I flew into San Salvador the night of the Cali crash and my FO was concerned about our VMC circling approach. There was no moon so even in clear conditions you could not see terrain. I flew the Cali flight the next several months after checking out in the 757. I always flew the whole ILS approach after what happened. One night they cleared me for the 19 straight in approach and I declined it because so many had died doing it even though I could see the runway with calm winds. It just didn't seem right to do an easy approach that had proved fatal to so many. Situational awareness was their problem. They went heads down and forgot to fly the airplane. They turned east because of the Bogota R outer marker showed up first on the FMC. I don't know why they didn't notice the left 90 degree turn putting them into the mountains. Yes it was pilot error that was helped by computer generated data. It should have never happened with a crew paying attention to the store.
Last edited by bubbers44; 17th January 2011 at 00:32.
Reason: spelling