Originally Posted by
Grizzly Bare
If this is how professional airline radial engine drivers behave in an abnormal situation, then heaven help us all!
People DIED because this crew were not situationally aware/unprofessional/inept/incompetent (choose your own adjective).
Bare, I read your comment with utter disgust. How dare you slander these pilots before the investigation is complete. What right do you have to judge and condemn anyone involved in this tragic accident on the basis of a preliminary report? Who knows what this crew were faced with on the day. Controllability issues? Engine shutdown? How would you feel about intentionally destabilizing an aircraft that was maybe marginally controllable - immediately after take off? Gear? These guys know whether the gear has been selected up or not - but perhaps the fire had destroyed the gear indication circuitry. Would that not be cause for confusion and or discussion about the gear position? The fire is clearly evident below the wing and in the LH main gear area. Convairs have a history of Aileron issues associated with engine fires. And tell me Bare, which non normal checklist would
you call for? The one titled "Crew Are Struggling to Control Aircraft - Shutdown Engine and Lose Control Totally"? Or would you expect the crew to muster their combined 37000 hrs of experience to try and manage a situation for which there is no checklist or training.Or perhaps you have some magical technique that neither Boeing or Airbus have mastered for dealing with multiple failures? The tragedy of this event is that two people lost there lives. It could have been so much worse. By all means speculate on the cause of this horrific event, but don't you dare condemn two men who have arguably saved the lives of 18 people on board, on the basis of a preliminary report.