not a good week to be a pilot (more crashes)

[Sig]

SONOFAB1TCH.

Aloft, I'm so sorry. Godspeed to you and all who have lost loved ones this week.

[MrCole]

Aloft,

Sorry to hear about your loss.

Dave

[FlyChicaga]

Aloft,

My prayers go out to you and your family.

Same for the crew and passengers of this flight.

[TheShortOne]

dude, i'm really sorry to hear about your sister, you both are in my thoughts.

if you or your family need anything feel free to let john or i know

Extremely sorry about your sister Aloft. My prayers are with you and your family. It is hard to loose a loved one. I lost an uncle just this year. Time will heal.

[av8trxx]

[ QUOTE ]
They say that bad things happen in threes.

Let's hope this is the last one. God, I really hope so.

[/ QUOTE ]

Corp Ex is number 5 near as I can figure. The 747 in Halifax, CRJ in Jefferson, PA-28 in Oregon and Sean deRosi at the Miramar Airshow. Yes, it has been a bad week...

[montanapilot]

[ QUOTE ]
Corp Ex is number 5 near as I can figure. The 747 in Halifax, CRJ in Jefferson, PA-28 in Oregon and Sean deRosi at the Miramar Airshow. Yes, it has been a bad week...

[/ QUOTE ]

+ the couple that was killed in the Baron

[JDE]

There was a Cessna that crashed here yesterday. Engine failure after takeoff. They landed in a field past the runway and escaped unharmed.

My thoughts and prayers to everyone who lost someone this week.

[darrenf]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
They say that bad things happen in threes.

Let's hope this is the last one. God, I really hope so.

[/ QUOTE ]

Nope....I learned this morning that my (younger) sister just passed away unexpectedly, so Depeche Mode was right: death is everywhere--for the moment, anyway. As they say in craps theory, random distribution of random events.

Man, life sucks right about now.

[/ QUOTE ]

My condolences man, prayers are with you and your family now.

[Ecl!pse]

Aloft- I'm very sorry to hear your loss. You and your family will be in my prayers. Don't hesitate to ask for help here man, we have you covered.


As for the crash-- here is a link about it in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

Post-Gazette Article On Crash

[avi8tor]

Aloft- Sorry to hear about you loss if you need anything don't hesitate to get a hold of me.


[ QUOTE ]
Corp Ex is number 5 near as I can figure.

[/ QUOTE ]

Last week thursday an aircraft crashed just southeast of JOT making six accidents in 5 days hopefully there won't be anymore.

Disaster waiting to happen

[MikeD]

Truthfully, are you guys REALLY suprised about a few accidents in a week? I mean take a look at this. This is the NTSB accident list for June of 1990. Look at how many aircraft accidents/incidents occur in ONE DAY.

What's going on now is nothing new and nothing that should surprise you.

http://www.ntsb.gov/ntsb/AccList.asp?month=6&year=1990

[aloft]

Wow. I sooo wasn't expecting such a response. You guys & gals are simply awesome. Thank you.

I guess I shouldn't say her passing was entirely unexpected, she was a kidney transplant recipient back in 1990 and the transplanted organ failed a few years ago, so she'd been battling associated complications for some time. Nevertheless, there was nothing leading up to it, no indication that she was near the end. One of the saddest aspects of it all is that yesterday was her 36th birthday, which will also be her official date of death.

[hammer]

There's been a 747, an RJ, and now a J-31 all destroyed in the past week in devastating crashes. Not considering September 11, I can't remember the last time three planes of that magnitude went down in North America in separate crashes in such a short period of time.

If the 747 that crashed in Nova Scotia and Northwest RJ were full of passengers, the American Connection flight that went down last night would have immediately turned this trend into the lead story for every news broadcast in the country. The fact is that high body counts sell. But instead, because these three planes only had 25 people on board between the three of them (as opposed to the 600-700 that they could have potentially seated), it is instead a coincidental trend that only aviation people have noticed.

We should consider ourselves lucky. Not only because the loss of life was relatively low but also because press like that would only further harm the industry. Airlines are suffering enough right now ... the last thing they need is a lot of press coverage about "why so many planes are crashing" and interviews with people at the airport about "whether or not they are afraid to get on their flight."

[cargopusher]

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--

[farwellbooth]

Sorry to hear that Aloft.

[av8trxx]

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=

[Kingairer]

[ QUOTE ]
The warning system has a computerized map of the world's terrain that lists every hill, radio tower and skyscraper.

[/ QUOTE ] ???????

[Kingairer]

They dont show man made objects to my knowledge. so i guess they got 1 out of 3.