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Old 17th Apr 2017, 11:05
  #1112 (permalink)  
DOUBLE BOGEY
 
Join Date: Dec 2006
Location: UK and MALTA
Age: 61
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I believe that if they had mandated and flown a stabilised approached to a an MAPT for BLACKSOD this accident could not have happened. The vertical profile designed such that all obstacles are cleared in the entire FATO.

Amateur Letdown procedures such as this one, or, the mistaken belief that "because we are SAR, the rules and conventions need not apply" lead to events like this.

The considerations of safety offered by the FLIR, RADAR, MOVING MAP, NVG are just that. Only considerations to add value. However, the letdown profile should be designed such that reliance on these systems alone, the ensure separation, is the first hole in the swiss cheese.

Offshore ARAs and SAR Let-downs mid-ocean, ultimately rely on the WX RADAR for final separation but the vertical and horizontal profiles are now mandated to ensure the best possible performance from the RADAR.

What astounds me here is why, with FLIR available on the MFDs, this was not selected to supplement the RADAR return on the other MFD.

I suspect this accident will focus on the performance and robustness of the EGPWS database, which in my view would be a mistake. EGPWS will only ever be the "Virtual World". The RADAR and the FLIR offering information about the "Real" world.

Using NVG to navigate and avoid obstacles this far away from the TLOF is surely a last resort. I appreciate NVGs would add value during the final landing phase but this far out, just a distraction for the 2 available all-weather - primary sources of the Real world, RADAR and FLIR.
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