Actually he gasped out the F word.

What would you say? I have no idea what I would say.

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[SIGPIC] Diesel loving autocrossing grandpa Architect. 08 Dodge 3/4 ton with Cummins & six speed; I have had about 35 benzes. I have a 39 Studebaker Coupe Express pickup in which I have had installed a 617 turbo and a five speed manual.[SIGPIC]

..I also have a 427 Cobra replica with an aluminum chassis.

Just thought some of you might be interested:

I was quite surprised at the reaction to this accident on a major pilot forum that I frequent. On that forum there are pilots of all skill levels and backgrounds ranging from those who have not yet solo'd, all the way to high time professionals.

Most aviation accidents are discussed regularly as they occur. This one brought responses that I have not read before. Some of the pilots, beginners and old pros alike, wrote about having occasional nightmares about being in such a situation. There were a couple of hundred posts on the thread and I would guess about 10% of the pilots talked about their nightmares.

Why was this accident different in that way? Because there was ABSOLUTELY NOTHING that the pilot could have done about it. Once it went tail low, that pilot and copilot KNEW that they were doomed and that there was absolutely nothing that they could do to prevent it.

The fact that a pilot could clearly tell this in the video is what made the pilot responses to this accident different to the many others that we have discussed.

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Annoy a Liberal, Read the Constitution

Shifting Cargo May Have Doomed Plane That Crashed Near Kabul

By AZAM AHMED and MATTHEW L. WALD

Published: June 3, 2013


KABUL, Afghanistan — Crash investigators in Afghanistan said Monday that quickly shifting cargo of heavy military vehicles contributed to the crash of a civilian cargo plane on April 29 in which all seven people aboard were killed

The cockpit voice recorder did not indicate that the pilots knew what was happening, but wiring at the back of the plane showed damage from the shifting cargo, according to Nangialai Qalatwal, a spokesman for the Ministry of Transportation and Civil Aviation. The crash was caught on video by a dashboard camera on a vehicle at the air base.

The accident may cast new attention on the quality of Defense Department oversight of its contractors. The safety of civilian flights is usually regulated by the Federal Aviation Administration, but after a 2004 crash in Afghanistan of an American civilian cargo plane under contract to the American military, the F.A.A., which had no personnel in the country, delegated the Defense Department to oversee safety.

With the American military pullout from Afghanistan in full swing, a vast network of transportation contractors has been employed to ship heavy equipment out of the country. Although most of the cargo traffic is expected to go through Pakistani seaports via road hauling, a huge uptick in outbound cargo flights is also under way.

On May 17, the F.A.A. issued a reminder to cargo carriers with heavy vehicles on board to ensure that their loads were tightly fastened, an indication that American safety officials suspected a cargo shift in the April crash.

But on Monday, Afghan officials cautioned that it was too early to determine the exact cause of the accident, which remains under investigation. The cockpit voice recorder, which was recovered from the wreckage, has offered few clues, Mr. Qalatwal said.

“The only thing that was recorded by the black box right before the crash was a pilot’s voice, who was shouting, ‘Wait! Wait!’ ” he said at a news conference in Kabul.

The plane, operated by National Air Cargo, a Michigan-based carrier, was loaded with three armored vehicles and two mine sweepers, almost 80 tons of equipment in all, for a flight from Afghanistan to Dubai, Mr. Qalatwal said. He said that the plane had been checked twice before takeoff, once two hours before departure and again just before it left, and that neither review had revealed any technical problems.

Aviation experts had speculated earlier that there had been a problem with the plane’s pitch control, and that a part might have fallen off during takeoff.
The charred remains of the cargo straps were recovered from the site and appear to have been cut, but Mr. Qalatwal said it was unclear whether the damage had occurred before or after takeoff. The plane, consumed by fire from the crash, yielded little else in the wreckage, he said.

Under treaties governing aviation, the responsibility for investigating a crash lies with the host country, although other parties, including safety officials from the country where the plane was registered, must be involved. The National Transportation Safety Board sent technical experts to Kabul to assist with the investigation.

If the problem was shifting cargo, it was “a freak accident,” said Mark V. Rosenker, a retired Air Force general who was a member of the N.T.S.B. from 2003 to 2009, and chairman for part of that period. But, he said, “it could be that one broke loose and flipped into the others.” In that case, he said, there would have been “a domino effect” inside the plane.

Azam Ahmed reported from Kabul, and Matthew L. Wald from Washington. Habib Zahori contributed reporting from Kabul.


This article has been revised to reflect the following correction:
Correction: June 3, 2013


http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/04/world/asia/shifting-cargo-may-have-doomed-plane-that-crashed-near-kabul.html?ref=todayspaper&_r=0

My Air National Guard unit (Air Force) is sometimes tasked with buiding pallets for air transport. There is a LOT of emphasis on correct packaging, using the correct straps in the correct locations, nets around the circumferance and above, pulled tight and inspected....

If us lazy guard units get beat up like this, then the active duty guys certainly must at least be knowledgeable of these standards. I doubt that training was a causal factor.

-John

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Incorrect balance or shifting cargo was glaringly obvious to any pilot watching the video.

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2001 SLK 320 six speed manual
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Annoy a Liberal, Read the Constitution

My neighbor works for the FAA, improperly secured cargo broke loose and smashed along side of aircraft near cargo door scraping flight recorders off and severing controls at the tail.

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Does the inspection include checking the tie downs?

Quote:

The charred remains of the cargo straps were recovered from the site and appear to have been cut, but Mr. Qalatwal said it was unclear whether the damage had occurred before or after takeoff.

Hints at sabotage

Ooohh....... That's ugly. I'll bet that there are loadmasters everywhere rechecking tiedowns prior to take off now.

__________________
2001 SLK 320 six speed manual
2014 Porsche Cayenne six speed manual

Annoy a Liberal, Read the Constitution

I suspect he was shocked and stupefied.

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