LXJ31
dirka dirka jihad dirka
- Joined
- Jan 15, 2002
- Posts
- 309
I love jalapeno chips, the really crunchy ones.
I don't think anyone here is blaming the pilots for making "a" mistake. If all it took was one mistake to bring down an airplane, there would be smoking holes everywhere. I think the feds will identify an error string that will implicate more than just the crew, although sadly, they will shoulder all the blame since they can't fight back. Now that the event has happened, some time and distance from the accident has gone by and people shouldn't be afraid to ask questions.
1. Its been said they had never flown this particular Gulfstream. Were they familiar with the avionics package? If they weren't, were they given time to learn it? If they were, why didn't they and if they weren't, why not?
2. Were they rested? Were they medicated or sick?
3. Did this crew fly together often? If they did, did they get along or was there tension? (I ask this because the PF asked the PNF "What did you do to me?", almost sounds like an accusation, when they started to lose SA. I don't think any crew I fly with would do that; once we were aware of such problems, we'd miss the approach. Any sort of blame game would take place on the ground.)
4. Two ultra-experienced pilots flying together. To some people, this might seem like an environment where either would be very unlikely to fess up to making an error for fear of "losing face" in front of his contemporary. To others, there is no safer environment than having two of the world's most experienced Gulfstream pilots operating your aircraft since they are unlikely to make such errors.
5. Age. It can't be helped, they were among the older active biz jet pilots, could this be a factor? Its my opinion that while we should not have a mandatory retirement age, there should be an age at which, for class I medicals, a cognition test should be required. Some people age early, some people are sharp till the day they die.
I don't think anyone here is blaming the pilots for making "a" mistake. If all it took was one mistake to bring down an airplane, there would be smoking holes everywhere. I think the feds will identify an error string that will implicate more than just the crew, although sadly, they will shoulder all the blame since they can't fight back. Now that the event has happened, some time and distance from the accident has gone by and people shouldn't be afraid to ask questions.
1. Its been said they had never flown this particular Gulfstream. Were they familiar with the avionics package? If they weren't, were they given time to learn it? If they were, why didn't they and if they weren't, why not?
2. Were they rested? Were they medicated or sick?
3. Did this crew fly together often? If they did, did they get along or was there tension? (I ask this because the PF asked the PNF "What did you do to me?", almost sounds like an accusation, when they started to lose SA. I don't think any crew I fly with would do that; once we were aware of such problems, we'd miss the approach. Any sort of blame game would take place on the ground.)
4. Two ultra-experienced pilots flying together. To some people, this might seem like an environment where either would be very unlikely to fess up to making an error for fear of "losing face" in front of his contemporary. To others, there is no safer environment than having two of the world's most experienced Gulfstream pilots operating your aircraft since they are unlikely to make such errors.
5. Age. It can't be helped, they were among the older active biz jet pilots, could this be a factor? Its my opinion that while we should not have a mandatory retirement age, there should be an age at which, for class I medicals, a cognition test should be required. Some people age early, some people are sharp till the day they die.