Was BHM Runway 06-24 really closed?
Hey guys,
Take a look at FlightAware's arrival history for BHM on Aug. 14 just before and just after the UPS crash at 4:49 a.m.
All reports so far have said RW06-24 (the long runway with an ILS to 06) was closed, BUT Mountain Air landed on RW06 at 3:32am and FedEx landed on RW06 at 5:08 a.m. FlightAware's track log confirms this.
So,
a) was Runway 06/24 really closed at the time of the UPS crash?
b) if so what were the closure times?
c) if not, why did the UPS crew elect to use RW 18 if RW 06 was available?
None of these questions however, no matter what the answer, change the apparent cause of the accident as crew error (barring some sort of ground or flight equipment malfunction, which is unlikely here).
1) failure of situational awareness,
2) failure to fly the standard instrument approach to RW 18 until glide path on final could be assured by visual PAPI light indications,
3) failure to monitor sink rate and observe altitude limitations on approach, and
4) apparent failure to either acquire PAPI visually (which would have shown all red lights) or initiate immediate go-around if that indication was acquired.