Originally Posted by
Old Akro
i don't think Dick is asserting that they were forced over high terrain. The crash site is pretty much on track.
It is known from the ATSB outline that ATC refused a request to enter the control steps at the aircraft's cruising level of 6500 ft, which forced it to be low level over rugged terrain.
The ATSB has not presented any weather information. Dick's hypothesis which he is seeking to test (and which has alarmingly not been considered by the ATSB) is that the Mooney was VFR on top of cloud and could have sailed above the mountain terrain happily and safely if the pilot revived a clearance to enter a control step and cut through a corner of the control steps. This is a critical piece of information that must be examined.
And Vag277, I agree with Sunfish and have experienced being screwed around by ATC because (even IFR GA) is low priority for them. I have had controllers admit to me that they descend aircraft under control steps purely for procedural ease on their part. I also believe there has been another fatal accident that was caused by controllers descending an aircraft under the steps for nothing other than procedural ease.
Once again, the aircraft was at least 10 minutes past the CTA boundary when it crashed, they could have been at any level they wanted up to the base of class A airspace. ATC did not force the aircraft low, the pilot chose that option. If you draw the requested route up on the chart, then it just clips the controlled airspace. A small turn further west and the aircraft would remain clear of the controlled airspace and able to stay at 6500 if it was as clear as you were suggesting. From what I can gather in the report the pilot had lots of options and chose the most dangerous option. And it would seem when it all went pear shaped they didn’t ask for assistance. Of course that doesn’t fit dick and his fan clubs rhetoric that controllers are evil and out there to get you so I understand why those facts are being largely ignored, to the point where the person who raised the question of how long was the aircraft past the CTA boundary had to ask 3 times before they got some kind of answer. Airspace isn’t what’s killing pilots, it’s age old problems such as get there itis, overconfidence and the same things that have been getting pilots since the time of the Wright brothers.