Originally Posted by
lilflyboy262...2
I am aware that weather changes, however I flew in from London Luton that night. We arrived into Guernsey around 1745 LCT. We were then driving around lost until around 1900, the weather was more or less the same as when we arrived.
The tops of the clouds from Luton to Guernsey were around 5000ft for the whole flight. I can't comment on the icing other than there was some. We only had the anti-ice for the engine and windshield on and it was light at best. However, we were doing 250kts descending through it and therefore our TAT was around +3 if I recall correctly. The SAT was certainly below zero. We were only in it for around a minute or so before popping out the bottom of it. Ceilings at that point were 1900'
The really foul weather didn't start rolling through until around 0200 LCT. I would hazard a guess that at around 2023, the weather would still be well within the realm of that aircrafts capability. And certainly able for the aircraft to turn 180 and fly back out of the icing.
@Truthseeker, The message regarding the "Same company" text was sent through on the 21st, the day of the accident flight, at around 1623. A few hours prior to departure.
I'm not sure where the eclipse that you are talking about fits into all of this, but interestingly enough, it is shown to be going into Guernsey at 1800 LCT that day. Probably a complete Red Herring and not worth going down that road.
Now here is a reliable report on the prevailing wx conditions. It does go some distance to raise doubts over the speculation on icing and introduces more credence on the possibility of mechanical malfunction and failure.
Yes I do agree with most of the sentiment and outrage expressed over the matter of cowboy operations, grey charters, illegal flying, etc., nevertheless my real interest lies in the actual cause(s) of this accident. In that respect, unless the wreckage is recovered from the sea bed, the truth is most unlikely to come to light. Charts of the area show relatively shallow sea bed depths, so it should not be a difficult task to locate the wreckage. The main issue is who might be willing to foot the bill. Particularly given that this accident involved a N reg private aircraft with two on board. Of all the interested parties involved, I can only think the aircraft insurers may be the most likely to do so, within the terms of the liability cover under the policy.