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Old 20th Mar 2016, 04:20
  #229 (permalink)  
Machinbird
 
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This is clearly a botched G/A into a stall.
Given the apparent lawn dart impact, and the second approach GA profile, all those expecting the full stall scenario are likely to be disappointed. A stall which continues would result in a much flatter impact attitude at much lower speeds.

The Tatarstan Boeing 737-500 which crashed at Kazan accident will be much closer to what happened in this accident. In that accident, MAK could only suggest the possibility of a push into a dive caused by Somatogravic Illusion, because the CVR was inoperative. I suspect we will have an operable CVR which may this time confirm an instance of Somatogravic Illusion.

The Somatogravic Illusion is a complicated sounding name, but all it really means is that linear acceleration can fool you into thinking you are pitching up when you are actually pitching over into a dive. If you pull up too steeply on the initial go around and need to pitch over a bit to maintain airspeed, you must use your attitude indicator to make the adjustment. If you get behind the aircraft and unconsciously start flying by the seat of your pants, you can get yourself in trouble very quickly. Modern twin jets are capable of pretty good acceleration rates, especially when light. More than enough to cause that Somatogravic Illusion effect in an unsuspecting aircrew.

To those professional pilots who have a good understanding of the pitfalls of hand flying, I apologize for the fundamental nature of the above paragraph, but I feel it is necessary to write to the LCD (Lowest Common Denominator) in the current situation.

As to why the crew was able to execute a safe GA on the first approach and failed to do so on the second, it is probable that the Go Arounds were just done differently.
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