Hi Bon Giorno,
Have you ever deviated off track for a legitmate reason?
Mr Shanley would be correct saying that Syd-Bla traffic would use the more northern waypoints (being more direct) but that the aircraft was near the southern waypoint does not mean that it was off course.
Even if the pilot was "off course" the MSA for that sector (assuming it was in the 25nm arc, and I don't have my WACs handy for the LSALTs outside) was 5000'
Look at the profile for the BLA 26GPS - one cannot decend below 2000' (rough accident height) until after the FAF (at about 4.1nm)!
The fact that Mr Shanley's statement (not Mr Shanley himself) is 'crap' is referring to:
1. There might have been a legitimate reason that the pilot was there - thus he was not off course
2. The polemic structure of the newspaper article - structuring random quotes and rumours to suggest the pilot/gps was lost when there are plenty of other theoretical causes
3. The irrelevance of the fact that if he was off track, then that in itself should not have lead to the impact.
I am in no way connected with the pilot or company. What I object to is the fact that media and some of our own are suggesting that the pilot has made a mistake.
Please give him the presumption of "not to blame", and await the official report.
Regards
CS
Last edited by compressor stall; 30th Jul 2004 at 02:53.