UPS Airbus down in Birmingham

[jetstream]

I flew into BHM the night after the crash and out the next morning. Took off on runway 6 so I had a good view of the site during climb out.

What confuses me is this. News reports say the bodies of the crew were found 100 yards from the wreckage. Both what I personally saw and the crash seen photos I have viewed on the NTSB site show that the front third of the aircraft remained intact. I don't see how the bodies could have gotten out of the aircraft during the crash.

 

[Freebrd]

They were in the cockpit and weren't removed for hours after the crash is all I've read. The front section was separated from the rest of the fuselage so maybe that's what the article you read meant?

 

[jmreii]

I flew into BHM the night after the crash and out the next morning. Took off on runway 6 so I had a good view of the site during climb out.

What confuses me is this. News reports say the bodies of the crew were found 100 yards from the wreckage. Both what I personally saw and the crash seen photos I have viewed on the NTSB site show that the front third of the aircraft remained intact. I don't see how the bodies could have gotten out of the aircraft during the crash.

I heard the same thing as well in which the news media was brief through the fire department. The bottom of the aircraft including the cockpit was chewed up in which I can understand the contents of the aircraft being deposited all along it's skid marks. Not the first time this has happen. A high descent rate is as deadly as hitting a mountain! You're not walking away in any case.

 

[THEPRFCT10]

I'm there now, that forward section is in clear view. Sad. Speechless. Heartwrenching.

 

[Ticker]

I found out a little more info.

They were assigned the LOC 18. WX was 1100 broken to overcast. Visibility was 10 miles. Aircraft hit either a hill or trees on the hill 1.5 miles from either the end of the runway or the Airport reference point (I wasn't clear on that).

Wreckage came to rest 1/2 mile from the end of the runway.

Aircraft debris was located roughly 1/2 from the crash site in a neighborhood.

Treetops, a power line and pole were impacted about 6000 feet from the end of the runway.

Last contact with the crew 11 mile from the airport. Communication was routine.

At the time of the accident, runway 6/24 was closed for construction and re-opened 0455 local time. Accident occurred at 0445 local time.

10 minutes. What a tragedy.

 

[t-bone]

Sunrise these days is just after 0600, and the LOC 18 is NA at night.

 

[THEPRFCT10]

Sunrise these days is just after 0600, and the LOC 18 is NA at night.

We just saw that on the charts. Minimums N/A at night. Now what? Sucks.

 

[Benjamin Dover]

Might have been doing the RNAV or a "visual" when maybe not really visual. Pretty inconsistent METARs leading up to their arrival (accident at 0951Z)

KBHM 140953Z 34004KT 10SM FEW011 BKN035 OVC075 23/22 A2997 RMK AO2 SLP141 T02330222
KBHM 140904Z 00000KT 10SM SCT010 BKN075 23/22 A2996 RMK AO2
KBHM 140853Z 00000KT 10SM BKN010 OVC075 23/22 A2997 RMK AO2 CIG 006V013 SLP138 T02330217 52000
KBHM 140848Z 33003KT 10SM OVC010 23/22 A2997 RMK AO2 CIG 006V013
KBHM 140753Z 00000KT 9SM OVC008 23/22 A2996 RMK AO2 CIG 007V011 SLP137 T02330217
KBHM 140734Z 00000KT 10SM BKN010 BKN016 23/22 A2996 RMK AO2

 

[Benjamin Dover]

We just saw that on the charts. Minimums N/A at night. Now what? Sucks.

I think that NA at night might be company specific. Look at the chart in this think. Says LOC 18 NA at night only when VGSI inop.

http://avherald.com/h?article=466d969f

 

[Ticker]

They were doing the Localizer appch.

 

[Ticker]

Look at the chart in this think. Says LOC 18 NA at night only when VGSI inop.

http://avherald.com/h?article=466d969f

Took the words out of my mouth.

...and the PAPI was working at the time...

 

[Flyer1015]

What airline uses NACO charts? Almost all use Jepps, and the Jepp plate does list two mins at the bottom: day and night. Night are "NA" (without any note or reference to VGSI).

 

[t-bone]

The jepp plate does reference the VGSI inop stipulation under notes...and also states N/A under Night Minimums. Ambiguous, yes. But without published minimums, how do you brief an approach? Really sucks if they missed that the published minimums were for Day only. We all could easily make that mistake at that time of day...

 

[Ticker]

What airline uses NACO charts? Almost all use Jepps, and the Jepp plate does list two mins at the bottom: day and night. Night are "NA" (without any note or reference to VGSI).

Interesting. I don't have a Jepp with me to reference. One would think they would be identical. That's really odd.

 

[Ticker]

Tbone is right, the VGSI inop restriction for night is in the notes and the Night Mins on the plate state N/A. That's screwy!