As I understand, please bear with me,
1. The sudden turn of the airplane from towards Washington DC to towards Indian Lake was not possiblly related to the Sommerset County airport, unless it was an emergency, such as uncontrollable fire on board.
2. The transponder signals were more likely accidental, not related to the airplane landing into an airport. It was most likely not pilot related, i.e. indicating that if our pilot was in control or not.
3. No professional pilot and air traffic controller would plan ahead, thinking of landing a 757 into this small airport.
Great, please be patient with me, as a guy who is not in the field of aviation, I need this type of detailed answers. Thanks again, xetrov.
Considering that at 10:00, the plane was at an altitude of 7500, the plane crashed (to the altitude of 0) at 10:03:11, then if the two signals were between 10:00 and 10:03, 6400 ft and 5800 ft,most likely the tansponder gave the correct altitude reading, obviously it did give the correct flight number, therefore we can assume that the transponder was functioning but most likely switched on by none human activities, "unless specifically asked to do so by ATC, or if you want to squawk the emergency code."
Does the ATC normally ask you for transponder signals before landing, especially for emergency landing?
Is it possible for our pilot to use the tansponder to inform the ground that "we are in control"? It seems to me, from Tom Brokaw's interview, that it was a pretty loud signal to the controller. It might not be a big deal for a regular flight or emergency.
Last edited by SUPERMNNN; 10th Aug 2006 at 08:11.