BOAC and RetiredF4: With the recognized risk that I am cluttering the thread and explaining the evident, I'd like to say:
The reference to BS by Arrakis when he posted the latest interview may mostly be because press tends to perpetuate and blow hot air in technical issues that they do not comprehend, but what are sexy for the discussion about goodies and baddies (OK, what else is new?). Arrakis, I'm sorry to "explain" you without you asking me to.
One of them is "why did the 101 hit trees East of the extended centerline (at the inner marker) and crashed east of the centerline (which, by the way are almost the only things that we know for a fact, I mean, that it crashed and where). 101 hit trees rather little left of the centerline about 1 km from the threshold, the left wing hit a thicker tree a bit later, left a section of the wing behind, and veered left. Now the press presses out from the Yak-40 crew that they, too, came a bit left and saw (standing outside their plane and watching), that the Russian Tu-154 was a bit left, too, and being a larger aircraft, needed to be more exactly close to center to land safely. The conjecture being that this "veering left" would have been caused by the faulty maps and systems at Smolensk North and would have significantly contributed to (or caused, as the press would like to say) the accident. Well, BS may be a correct term.
The same goes for the position (or moving of them) of the markers. The photos show that they both are fixed buildings, and the "move" probably is that they have been moved on the map by changing a bit their coordinates and distance in the chart. Media-sexy claim on deceptive Russians, but won't drop a plane from the sky.
And another is the one whether or not the ATC can tell the the pilot to go around. The posed question has been something like "why did the ATC allow them to crash and did not order them to go around. Bad-bad-bad controller". Ahem.
Many a message from the boys and girls out there help us explain why we see what we see, and and provides insight to the accident, but even more to the investigation process. Pretty important part of R & N.
Please pm me if I should stop.
Reg
Last edited by RegDep; 11th Jul 2010 at 12:42.