PPRuNe Forums - View Single Post - Jet goes down on its way to Medellin, Colombia
Old 20th Dec 2016, 08:02
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ATC Watcher
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n526s :

This accident report is extremely interesting , especially beyond the 130 first pages. If you have a bit a of time go through the Board members comments . Very interesting personal comments in there .
Especially that one from Bob Sumwalt ( page 136) : a small extract :
Contrary to what some may believe, this accident is not just another “pilot error” accident. Like most accidents, the causation of this accident is complex and involves the interaction of several elements of the system. It involves a set of circumstances that came together on this day to produce a tragic outcome.
I believe setting the stage for the crash was expectancy; the pilot flying expected the airplane to do something that it wasn’t designed to do. Specifically, he expected the autothrottle system to provide speed control for him, but unbeknownst to him, the system would not do so while in a HOLD mode.
This pilot was not the only one who didn’t understand this nuance of the automation,
The Comments from Korea are also worth looking at , but of course will be called biased , however this fact below is interesting , as they say it is in contradiction with FAA certifications requirements :
the B777 low-speed alert was a caution that did not require immediate pilot actions, and generated a master beeper that sounds identical to more than 60 other problems on the aircraft.
The devil is nearly always in the details ..and I would not be surprised a little bit if this is the same in this RJ case. Too much focus on "bad pilots" and fuel imho.

Last edited by ATC Watcher; 20th Dec 2016 at 08:06. Reason: unwanted smiley in text !
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