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Old 30th Oct 2017, 14:01
  #441 (permalink)  
Jet Jockey A4
 
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: CYUL
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I understand this is your best attempt at making this graph which looks good to me.

So in conclusion using your graph...

- The crew did not program the right flight path into the aircraft's FMCs because they were below the temperature corrected flight path.

- You can't rely on the radar altitude call out at 400' or 100' because of the terrain. In fact when the auto calls at 400' and 100' were given they were actually a lot closer to the ground then one would expect.

- The PM's call of "minimums, lights only" came at or slightly below the uncorrected cold temperature MDA, perhaps 50 to 60 feet below what the corrected MDA was on that night.

- The captain's call of "landing" came at an even lower uncorrected MDA.

- At approximately 150' above ground, both pilots have a "conversation" about the approach lights.

- Autopilot disconnect happens at less than 50' above ground. It would be interesting to know the A320's autopilot minimum descent limits are on a non precision approach.

- The captain's G/A initiation starts below the RWY's threshold altitude with the known consequences.

I am not an expert in crash analysis but it sure looks to me that the crew busted minimums without having the proper visual clues to continue below the MDA. This might have been further compounded by several technical errors from them in the way they programmed the FMCs (I'm not qualified on the A320) and did not apply the temperature corrected altitudes at least at the MDA.
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