Just a few points from an ex-military Chopper Driver from the Land of Heat and Dust-
- Even if the procedure for Mangalore is an arc-DME approach, with a possibility of starting high, (if) the aircraft was on an autopilot-coupled ILS approach (which I suppose is the norm), the aircraft would have arrived at the correct height on the threshold - or am I missing something?
@swish266 and others (“and a million uneducated, corrupt and inefficient people from Developing and Developed countries from further diminishing the importance of the job of professional pilot.”) - I believe you are deluding yourself that most Indian aviators are low-level morons tarnishing the image of a professional pilot. Agreed, you have seen the seamy side of civil aviation in India up-front and close and there is little doubt that the civil regulatory system here, is loose and corrupt at best. However, having served a tenure as Chief of Operations of an IAF base in the northeast, I have also witnessed some fine handling of emergencies and good airmanship by Indian civil pilots. Yes - having a loose and decrepit civil regulatory system is a terrible disadvantage and may have been a factor in the accident, but then let’s wait for the report of the investigation, shall we?
And before also you write off the investigating capabilities of the same million, uneducated corrupt b*ggers (!)
, news has it that the NTSB will also aid in the investigations... so there, the whole truth is bound to come out .
@swish266 –Finally in all seriousness -having interacted and flown with military aviators world-wide in exercises, evaluations and airshows, I can confidently state that at least the Indian military pilots aren’t all that different in our skillsets.
So then, let’s get off our high horses and have some objectivity here, shall we?