Chinook
Arkroyal & The Aero Co
Thanks for the imput. As a matter of fact, I did give my background a couple of monthe ago; but briefly it includes about 4000 hrs piston and jet, mainly the latter and mostly at very low level. several hundred hrs night low level including vll over terrain in Scotland, Norway, the Alps; QFI piston and jet, wpns instr, Master Green - is that enough?
As to the original subject, we are going round the same bouys yet again. Let me have one more try. There can be only two possible explanations for the fact that the crew did not turn away from the hills - which were partly or totally covered in cloud (I accept an earlier point you made, Arkroyal, that icing conditions might have prevented a climb to safety altitude). First is that somewhere just before or at waypoint change, the flying controls locked in all three axes, at around the same time the power controls also locked and almost simultaneously the RT failed so that no distress call could be made. The machine then flew on into the hillside with the crew sitting helplessly at their useless controls. The second explanation is that the crew flew on from waypoint change expecting to breast a hillside about 300 feet high, but because they were a quarter of a mile to stbd of intended tk, they came up against a hillside that was over 800 ft high. Now, once and for all, will you say whuch of these two explanations you accept?
With all good wishes, and please don't think I actually enjoy pinning this one on the crew, but facts are facts.
ArkRoyal. Sorry, I meant to comment on your remark about the number of IPs being carried in that one helo. I do not know why, but I agree with you that someone should answer for that. It seems on the face of it inconceivable that all those people should have been taken in one lift to a conference; there was no operational urgency. Regards.