Originally Posted by
taquechel
Looking at the flight data, the hold pattern kept the airplane between 18 to 26 nm from the beginning of the runway.
The lack of fuel started while they were turning 26 nm from the runway, They entered the curve at 280 knots and FL210 and ended at 200 knots and FL 210. After that they start descending declaring they need to land.
So they were 26 nm away from airstrip and 2 nm above it. Gives a glide ratio of 13:1. Do you guys know what is the glide ratio for this plane full of passengers?
With a need of 13:1 I assume its tight but in a good scenario (not theirs) might be achievable.
nevertheles, he crashed 8nm away from it, so he did a glide ratio of only 9:1.
That seems very strange, right?
It is odd, for some reason they suddenly entered a very steep descent. Even having lost all instruments they should have had a good idea where they were prior to losing them and known that they weren't that close, and also that there is a lot of terrain around these parts.
My only guesses are either an irrestistable urge to get below a cloud layer and get visual, or blind panic took over.