Air Midwest Beech 1900 crashes into hangar at Charlotte-Douglas
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411A:
No, silly, of course I don't mean that it serves the FAA right.
But today's tragedy shows up the puffery of the recent "fatality free 2002" announcement quite spectacularly. Accidents aren't seasonal, so talking about getting through a year without fatalities is nonsense.
This is about air safety. It's a continuous process. We don't clean the slate at Jan 1, and we don't ship off the old year like it's a batch of newly-produced flawless goods.
A run of 365 days without killing someone seems, at least to me, to look a little artificial when 21 die on day 373.
No, silly, of course I don't mean that it serves the FAA right.
But today's tragedy shows up the puffery of the recent "fatality free 2002" announcement quite spectacularly. Accidents aren't seasonal, so talking about getting through a year without fatalities is nonsense.
This is about air safety. It's a continuous process. We don't clean the slate at Jan 1, and we don't ship off the old year like it's a batch of newly-produced flawless goods.
A run of 365 days without killing someone seems, at least to me, to look a little artificial when 21 die on day 373.
Props are for boats!
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The quality of reporting on this accident, as well as other aviation accidents, is as usual very poor.
It makes me wonder what they teach budding journalists at University these days. They obviously weight alot of the syllabus on Sensationalism, Speculationism, and bending the facts, rather than good research , which I might add is definitetly lacking.
Please stop all the speculative reports, until we have hard facts.
My Condolences to the Families involved.
It makes me wonder what they teach budding journalists at University these days. They obviously weight alot of the syllabus on Sensationalism, Speculationism, and bending the facts, rather than good research , which I might add is definitetly lacking.
Please stop all the speculative reports, until we have hard facts.
My Condolences to the Families involved.
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Condolences to all
Unfortunately reporting in all areas is now and has been subject for some time to sensationalism. I guess that most of us want 24 hour news available however this increased sensationalism and hype is the result, they have to fill the time somehow!
Everything is hyped now from aircraft accidents to terrorism via crime and sex scandal!
I fear this situation is here to stay
Unfortunately reporting in all areas is now and has been subject for some time to sensationalism. I guess that most of us want 24 hour news available however this increased sensationalism and hype is the result, they have to fill the time somehow!
Everything is hyped now from aircraft accidents to terrorism via crime and sex scandal!
I fear this situation is here to stay
foxtrot xray
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John Goglia of NTSB just on tube saying that the a/c was being flown by an experienced crew....the Captain had 1800 hrs and the F/O 700..."been around for quite a while".
Sounds highly experienced to me.
What say ye? How about ......."gimme a break!"
Sounds highly experienced to me.
What say ye? How about ......."gimme a break!"
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A310Driver I just don't understand your comments. First off the CA had 1800 IN TYPE, 2400+ total. The FO had 700 IN TYPE, unknown total time. While perhaps those aren't the total time hours of an "A310Driver" what would you have had, the media reporting that yet another inexperienced and dangerous commuter pilot just crashed? How about some respect for the dead and a big "but for the grace of God go I" before you spout off and call a recently deceased crew inexperienced implying who knows what.
My deepest sympathy to the crew and passengers who died today.
My deepest sympathy to the crew and passengers who died today.
The ignorant flying public and media are fortunate that thousands of professional pilots often are willing (although forced by the civilian and ex-military helo career ladders) to often work for two or more years at minimum wage (a professional wage?) as First Officers while waiting for the seniority to upgrade to Captain, flying Beechcraft, Saabs, DeHavilland, Dornier, Shorts propjets, not to mention the Canadian, German, Brazilian and British etc regional jets. This happens in order to transport people to and from so many small and large airports, working 13-hour shifts, or more, without rest or a meal break: and this refers to the very common US aviation landscape, not including situations in other countries.
Remember the Don Henley song, "Dirty Laundry"? 'See the bubble-headed bleachblond, comes on at five, she can tell you 'bout a plane crash, with a gleam in her eye...[I could have made it as an actress, but I wound up here]...get the widow on the set... we want dirty laundry'. Check Henley's song "In the Garden of Allah": interesting comments, and it sounds like the voice of O.J Simpson.
The media uses any bit of implied hysteria, terrorism, industry-wide quality control issues, and has been known to tilt a camera at an angle, in order to photograph aircraft in what appear to be a steep dive...just to keep your focus on their channel (WCCO etc), in its eternal quest for higher placement, during the 'rating$ sweeps', which help determine advertising revenue contract$.
Remember the Don Henley song, "Dirty Laundry"? 'See the bubble-headed bleachblond, comes on at five, she can tell you 'bout a plane crash, with a gleam in her eye...[I could have made it as an actress, but I wound up here]...get the widow on the set... we want dirty laundry'. Check Henley's song "In the Garden of Allah": interesting comments, and it sounds like the voice of O.J Simpson.
The media uses any bit of implied hysteria, terrorism, industry-wide quality control issues, and has been known to tilt a camera at an angle, in order to photograph aircraft in what appear to be a steep dive...just to keep your focus on their channel (WCCO etc), in its eternal quest for higher placement, during the 'rating$ sweeps', which help determine advertising revenue contract$.
Last edited by Ignition Override; 9th Jan 2003 at 05:04.
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My deepest sympathy to the crew and passengers who died today.
Very saddened by the comments from Kokordski and A310Driver. Although on different matters.
Konkordski, I find your comments very sad. Whether people want to mark that year as a year of success in aviation safety, whether a year is 365 or 400 or else n° of days, so what?! why are you bothered? At the end of the day, it was a year, from Jan 1st to Dec 31st 2002, without fatal commercial accident. End of the story. There's too much of a note of satisfaction/sinism in your words. A bit off line I think. But, at the end of the day, everyone is free to think whatever he feels like, isn't it.
A310Driver, thanks a lot for your comments. I hope you remember that you were once a "inexperienced" 2400 hrs pilot. did you got your first job carrying passengers at 15000 hrs? I enjoyed your words of sympathy and respect for fellow pilots and for those who lost there lives today.
Hope you guys have a nice day
Very saddened by the comments from Kokordski and A310Driver. Although on different matters.
Konkordski, I find your comments very sad. Whether people want to mark that year as a year of success in aviation safety, whether a year is 365 or 400 or else n° of days, so what?! why are you bothered? At the end of the day, it was a year, from Jan 1st to Dec 31st 2002, without fatal commercial accident. End of the story. There's too much of a note of satisfaction/sinism in your words. A bit off line I think. But, at the end of the day, everyone is free to think whatever he feels like, isn't it.
A310Driver, thanks a lot for your comments. I hope you remember that you were once a "inexperienced" 2400 hrs pilot. did you got your first job carrying passengers at 15000 hrs? I enjoyed your words of sympathy and respect for fellow pilots and for those who lost there lives today.
Hope you guys have a nice day
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Sorry if I digress from the subject, but in keeping with some of the postings, "Fatality free 2002" - what exactly does this mean?
The NTSB database has 397 incidents with at least one fatality during 2002, most of them GA. These include Beech King Air 100, Evelth, MN on October 25th, with 8 fatalities. This is listed as a "charter flight". Why isn't this considered as "commercial" aviation?
The NTSB database has 397 incidents with at least one fatality during 2002, most of them GA. These include Beech King Air 100, Evelth, MN on October 25th, with 8 fatalities. This is listed as a "charter flight". Why isn't this considered as "commercial" aviation?
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The King Air 100 that went in killing Senator Wellstone and company was a charter commercial operation under Part 91 of the FAR. The accident free year was on certificated air carriers operating under Part 121, i.e. airlines carrying passengers.
Sympathies for the families of all today, this week....North Carolina, Turkey, where else?
Let's let the investigators do their jobs, ignore most of the general purpose press reports because they do not know what they are talking about and keep on going, hopefully a little safer and with our priorities a little straighter.
Sympathies for the families of all today, this week....North Carolina, Turkey, where else?
Let's let the investigators do their jobs, ignore most of the general purpose press reports because they do not know what they are talking about and keep on going, hopefully a little safer and with our priorities a little straighter.
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One of our own locals...
My Condolences to all... sad day indeed.
Pilot of plane in NC crash originally from Arlington
01/09/2003
By YOLANDA WALKER / WFAA-TV
Katie Leslie, 25, grew up in Arlington, Texas, the middle child of five.
Friends said she knew from an early age what she wanted to do in life.
"At 14, I believe, she told her teacher she wanted to become a pilot," longtime neighbor and friend Ron Smith said. "I was fortunate to take her flying on one of her first trips at 16."
Leslie died Wednesday morning in the crash of Air Midwest Flight 5481, which crashed shortly after takeoff in Charlotte, N.C. Smith is speaking for Leslie's family, who are all too distraught to talk about the tragedy.
"They're very close," he said. "They've pretty much hulled themselves away from the rest of the world to get through this grief."
The flight was leaving Charlotte-Douglas International Airport, bound for South Carolina. Though the weather was clear, witnesses said the plane went straight upward after takeoff.
"It looked like the propeller on the right side stopped, and it rolled ... and it came straight down, nose first," witness Tracy Right said. "Instant fireball."
Officials said once airborne, the Beech 1900 twin-engine turboprop flipped upside down and at full throttle, clipping the edge of a hangar. All 19 passengers and two crew members died instantly.
Said aviation consultant John Nance, "some of the initial things you look at - was there an engine failure that could cause a loss of directional control? Was there some sort of flight control problem in the elevator? Or was the airplane not loaded properly, and the pilots couldn't control it because of weight?"
Officials said Leslie did radio for help before the crash.
"The pilot declared an emergency before the accident," said NTSB board member John Goglia. "So, it's not clear what that means yet, but at least we know there was some sort of catastrophic event that led her to declare an emergency."
Meanwhile, friends in Arlington recall memories of how Katie touched their lives.
"She was a really neat kid," Smith said. "(She) comes from a very strong, strong family - good faith."
Pilot of plane in NC crash originally from Arlington
01/09/2003
By YOLANDA WALKER / WFAA-TV
Katie Leslie, 25, grew up in Arlington, Texas, the middle child of five.
Friends said she knew from an early age what she wanted to do in life.
"At 14, I believe, she told her teacher she wanted to become a pilot," longtime neighbor and friend Ron Smith said. "I was fortunate to take her flying on one of her first trips at 16."
Leslie died Wednesday morning in the crash of Air Midwest Flight 5481, which crashed shortly after takeoff in Charlotte, N.C. Smith is speaking for Leslie's family, who are all too distraught to talk about the tragedy.
"They're very close," he said. "They've pretty much hulled themselves away from the rest of the world to get through this grief."
The flight was leaving Charlotte-Douglas International Airport, bound for South Carolina. Though the weather was clear, witnesses said the plane went straight upward after takeoff.
"It looked like the propeller on the right side stopped, and it rolled ... and it came straight down, nose first," witness Tracy Right said. "Instant fireball."
Officials said once airborne, the Beech 1900 twin-engine turboprop flipped upside down and at full throttle, clipping the edge of a hangar. All 19 passengers and two crew members died instantly.
Said aviation consultant John Nance, "some of the initial things you look at - was there an engine failure that could cause a loss of directional control? Was there some sort of flight control problem in the elevator? Or was the airplane not loaded properly, and the pilots couldn't control it because of weight?"
Officials said Leslie did radio for help before the crash.
"The pilot declared an emergency before the accident," said NTSB board member John Goglia. "So, it's not clear what that means yet, but at least we know there was some sort of catastrophic event that led her to declare an emergency."
Meanwhile, friends in Arlington recall memories of how Katie touched their lives.
"She was a really neat kid," Smith said. "(She) comes from a very strong, strong family - good faith."
Last edited by JudyTTexas; 10th Jan 2003 at 01:50.
jetsy
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Prelim data from the FDR
(AP) A key piece of guidance equipment in the tail of a commuter plane was moving erratically before the plane crashed here this week, killing all 21 people aboard, a federal investigator said Thursday.
National Transportation Safety Board member John Goglia said information from the flight data recorder has led investigators to take a close look at the airplane's elevator. The equipment determines whether the plane goes up or down and how steeply.
The data recorder shows the plane took off with its nose up 7 degrees, which is normal takeoff pitch. The pitch was 52 degrees by the time the plane reached 1,200 feet.
''Something occurred to drive that pitch angle to 52 degrees,'' Goglia said. ''That is abnormal.''
The Beech 1900 had an elevator tab replaced at an Air Midwest facility in Huntington, W.Va., on Monday. The data recorder shows the elevator had moved erratically since then.
''We need to know which procedures were followed at the maintenance facility,'' Goglia said.
Any erratic motion may not have influenced seven other flights between the maintenance and the doomed takeoff. But the plane was near weight capacity Wednesday, which may have been a factor in the crash.
The plane, carrying 19 passengers and two crew members, took off to the south, then banked toward the airport and fell, witnesses said.
The cause of the crash the first fatal U.S. air accident in nearly 14 months was not clear and investigators said they were ruling nothing out. The plane was a twin-engine turboprop Beech 1900D, a workhorse of the commuter airline industry.
The pilot, identified by US Airways Express as Katie Leslie of Charlotte, contacted the tower at takeoff to report an emergency, said Greg Martin, a spokesman for the Federal Aviation Administration. But the transmission was cut short and the emergency was not identified.
Investigators recovered the flight data recorder and the cockpit voice recorder late Wednesday and sent them to Washington, D.C., for analysis, Goglia said.
''Both were burned, but it does appear they were in decent shape,'' he said. The voice recorder contained 34 minutes of tape.
Goglia said the Beech 1900 has been in use since the 1960s as a commuter aircraft, ''so we're going to have mishaps.''
''But recently, in the last seven or eight years, it has proven to be a very reliable airplane,'' he said. ''So we can't immediately jump to the assumption that there's an airplane problem.''
The NTSB brought 26 agents to help investigate. They walked the runway Wednesday and found some bolts and small pieces of debris, but had not determined whether they belonged to the plane, Goglia said.
Sgt. David Marshall of the North Carolina Air National Guard was arriving for work at the guard's headquarters at Charlotte/Douglas International Airport when he saw the plane about 1,000 feet in the air, its nose nearly perpendicular to the ground.
Marshall, who holds a private pilot's license, watched in horror as the plane stalled.
''The nose came down and it began to level off and it went into a second stall,'' he said Thursday as he arrived at the airport to offer his account to investigators. Flight 5481 rolled to its right and dropped rapidly, clipping a corner of a hangar before it hit the ground and burst into flames.
Dee Addison heard the impact from her airport business about 500 yards away. She ran outside to see panicked people running from a maintenance hangar as smoke billowed just outside.
''It was like a frenzy,'' she said. ''At the time we didn't know a plane had actually crashed. It didn't even look like a plane. It was totally demolished.''
No one on the ground was injured, though a portion of the hangar a maintenance facility for US Airways Express was scorched and battered. Layers of smoke poured from the wreckage, so thick ''you could taste it in your mouth,'' Addison said.
The flight originated in Lynchburg, Va., and was bound for the Greenville-Spartanburg airport in Greer, S.C., 80 miles away Officials said none of the passengers started their trip in Charlotte, though some had connected there from other flights.
A maintenance alert for the same type of plane was issued in August saying that attachment bolts for the vertical stabilizer were found lose on one plane during a scheduled inspection. And an FAA directive issued in November for the 1900D aircraft warned that screws in the elevator balance weight attachment could come lose and interfere with the horizontal stabilizer.
The plane, built in 1996, had been flown 15,000 hours and performed 21,000 takeoffs and landings. It was operated by Mesa Air Lines under the US Airways Express name.
The crash was the first involving fatalities aboard a U.S. commuter plane since that of American Airlines Flight 587 in New York on Nov. 12, 2001, in which 265 people died.
National Transportation Safety Board member John Goglia said information from the flight data recorder has led investigators to take a close look at the airplane's elevator. The equipment determines whether the plane goes up or down and how steeply.
The data recorder shows the plane took off with its nose up 7 degrees, which is normal takeoff pitch. The pitch was 52 degrees by the time the plane reached 1,200 feet.
''Something occurred to drive that pitch angle to 52 degrees,'' Goglia said. ''That is abnormal.''
The Beech 1900 had an elevator tab replaced at an Air Midwest facility in Huntington, W.Va., on Monday. The data recorder shows the elevator had moved erratically since then.
''We need to know which procedures were followed at the maintenance facility,'' Goglia said.
Any erratic motion may not have influenced seven other flights between the maintenance and the doomed takeoff. But the plane was near weight capacity Wednesday, which may have been a factor in the crash.
The plane, carrying 19 passengers and two crew members, took off to the south, then banked toward the airport and fell, witnesses said.
The cause of the crash the first fatal U.S. air accident in nearly 14 months was not clear and investigators said they were ruling nothing out. The plane was a twin-engine turboprop Beech 1900D, a workhorse of the commuter airline industry.
The pilot, identified by US Airways Express as Katie Leslie of Charlotte, contacted the tower at takeoff to report an emergency, said Greg Martin, a spokesman for the Federal Aviation Administration. But the transmission was cut short and the emergency was not identified.
Investigators recovered the flight data recorder and the cockpit voice recorder late Wednesday and sent them to Washington, D.C., for analysis, Goglia said.
''Both were burned, but it does appear they were in decent shape,'' he said. The voice recorder contained 34 minutes of tape.
Goglia said the Beech 1900 has been in use since the 1960s as a commuter aircraft, ''so we're going to have mishaps.''
''But recently, in the last seven or eight years, it has proven to be a very reliable airplane,'' he said. ''So we can't immediately jump to the assumption that there's an airplane problem.''
The NTSB brought 26 agents to help investigate. They walked the runway Wednesday and found some bolts and small pieces of debris, but had not determined whether they belonged to the plane, Goglia said.
Sgt. David Marshall of the North Carolina Air National Guard was arriving for work at the guard's headquarters at Charlotte/Douglas International Airport when he saw the plane about 1,000 feet in the air, its nose nearly perpendicular to the ground.
Marshall, who holds a private pilot's license, watched in horror as the plane stalled.
''The nose came down and it began to level off and it went into a second stall,'' he said Thursday as he arrived at the airport to offer his account to investigators. Flight 5481 rolled to its right and dropped rapidly, clipping a corner of a hangar before it hit the ground and burst into flames.
Dee Addison heard the impact from her airport business about 500 yards away. She ran outside to see panicked people running from a maintenance hangar as smoke billowed just outside.
''It was like a frenzy,'' she said. ''At the time we didn't know a plane had actually crashed. It didn't even look like a plane. It was totally demolished.''
No one on the ground was injured, though a portion of the hangar a maintenance facility for US Airways Express was scorched and battered. Layers of smoke poured from the wreckage, so thick ''you could taste it in your mouth,'' Addison said.
The flight originated in Lynchburg, Va., and was bound for the Greenville-Spartanburg airport in Greer, S.C., 80 miles away Officials said none of the passengers started their trip in Charlotte, though some had connected there from other flights.
A maintenance alert for the same type of plane was issued in August saying that attachment bolts for the vertical stabilizer were found lose on one plane during a scheduled inspection. And an FAA directive issued in November for the 1900D aircraft warned that screws in the elevator balance weight attachment could come lose and interfere with the horizontal stabilizer.
The plane, built in 1996, had been flown 15,000 hours and performed 21,000 takeoffs and landings. It was operated by Mesa Air Lines under the US Airways Express name.
The crash was the first involving fatalities aboard a U.S. commuter plane since that of American Airlines Flight 587 in New York on Nov. 12, 2001, in which 265 people died.
foxtrot xray
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SAAB 340,SHENZ, LR DRIVER;
Regarding my earlier post about the experience level of the crew.
My apologies for what you have interpreted as ...at best...insensitive. In retrospect, I agree it looks like that. But what I said is what I heard/saw John Loglia say on the tube minutes before and I so noted that. There is nothing personal here and I certainly mourn the loss of the crew and pax alike. As one of you said, .....there but for the grace of God go I. I was not attempting to imply blame/cause and it may very well evolve that the crew was blameless and I personally hope that this is the case.
My point was that the clear implication of Loglia's comments was that this was a highly experienced airline crew; two 25/26 year olds with 1800 hrs (as Loglia said or 2500 TT as is now being reported) and 700 hrs does not qualify for that distinction. Some more zeroes and gray hair would.
The question that may need to be asked is what the fare paying public is entitled to expect when boarding any aircraft in scheduled airline service. Should there be a difference in basic aircraft safety level and , yes , crew experience when boarding a B744 or a 1900 at adjacent gates which are painted identically and bear the same airline logo?
Should there be a cigarette package-like warning on the pax-entry door of every "commuter" a/c that states the fact that
lower standards may apply?
Again, my apologies for an unintentionally insensitive remark.
Regarding my earlier post about the experience level of the crew.
My apologies for what you have interpreted as ...at best...insensitive. In retrospect, I agree it looks like that. But what I said is what I heard/saw John Loglia say on the tube minutes before and I so noted that. There is nothing personal here and I certainly mourn the loss of the crew and pax alike. As one of you said, .....there but for the grace of God go I. I was not attempting to imply blame/cause and it may very well evolve that the crew was blameless and I personally hope that this is the case.
My point was that the clear implication of Loglia's comments was that this was a highly experienced airline crew; two 25/26 year olds with 1800 hrs (as Loglia said or 2500 TT as is now being reported) and 700 hrs does not qualify for that distinction. Some more zeroes and gray hair would.
The question that may need to be asked is what the fare paying public is entitled to expect when boarding any aircraft in scheduled airline service. Should there be a difference in basic aircraft safety level and , yes , crew experience when boarding a B744 or a 1900 at adjacent gates which are painted identically and bear the same airline logo?
Should there be a cigarette package-like warning on the pax-entry door of every "commuter" a/c that states the fact that
lower standards may apply?
Again, my apologies for an unintentionally insensitive remark.
If it turns out to be a major elevator control problem, whether you have 2500 TT or 25000 wouldn't count for much.
Here's a link to the article on CNN. Seems like pretty accurate reporting to me.
http://www.cnn.com/2003/US/South/01/...ash/index.html
http://www.cnn.com/2003/US/South/01/...ash/index.html
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Possibly relevant Be1900D ADs:
AD 2002-23-11
The actions specified by this AD are intended to prevent the balance weight attachment screws from becoming loose. Loose screws could come into contact and interfere with the horizontal stabilizer. This interference could restrict elevator movement and result in loss of elevator pitch control.
AD 99-16-12
To prevent failure of the electric elevator trim and difficulty operating the manual elevator trim caused by moisture freezing on parts of the electric actuator installation, which would result in the pilot having to apply constant pressure to the control wheel during flight
AD 99-09-15
To prevent any components or wiring from interfering with the flight control mechanism caused by inadequate clearance, which could result in reduced or loss of aileron and/or elevator control
AD 95-02-17 (does not apply after serial UE-131)
To prevent in-flight separation of the elevator trim tab control cable, which could lead to loss of control of the airplane,
AD 2002-23-11
The actions specified by this AD are intended to prevent the balance weight attachment screws from becoming loose. Loose screws could come into contact and interfere with the horizontal stabilizer. This interference could restrict elevator movement and result in loss of elevator pitch control.
AD 99-16-12
To prevent failure of the electric elevator trim and difficulty operating the manual elevator trim caused by moisture freezing on parts of the electric actuator installation, which would result in the pilot having to apply constant pressure to the control wheel during flight
AD 99-09-15
To prevent any components or wiring from interfering with the flight control mechanism caused by inadequate clearance, which could result in reduced or loss of aileron and/or elevator control
AD 95-02-17 (does not apply after serial UE-131)
To prevent in-flight separation of the elevator trim tab control cable, which could lead to loss of control of the airplane,
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A310Driver: I certainly agree that many commuter pilots, myself included (3500 hours and counting, 2700 of it turbine, 2000 turbine PIC) have low hour totals compared to 15,000+ hour pilots found at many major airlines. Perhaps that accounts for your "experience" comment as you said. The question in my mind is what should be "experienced" in the public's mind outside of our professional world and discussion? At what point do you consider a pilot experienced and if that pilot has less hours are they therefore dangerous? Would the general public have understood if somehow the fed characterized the crew as "very qualified but inexperienced?" They would have felt that low time pilots = danger and frankly that just isn't true. Those two crewmembers were trained in the same fashion as all Part 121 pilots and met the standards. From all evidence they weren't "just off IOE" either with the FO and CA having a reasonable base of flying in the 1900D.
IMHO the one thing the fed did right is not prey upon an early idea that perhaps commuter crews with low time = the cause of the accident. To say the crew was inexperienced as pilots would be tantamount to saying "unsafe" when in my opinion my fellow pilots, and myself for that matter are very, very safe. I put my family on my aircraft and that of my "inexperienced (cough, cough)" peers often and I know that each is ready and prepared as a 121 pilot should be for the difficulties that might lie ahead. When I had an engine failure this summer fully loaded at 34C (jumpseater too) at 80 feet AGL 1-2 seconds after breaking ground somehow I made it through and you know what... I think I would have the day I passed training years ago because if I didn't or my company didn't think so, or the feds didn't think so, or the public didn't think so should I have ever been put on the line?
From all evidence so far I very much doubt this crew will suffer blame for the accident nor do I believe that any amount of hours under the belt may have saved them. I for one am glad that an employee of my government didn't get on TV and even imply that they were anything but qualified and competent before obtaining the facts.
I can understand that many times what we say gets misconstrued and I am sure you didn't mean to come across as insensitive to the issue. I still humbly suggest that you review your idea of it being laughable to have an agent of the federal government call that crew anything BUT experienced AND AS QUALIFIED AS ANY AIRLINE PILOT considering its the truth and who his audience was... the uninformed public.
IMHO the one thing the fed did right is not prey upon an early idea that perhaps commuter crews with low time = the cause of the accident. To say the crew was inexperienced as pilots would be tantamount to saying "unsafe" when in my opinion my fellow pilots, and myself for that matter are very, very safe. I put my family on my aircraft and that of my "inexperienced (cough, cough)" peers often and I know that each is ready and prepared as a 121 pilot should be for the difficulties that might lie ahead. When I had an engine failure this summer fully loaded at 34C (jumpseater too) at 80 feet AGL 1-2 seconds after breaking ground somehow I made it through and you know what... I think I would have the day I passed training years ago because if I didn't or my company didn't think so, or the feds didn't think so, or the public didn't think so should I have ever been put on the line?
From all evidence so far I very much doubt this crew will suffer blame for the accident nor do I believe that any amount of hours under the belt may have saved them. I for one am glad that an employee of my government didn't get on TV and even imply that they were anything but qualified and competent before obtaining the facts.
I can understand that many times what we say gets misconstrued and I am sure you didn't mean to come across as insensitive to the issue. I still humbly suggest that you review your idea of it being laughable to have an agent of the federal government call that crew anything BUT experienced AND AS QUALIFIED AS ANY AIRLINE PILOT considering its the truth and who his audience was... the uninformed public.