Agree on the dual accents detected in FZ981 r/t just before leaving the hold for the FINAL approach.
Initial voice I easily made out as Cypriot (Capt.Aristos Socratous)and sounded more collected and assured.Was probably just trying to personally "sense"what the ATC 's judgement of the weather was(he was not replied to as desired instead got a smattering of wxr reports..as though ATC was reluctant to opine of relative change of weather if any better than before as requested.Initially was advised by ATC "negative WS" and soon after updated with severe turbulence on final and MOD WS" The commander wanted to hear it for himself(despite his PF role) when he twice asked "what does the wxr look like outside the your window".He did sound a little lethargic(fatigued?Stressed?Fear?) even resigning to me by his inflexion .He probably commenced that second approach half heartedly knowing the reported perils awaiting him..which is what prompted the early GA at the suggested height.
The second crew member voice sounded distinctly Spanish "Sky Dubai nine ehrr wwahn" He also sounded erratic and needing more clarification on the metric initial approach clearance.A in A little nervous compared to the more vomposed Capt Socratous indicated to me the first voice was in command. The pilot announcing the GA i PM anbeis normally the non handling pilot.again was F.O. Mr.Cruz).I doubt if FZ operates a monitored approach from earlier posted ops specifications.
The "bye bye" after handover from Tower hsd an eerie finality to it.I believe they had enough! The cheerful melodic " SkyDubai 981 Going Around" had an sense of relief in its inflexion..I believe they were imagining going somewhere less perilious...but little did they or their poor souls know that within a minute it would all end as a devastating tragedy.
May God rest their soul on peace..ALL 62 Souls on board that fateful night.The decease deserve our respect and a moment of silent contemplation particularly as some of us are active Pilots and could be met with a similar fate...God forbid,but that is part and parcel of chosing such a career that we love and have made much sacrifices for.May the families of all those affected crew and passengers be rewarded strength to recover from this terrible trauma.
The culture of us Pilots trying to look bold and calm and collected for passengers is undoubtedly commendable toninspire confidence...however such bravado does not have to spill over the r/t with ATC..yes by all means AN+C first..but let the folks down under have some inkling of WTF is going on uo there..in brief followed by STBY! If the recorders are indeed destroyed by the catastrophe we shall be at a loss to learn what can be prevented in future..and like the Kazan 732 accident we shall repeat this accident in some other unlikely location...hopefully not Russia again! May the Russians authority and FZ both be open about sharing the findings of this tragedy.
I have not trained on B73NG but only with rudimentary knowledge like many nin rated pilots herein.I have trained om Airbus FBW and just wonder if had FZ 981 been a bus whether we would have had this accident due to added protections and higher level of automation? The FBW concept I recall was born partly to minimize crew workload to enable a more effective Flight deck management and a more efficient and safer flight outcome...was it not?
Last edited by Vc10Tail; 23rd Mar 2016 at 09:04.