http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/31151191?GT1=43001

Saw that. Evidence points to trouble (icing?) of the pitot tubes causing erroneously low airspeed readings. I'm hoping our resident pilots will comment on this.

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Whoever said there's nothing more expensive than a cheap Mercedes never had a cheap Jaguar.

83 300D Turbo with manual conversion, early W126 vented front rotors and H4 headlights 400,xxx miles
08 Suzuki GSX-R600 M4 Slip-on 22,xxx miles
88 Jaguar XJS V12 94,xxx miles. Work in progress.

Ice on the pitot tubes seems unlikely as they all have capability of operating with anti-icing systems, which shoiuld be turned on within a certain temperature range well before freezing and in visible moisture. As a former pilot, I hate to say it, but this tragedy is starting to appear as pilot error. No one in their right mind goes driving through a cell, no matter how big the aircraft.

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Don't Chrome them; polish them

Remember that AA Airbus that went down off of JFK in 2001? Parts of the tail came off due to excessive control inputs. Seem the bigger Airbus models are quite sensitive to that.

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Palangi

2004 C240 Wagon 203.261 Baby Benz
2008 ML320 CDI Highway Cruiser
2006 Toyota Prius, Saving the Planet @ 48 mpg
2000 F-150, Destroying the Planet @ 20 mpg



TRUMP .......... WHITEHOUSE
HILLARY .........JAILHOUSE
BERNIE .......... NUTHOUSE
0BAMA .......... OUTHOUSE

Yes, I was shocked to learn that many of these structures are epoxyed together. Now that is some glue..........

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Jimmy L.
'05 Acura TL 6MT
2001 ML430 My Spare

Gone:
'95 E300 188K "Batmobile" Texas Unfriendly Black
'85 300TD 235K "The Wagon" Texas Friendly White
'80 240D 154K "China" Scar engine installed
'81 300TD 240K "Smash"
'80 240D 230K "The Squash"
'81 240D 293K"Scar" Rear ended harder than Elton John

Without knowing what happened it's impossible to say when the tail came off. Was it causative or consequential? As for pilot error. I think it's way to early to tell. Severe weather can form and dissipate extremely quickly, especially in the tropic's. From the satellite picture of the storms with the planes apparent flight path superimposed it looks to me like they might have attempted to adjust course to try and fly thru the mildest part. To properly circumnavigate the whole line of storms might not have been possible by the time they realized how bad they were.

- Peter.

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2021 Chevrolet Spark
Formerly...
2000 GMC Sonoma
1981 240D 4spd stick. 347000 miles. Deceased Feb 14 2021
2002 Kia Rio. Worst crap on four wheels
1981 240D 4spd stick. 389000 miles.
1984 123 200
1979 116 280S
1972 Cadillac Sedan DeVille
1971 108 280S

I was quite surprised when they said "the pilot pushed the pedal too hard". That was about the most lame thing I ever heard. I don't think a car company could get away with that. "you pushed the brakes too hard so your car blew up, your fault." It seems more like "our plane is structurally defective, your fault." Ever since then I tried to fly on Boeing planes only. Being from Seattle it is easy to find support for this idea.

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1998 C230 330,000 miles (currently dead of second failed EIS, yours will fail too, turning you into the dealer's personal human cash machine)
1988 F150 144,000 miles (leaks all the colors of the rainbow)
Previous stars: 1981 Brava 210,000 miles, 1978 128 150,000 miles, 1977 B200 Van 175,000 miles, 1972 Vega (great, if rusty, car), 1972 Celica, 1986.5 Supra

Boeing isn't perfect either. Google "737 rudder problem" some time.

__________________
Whoever said there's nothing more expensive than a cheap Mercedes never had a cheap Jaguar.

83 300D Turbo with manual conversion, early W126 vented front rotors and H4 headlights 400,xxx miles
08 Suzuki GSX-R600 M4 Slip-on 22,xxx miles
88 Jaguar XJS V12 94,xxx miles. Work in progress.

Is that the one where Alaska didn't grease the screw, or is that the one with the valve that would work backwards when it froze? Or something else? At least the frikkin tail didn't fall off the plane because the pilot pushed the pedals! At the very least you program the computer to limit actuations that will make the tail fall off! Or maybe glue it on better?

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1998 C230 330,000 miles (currently dead of second failed EIS, yours will fail too, turning you into the dealer's personal human cash machine)
1988 F150 144,000 miles (leaks all the colors of the rainbow)
Previous stars: 1981 Brava 210,000 miles, 1978 128 150,000 miles, 1977 B200 Van 175,000 miles, 1972 Vega (great, if rusty, car), 1972 Celica, 1986.5 Supra

It's the backwards valve. As long as you have enough airspeed, you can still steer with the ailerons. If you're going too slow, the rudder makes more force than the ailerons can overcome and you get steered or flipped into terrain. Bad day.

__________________
Whoever said there's nothing more expensive than a cheap Mercedes never had a cheap Jaguar.

83 300D Turbo with manual conversion, early W126 vented front rotors and H4 headlights 400,xxx miles
08 Suzuki GSX-R600 M4 Slip-on 22,xxx miles
88 Jaguar XJS V12 94,xxx miles. Work in progress.

there was an issue with the 737 but since the FAA ordered the updates, haven't heard a thing concerning any 737 rudder issues. any plane can fall out of the sky, however given a choice, I'd rather board a Boeing aircraft......

Can you imagine what it will be like when the first A380 goes down? That jet can carry up to 853 people all at once. What a juicy target that makes.

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1984 300TD

Taken out of context, you draw an erroneous conclusion..........an unfortunate fact given the state of the media these days.

The issue is not "pushing the pedal too hard". The issue was the fact that the pilot used heavy right rudder and then immediately corrected his mistake with a heavy left rudder and finally, another heavy right rudder. The intense forces developed in the resulting sideslip were greater than the aircraft could handle.

This behavior is not specific to an Airbus airplane. Given the same set of events, any Boeing aircraft is also susceptible to a similar fate.

Well, I never heard of a tail falling off of a Boeing plane ever.

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1998 C230 330,000 miles (currently dead of second failed EIS, yours will fail too, turning you into the dealer's personal human cash machine)
1988 F150 144,000 miles (leaks all the colors of the rainbow)
Previous stars: 1981 Brava 210,000 miles, 1978 128 150,000 miles, 1977 B200 Van 175,000 miles, 1972 Vega (great, if rusty, car), 1972 Celica, 1986.5 Supra

Well, I never heard of a rudder hardover on a Airbus airplane...........causing a crash and total loss of aircraft.............TWICE............ever.

Well, I never heard of a cargo door blowing off an Airbus airplane..........causing a crash and a total loss of aircraft............ever.


Your bias has fully eradicated any judgment that you may have possessed.