Quote:
Originally Posted by Skid Row Joe
The loud whine of the likely wide-open throttle to the engines a moment or two before the plane hits the ground was clearly audible on the video I viewed. It struck me as unusual for the driver of the webcam vehicle to remain silent except for trying to keep the dog in the vehicle quiet, later in the tape. I believe he also exclaimed a curse word late in the tape. What crossed my mind was that the driver was either immune to emotion in witnessing such a calamity because of past experience or cultural conditioning. It also crossed my mind that he may have been part of the making of the disaster if in fact it was a terrorist event in the making. And lastly, the guy was not supposed to have a pet dog on-board during his tour of duty, and was trying to keep the dog quiet from the taping of the audio in the truck/SUV he was driving.
Larry,
About stalling;
As you know, a pilot dooms his plane losing valuable altitude by freezing-up in continuing to hold a yoke cranked back, in a stall situation. The longer a pilot holds the yoke cranked back thinking he is going to overcome the imminent stall with forward thrust, the slower the aircraft speed, and the more altitude he will need to recover from the stall on the way down. The natural instinct to pull-back on the yoke in a stall, and instead push forward to save the plane, must be overcome by training - lots of training.
If a pilot does not to try to overcome a stall by pushing forward on the yoke, or whether doing so did or would have had any saving affect in this incident, is impossible to know at this time.
|
Skid, you are correct as it applies to an aircraft within balance limits. In this case, however, I truly believe that the aircraft was tail heavy. In that situation, you could bury the yoke forward and it wouldn't make any difference. He was an ATP pilot or some foreign equivalent. I can't imagine that with the hours, training and testing that it takes to get to that point, that he didn't have that yoke pushed all the way through the panel with every muscle in his and his copilots body.
There was a similar accident a few years ago with a commuter airline somewhere in the South. There was a tragic weight and balance calculation mistake. The aircraft was hopelessly tail heavy. The pilot started climbing out and it went over just like the 747 in the video. It was similarly close to the airport because it went over into a hangar.
It certainly does appear that the 747 was either the victim of such a tragic weight and balance miscalculation, or the tie downs came loose on one of the vehicles being carried. Either way, it was a horrible mistake.