that lists every hill, radio tower and skyscraper. If pilots stray too low, a computerized voice automatically calls out: "Terrain! Terrain!" If pilots don't respond, it orders: "Pull up! Pull up!"
Officials with the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) have not yet said why the Corporate Airlines plane crashed into a wooded area about 2 miles from Kirksville Regional Airport.
But information released by investigators Thursday night is consistent with dozens of other crashes around the world in which pilots flying in poor visibility accidentally sink too low as they approach an airport and hit the ground.
A crash of that type has never occurred on a plane equipped with the terrain warning system, which costs $25,000-$35,000 on small aircraft.
"It is one of the true breakthroughs in aviation safety," said Capt. John Cox, safety chairman for the Air Line Pilots Association. "If you're carrying passengers, it should be in the airplane."
Corporate Airlines leased 17 of the 19-seat Jetstream 32 planes and flew under contract with American Airlines. The airline planned to install the devices on all its planes before the March 29 deadline set by the FAA, Atkinson said.
Preliminary information from the plane's black box recorders indicates that nothing was wrong with the plane, said NTSB member Carol Carmody. The pilots descended as if they had no idea how close they were to crashing, according to the NTSB. Flying a plane into the ground during low-visibility conditions is the single biggest killer in aviation, according to accident statistics.
An older version of the terrain warning system, which was installed on the Corporate plane, switches off when a pilot readies the plane for landing. Carmody said the pilots in the accident received no warning.
Thirteen seconds before impact, Capt. Kim Sasse, who was flying the plane, said "field in sight" to indicate he could see the runway, Carmody said. Then the cockpit recorder captured the sounds of the plane hitting treetops. The tape stopped three seconds later.
Sasse, 48, of Ramsey, N.J., and co-pilot Jonathan Palmer, 29, of Cincinnati had been on duty for 14 hours and 41 minutes, Carmody said. The investigation will examine whether fatigue contributed to the accident.
Low clouds hovering 300 feet above the airport would have made it difficult to land the plane. The pilots were required to stay at least 356 feet above the ground until they could see the runway.
METAR around the time of the accident (ca 00:33Z):
KIRK 192355Z AUTO 03007KT 6SM BR OVC007 09/09 A2995 RMK AO2 CIG 004V009 SLP1486//// T00940089 53011 TSNO=
KIRK 200019Z AUTO 04005KT 3SM BR OVC003 09/09 A2995 RMK AO2 TSNO=
