Chubbychopper: the point I was endeavouring to make is that, had they been following the ILS,… well, they were plainly were
not following it and / or that something was wrong with it and / or that something went wrong with it?!
So, if they were not following the ILS, then what were they following?
There has been a suggestion that the Glideslope Tx (
though there's no NOTAM to that effect) was faulty, and / or that the Glideslope Rx (
within the aircraft) was faulty.
Now if the latter was true, and was known to the crew in advance, then they might have been flying either the LOC procedure or the VOR procedure - both of which, of course, are Non-Precision approaches, albeit that the visibility (METAR) was reported as being as well within the limit required for either approach type.
Now I take it that you are you familiar with how a non-precision approach is typically flown in a B737 (
especially one of that vintage, i.e. not utilising LNAV / VNAV)? If so, you will understand the procedure required from the piloting & 'automatics' point of view, and also understand the inherent errors and risks associated with it.
Given that the reported visibility was 3000 m (
~1.6Nm), they should have expected to see the runway when approximately 500 ft above the ground - which is the point I was making in my previous post (
above).
Imho, that scenario starts my alarm bells ringing! I.e. one's on a non-precision approach, at night, in poor weather (
Cb's = Heavy Rain / Lightening? / Windshear? / Microburst?), with likely visual contact (
with the runway environment) at a height of only 500 ft AGL. Uhm?!
Manoeuvring are large'ish jet aircraft, when close to the ground, in such conditions, is not without risk and requires a fair amount of ability.
Along with all the other possible f'ups that could occur, in respect of how the aircraft is being flown during such an approach, you will, I'm sure, also be aware of the effect that '
visual illusions' can play in such a scenario? E.g. amongst other elements (
rain / lightening, etc), the main Islamabad Highway is 'conveniently' directly across the approach path (
almost adjacent to where they crashed), and is probably within 30 degrees of being aligned with with runway. Just another consideration.
It has also been reported that this was an 'inaugural' flight for this airline, into Islamabad, a scenario which might significantly increase the pressure on the crew in terms of "
get there'itus" ?!
So, Chubbychopper,
you might describe the above comments as '
rocket science'. I however would rather describe it as experience, coupled with professionalism & knowledge.
Ah well, each to their own and according to their ability, eh ?!
