Light aircraft down on radar
Light aircraft down on radar
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Discussion

Driller

Original Poster:

8,310 posts

307 months

Sunday 27th February 2011
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The wife just got back from work (ATC) and told me one of her colleagues got a call from a C210 saying they had autopilot problems. He then watched the SSR show a decent of 8000ft in two turns of the radar.

The wreck was found on the ground 10mins later. Awful frown

Eric Mc

125,601 posts

294 months

Sunday 27th February 2011
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Where and what was the outcome?

Driller

Original Poster:

8,310 posts

307 months

Sunday 27th February 2011
quotequote all
L'aigle in Normandie. Both pilots killed sadly.

ETA It took off from Rouen and was cruising IFR at FL160 when they ran into trouble.

Eric Mc

125,601 posts

294 months

Sunday 27th February 2011
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Is it a French registered aircarft do you know?

Driller

Original Poster:

8,310 posts

307 months

Sunday 27th February 2011
quotequote all
Apparently French registered (foxtrot). I can get the registration if needed. BTW just confirmed it was yesterday afternoon at 1.30pm if you're looking for other info.

Eric Mc

125,601 posts

294 months

Sunday 27th February 2011
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I was just curious really (I still exhibit 'plane spotting tendencies but am taking the treatment).

When I saw the thread I assumed it must have been in teh UK and was surprised not to see any news items about it).

Driller

Original Poster:

8,310 posts

307 months

Sunday 27th February 2011
quotequote all
Sorry I should have specified that it was France, I've been here a while now so it's no longer a reflex. I just found it pretty shocking and sad to be speaking to a pilot one second and then to watch as his aircraft goes down. There but for the grace of God and all that.

Flintstone

8,644 posts

276 months

Sunday 27th February 2011
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The C210 is a stable machine, the Toyota HiLux of the bush, and kept me out of trouble for over 1000 hours.

Making an enormous assumption I'd ask if they were in IMC (cloud) at the time. A lot of private pilots don't fly enough to keep their instrument flying skills up. Take away the autopilot all of a sudden or even worse gradually so there's an insidious loss of control and you have to be really on the ball to recover.

Vale.

5150

748 posts

284 months

Sunday 27th February 2011
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To add to the above - Cessna autopilots are quite unreliable - certainly not to be relied on in IMC.....

aceparts

3,724 posts

270 months

Monday 28th February 2011
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Stupid question here but what is the problem of a low hours or whatever pilot flying in cloud? Is it not a case of looking at the dials to keep the blue bit at the top and wings level etc?

Eric Mc

125,601 posts

294 months

Monday 28th February 2011
quotequote all
aceparts said:
Stupid question here but what is the problem of a low hours or whatever pilot flying in cloud? Is it not a case of looking at the dials to keep the blue bit at the top and wings level etc?
There's a bit more to it than that.

eharding

14,648 posts

313 months

Monday 28th February 2011
quotequote all
aceparts said:
Stupid question here but what is the problem of a low hours or whatever pilot flying in cloud? Is it not a case of looking at the dials to keep the blue bit at the top and wings level etc?
Flying raw instruments in genuine turbulent IMC - particularly if you're having equipment problems - is just about the most stressful and demanding thing you can be required to do as a pilot. If various systems start to fail you have a very short period of time to work out what you can trust and what you can't.

aceparts

3,724 posts

270 months

Monday 28th February 2011
quotequote all
Ahh, sorry, I meant smooth, calm day. I fly in a Trislander on a regular basis, usually cloud all the way and just wondered what makes it so dangerous to a non rated or low experience pilot. Question is purely from a back seat passenger / model aircraft crasher.

blambert

107 posts

189 months

Monday 28th February 2011
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aceparts

3,724 posts

270 months

Monday 28th February 2011
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Flying into things I understand, I think I mean the, slowly rolling over, stalling etc stuff, or am I just imagining that?

hidetheelephants

35,683 posts

222 months

Monday 28th February 2011
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blambert said:
Wow. Change of pants please.eek

Ginetta G15 Girl

3,220 posts

213 months

Monday 28th February 2011
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aceparts said:
Stupid question here but what is the problem of a low hours or whatever pilot flying in cloud? Is it not a case of looking at the dials to keep the blue bit at the top and wings level etc?
Instrument flying is not easy. It takes a lot of practice to be good at it. Even then, the physiology of the human body's balance system (the otoliths and semi-circular canals in the middle ear) conspire to produce all sorts of strong illusions that can be at variance with what you are seeing on your instruments (even in smooth air conditions) - for eg the 'Pitch Up illusion or the 'Coriolis Illusion', which can be lethal for the inexperienced pilot (and has been lethal for many experienced pilots).

Furthermore it is easy to become fixated on a single instrument to the detriment of a good 'scan'.

As Eharding says, couple this with equipment failure(s), especially in bad weather, and the distraction this can cause and you (may) have a recipe for disaster.

Trust me I was a 'Master Green' instrument pilot and still found it quite tough at times.


Edited by Ginetta G15 Girl on Monday 28th February 22:26

aceparts

3,724 posts

270 months

Monday 28th February 2011
quotequote all
Ginetta G15 Girl said:
Instrument flying is not easy. It takes a lot of practice to be good at it. Even then, the physiology of the human body's balance system (the otoliths and semi-circular canals in the middle ear) conspire to produce all sorts of strong illusions that can be at variance with what you are seeing on your instruments (even in smooth air conditions), which can be lethal for the inexperienced pilot (and has been lethal for many experienced pilots).

Furthermore it is easy to become fixated on a single instrument to the detriment of a good 'scan'.

As Eharding says, couple this with equipment failure(s), especially in bad weather, and the distraction this can cause and you (may) have a recipe for disaster.

Trust me I was a 'Master Green' instrument pilot and still found it quite tough at times.
Thanks, you've summed up why I'm happy to pay rather than learn to fly myself!

eharding

14,648 posts

313 months

Monday 28th February 2011
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aceparts said:
Thanks, you've summed up why I'm happy to pay rather than learn to fly myself!
Don't let that put you off.

A basic PPL includes a small amount of instrument training - just enough to hammer home the point about how difficult things get, and to make a 180 turn to get yourself out of the clag. You can have a huge amount of fun flying day VFR and accepting the fact that sometimes the weather just isn't going to play ball.

Ginetta G15 Girl

3,220 posts

213 months

Monday 28th February 2011
quotequote all
eharding said:
Don't let that put you off.

A basic PPL includes a small amount of instrument training - just enough to hammer home the point about how difficult things get, and to make a 180 turn to get yourself out of the clag.
And when you get to doing 'IF' it is extremely satisfying to do, especially when you do it well!

You just have to treat it with the respect it deserves (as you do with all flying).