Afriqiyah Airbus 330 Crash

[Cloudshifter]

Awful news.

Exactly 5 weeks ago to the day I returned from JNB to TIP on 8U771 in preference to the established carriers and was looking forward to using this route again. I didn't think much of it at the time but, when we left TIP for LGW on 09 (in the same Airbus 330-200 we had arrived on) the pilot pulled a low level high 'g' left hand turn after take off to fly a downwind pass 'in the circuit' past the terminal buildings. Have to say I was quite thrilled at the experience, thinking he was probably an ex military MIG pilot.

Now I'm thinking, should I have reported this formally to the CAA? Does CRM extend to airline passengers?

Very sad.

[Slickster]

I've been to TIP a few times. Almost all the time, the weather was fine, so the approach aids really didn't matter, for what they were.

Then, one time I went there, and the weather was really crap. So was my attempt at an NDB approach, with no DME, that was more suited to a Senecca for a particularly gruelling Instrument Rating. I guess places like TIP get away with it, because most of the time, the weather is fine.

[Spadhampton]

Cloudshifter.....

Maybe wild-arse crazy is SOP for that airline.

[PT6A]

There are about 20 expat pilots on contract to that airline from Brookfield.. Some very high time Airbus pilots in the ranks.

Then in contrast some of the local pilots have not flown for 10 + years due to the sanctions against Libya... Now hey presto they are skipper on an Airbus.. after rather dubious training.

So it is a real mix within the airline and Libya as a whole.

PT6A

[TBSC]

@gsyenroute

ATC Tripoli are highly professional, many of whom have been trained in UK.

If you manage to wake them up on a night arrival...
Nice memories. Who knows which kind of radar coverage (if...), ILS "on test" forever, a bit of a debris on the runway with a copule of porcupines running up and down, "maņana" handling and drinks (obviously only coke ) disappearing quickly from the aircraft while being on ground.

[jbayfan]

I think I know who the Captain was, or at least a Captain who was one of the crew. They landed in JNB early morning from Tripoli and left the same evening very late. I am not sure how many crew members there are.

This Captain's son is a student at a flight school in South Africa and his son visited him yesterday. If he was the one in command I know he was very experienced and originally learned to fly in the UK.

I fear the worst but pray I am wrong.

[HotDog]

sharksandwich, your Biography:

Love flying!
Location:
DORSET
Interests:
Gliding

I suggest you stick to your interests and not make a bloody fool of yourself on a professional website when you haven't got a clue what you are talking about!

[kotakota]

This was a modern airliner with GPS ( I take it the A330 is correct , not A310 which the media seem unable to get correct on many occasions ), we fly 737NG with GPS , surely an RNAV / GNSS approach can be made in VNAV/LNAV fully coupled ?
Maybe this is not a dodgy VOR signal at fault ? Sounds like a dawn approach after a 6-7 hour night flight ? Into sun ?

Very sorry for all concerned , appears many positioning aircrew on board.

[FiveGirlKit]

Where is the fuselage?

On the pictures and video available at this time, no large chunks of the fuselage are visible (one view shows a section of the side of the fuselage with about 10 windows - but nothing else).

There must have been a lot of energy involved in the accident (which is strange during the approach phase of flight), the question is what type of energy? Kenetic or explosive?

[robbreid]

Lots of news feeds on todays Kathryns Report;

The Kathryn Report

[Borderer]

The NOS reported that 62 of the passengers had the Dutch nationality, the survivor included. That may seem like a lot of Dutch on a flight from the RSA to the UK, but a Dutch travel agency was involved.

[B-HKD]

Those armchair NTSB/CAA who called for the grounding of the A330. Please be quiet.

The A330 or any other AC type does not fly by itself, and you know that. It takes takes smart pilots, perfect training, good SOP and a lot more to fly a plane safely.

Only because Lybia and their leader (gov. owned airline) invested in a modern fleet, does not make them immune from bad piloting skills, bad MX atc.

[Icarus]

Is it me, or can anyone else not see any evidence of any burning/fire in the video clip posted? Might that point towards contributing factors?

[Juliet Sierra Papa]

Is it me, or can anyone else not see any evidence of any burning/fire in the video clip posted? Might that point towards contributing factors?

Also noticed that.

[Kelly Hopper]

[QUOTE]Is it me, or can anyone else not see any evidence of any burning/fire in the video clip posted? Might that point towards contributing factors?/QUOTE]

It's not you, I was thinking exactly the same and wondering why no-one had picked up on it? Sobering thoughts going through my mind now.

[cldrvr]

BBC reporting crew requested fire and ambulance on standby prior to crash.

[eltonioni]

Burned out pick up truck being removed @ 1:16

YouTube - Libya plane crash kills all 104 on board - 12-05-2010.

[LGW Vulture]

Burned out pick up maybe - but, when might that have burned out? This morning, last week .....!

[heli-cal]

At 1:34 the camera pans over a section of (apparently) burned fuselage window section.

[STC-8]

Dutch news reports crew had technical problem just prior to landing.
Weather conditions reported good at airport.
62 Dutch nationals traveling as tour group perished.

According to the below report the aircraft was nearly new, delivered in September 2009 with 1,600 flight hours over 420 flights

nrc.nl - Binnenland - 61 Nederlanders dood bij vliegtuigcrash Libië