NTSB blames downdrafts in Steve Fossett crash

"...the accident airplane began circling over the site (a whale skeleton), and during the second 360-degree turn, the right wing stalled and the airplane descended to the ground in a nose-down attitude, colliding with the gravel-covered beach in a near-vertical attitude."

What seems similar to me is that they are basic issues people like them would seem not likely to die from. Maybe a Private Pilot time building for a Commercial, but they've done this and then some many times
 
You would be suprised how many, even experienced people, are lacking in basic flight maneuvers and handling of the aircraft. I see this all the time when giving flight reviews.

Even if people are active recreational pilots they should grab an instructor and go do some practice every 6 months or so.

On BFR's I've seen people do slow flight and I have to remind them to put the flaps on. Then when they get into slow flight I ask them to perform a 180 degree turn and they respond in shock saying, "THIS SLOW."

Sure not everyone is this bad but the majority of one year old PPL need some review.
 
LatitudeDancer said:
Just seems like too rookie a move for somebody like him.
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Often it's the "milk run" that reaches up and bites the most experienced pilots. "It's a nice day, I'll just go and buzz around the area for a hour or so."

EVERY flight is a life and death struggle that you can lose on any given day.
 
Wasn't there an ex-astronaut who flew into a mountain during night VFR in a 172? Reading about stuff like this is always strange for me.
 
I'm a little bothered by the wording of the probable cause.

Joe Blow takes his 152 out and runs the ridge line in these weather conditions, crashes, and dies. The NTSB investigates and determines the probable cause is "The pilot's failure to maintain adequate terrain clearance. Contributing factors were an inadvertant encounter with downdrafts that exceeded the climb capability of the airplane."

Steve Fossett takes his Citabria out on the same route, crashes, and dies. The NTSB determines the probable cause is "The pilot’s inadvertent encounter with downdrafts that exceeded the climb capability of the airplane."

Just because he's well known, it now isn't his fault that he put himself in an area of danger? I'd be willing to bet that anyone with even the slightest amount of mountain flying experience would look at those winds aloft and say "I bet there is some turbulence and downdrafts up there". Steve surely had enought mountain flying experience to know better.
 
beechpilot84 said:
You would be suprised how many, even experienced people, are lacking in basic flight maneuvers and handling of the aircraft. I see this all the time when giving flight reviews.

Even if people are active recreational pilots they should grab an instructor and go do some practice every 6 months or so.

On BFR's I've seen people do slow flight and I have to remind them to put the flaps on. Then when they get into slow flight I ask them to perform a 180 degree turn and they respond in shock saying, "THIS SLOW."

Sure not everyone is this bad but the majority of one year old PPL need some review.
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Flaps can be up or down for slow flight.
 
"The board concluded the Bellanca was probably unable even at full power to climb out of what were likely downdrafts of at least 400 feet per minute. The report estimates the Bellanca's climb capability was about 300 feet per minute. Winds were gusting at the time at an estimated 29 to 35 miles per hour."

Ive got some mountain flying experience, and Ive even flown over the same area that Fossett was killed. What I don't understand is the extensive damage done to the wreckage from a hypothetical 100fpm decent into the ground. That would be survivable, unless the turbulence resulted in a stall/spin scenario. Either way it sucks and doesn't make complete sense. What does everyone else think?
 
mrmeschi said:
Ive got some mountain flying experience, and Ive even flown over the same area that Fossett was killed. What I don't understand is the extensive damage done to the wreckage from a hypothetical 100fpm decent into the ground. That would be survivable, unless the turbulence resulted in a stall/spin scenario. Either way it sucks and doesn't make complete sense. What does everyone else think?
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Dude, Fossett's crash was so obviously a mafia hit. All this stuff about downdrafts etc is just a weak cover story.
 
USMCmech said:
Often it's the "milk run" that reaches up and bites the most experienced pilots. "It's a nice day, I'll just go and buzz around the area for a hour or so."

EVERY flight is a life and death struggle that you can lose on any given day.
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I agree. When I first got in a 150 after flying essentially "straight and level" airline flying for a year and a half it was embarassing trying to demonstrate steep turns. Of course, after 2 it all came back. But I always try to keep the mindset that the airplane is trying to kill me -- some airplanes just try harder than others.
 
mrmeschi said:
"The board concluded the Bellanca was probably unable even at full power to climb out of what were likely downdrafts of at least 400 feet per minute. The report estimates the Bellanca's climb capability was about 300 feet per minute. Winds were gusting at the time at an estimated 29 to 35 miles per hour."

Ive got some mountain flying experience, and Ive even flown over the same area that Fossett was killed. What I don't understand is the extensive damage done to the wreckage from a hypothetical 100fpm decent into the ground. That would be survivable, unless the turbulence resulted in a stall/spin scenario. Either way it sucks and doesn't make complete sense. What does everyone else think?
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What I want to know is why fly into that kind of terrain in an aircraft with that kind of climb performance?
 
Legendary airshow pilot Walt Tubb died during an airshow in the '70s performing an inverted flat spin that he'd performed countless times before. In fact, one of this performances was fillmed for the movie Cloud Dancer at Falcon Field, Mesa, AZ.

Art Scholl dies doing nearly the same thing, but upright, during filming of Top Gun, when he crashed into the Pacific Ocean.
 
SpiraMirabilis said:
But I always try to keep the mindset that the airplane is trying to kill me -- some airplanes just try harder than others.
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I would like to add other pilots to that as well.

Some of my students would think I was a bit paranoid in that attitude, until we have a close call from a guy doing something completely unexpected.

Rule #1 is don't trust anyone, or anything; people or airplanes. They are all trying to kill you.
 
Even good pilots die. I think there is a misconception that if a pilot crashes (especially due to pilot error), he or she was a poor pilot. Granted that might be the case at times but not always. We lost an IP and stud last year at VT-6 and the IP was as solid as they come. Flew into IFR conditions while still under a VFR flight plan and flew into the side of a cliff. This IP had two tours in Iraq and certainly new better but had a momentary lapse in judgement that cost him. Even top notch crews like the Blues lose pilots....the last loss was CFIT. So I used to tell my studs at VT-6 or at VAW-120 that they should never relax for when they think they know it all, it will bite them in the ass.
 
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