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Old 16th Sep 2009, 22:14
  #266 (permalink)  
singpilot
 
Join Date: Nov 2005
Location: Harvest, Alabama
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I used to do a lot of 'celebrity flying', in a G3 or G4. Aspen. Eagle. Sun Valley.

Company rules were daytime only. At that time, the FAA felt the same way. As the years have gone by, I have seen those hard lines soften. I cannot imagine having something (anything) go south combined with a 'little weather' (to include a gusty windy day). I remember several crashes at those places where a 'little something' went wrong, and with Murphy in back, combined with a 'little weather', the inevitable crash occurrs.

The Monday morning gang assembles, and quarterbacks. I almost always think of that one flight at that airport, that almost 'went south', and remember how I got there, in that particular corner. Never directly, never on just one count. Meaning, someone was late, someone got the time zone wrong, the fuel truck/caterer/bag smashers/pax were late, the weather front arrived early, the wind never died like it was supposed to. We have all BTDT.

Comoros. Black hole. Volcano with MEA/Missed Approach issues. Almost always windy, with swirls and gusts cuz airport is downwind of terrain. No help from ground. Procedure turn is out over water, all the while with all of the above in the back of your mind.

Sure, there are worse places with fewer navaids, fewer rules even. But not tonight. Somethings' not right (Whatever), you miss. Not the usual, is it. F/O has been slow all night, and the miss goes raggedly, say. Your reserve plan kicks in. Not enough to go back to mainland, this next one has to be it.

At that height over the water it doesn't take much to lose the big picture, let alone the little picture down there on the tubes. Then Murphy shows up, say, and hands you an airplane problem, it's not long to splash. Being at the end of a long 'string' like those guys were that night is a force all it's own.

Just sayin. The boxes should tell the tale.
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