The news coverage of the crash of a Colgan Airways DHC-8 on approach to KBUF has made much of the fact that there was nothing said over the raido by the airplane's crew prior to impact.
There is a reason for that. One of the earliest lessons drilled into pilots from their first lesson are these three words: Avigate, Navigate. Communicate.
First of all, fly the airplane. No matter what else is going on, fly the airplane. If you are going to crash, fly it as far into the crash as you can. Never give up, keep flying it until you can't (or the flight ends routinely).
Second, navigate the airplane. Know where you are, where you're going, what the weather will be and how much gas you'll have in reserve.
Third, and a distant third, communicate. Airplanes fly by Bernoulli, not Marconi. If you are in a bad situation, odds are there is nobody on the ground who can help you. If you are in the process of crashing off-airport, nobody in Air Traffic Control can do a damned thing for you; you need to use all of your brain to either avoid crashing or minimize the crash. If you want an example, you might have noticed that after USAir 1549 told ATC they were going into the river, they said nothing more.
The pilots of Colgan 3407 obviously knew that the shit hit the fan and they concentrated on trying to regain control of the airplane, not on jabbering to ATC. That's why they didn't say anything.
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They just reported that the black boxes indicate that the plane was on autopilot.
"The plane was on auto pilot". Who said that? I know I just read the same statement, but who said it and what evidence was do they have to support the statement? Look, the only evidence that has any credibilty is the flight data recorders and when the NTSB takes a look at what they hold can some subjectived judgements be made. Those that hold the knowledge of exactly what happened are no longer with us. It's done and over for them and no amount of trying to get out ahead of the facts which lie in those recorders does a disservice to all pilots. IMHO!
"Airplanes fly by Bernoulli, not Marconi."
Good line!
One of the things I have learned about aviation is that before anything starts leaking about engine failures, parts falling off or technology breaking down on the plane, etc., BLAME THE PILOT!
And then they hope that, after the investigation, their airplanes/missed-fudged maintenance schedule/etc. aren't to blame.
You are right. Wait for the full investigation before believing anything.
If you'll re-read, Russ, you will note that I posted that the NTSB reported that the plane was on auto-pilot according to the black friggin' boxes.
This was in the following BBC news story:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7889764.stm
No one is blaming the pilot; it looks like the regulations for that specific plane may indicate you're supposed to have the autopilot on.
"Federal Aviation Administration spokeswoman Laura Brown said ... some planes are certified to be flown on autopilot in icing conditions because doing so "may actually keep the aircraft at a steadier speed and altitude than a pilot could flying it manually."
The Buffalo News today has some aerial photos of the crash scene. That the plane landed on only one house in a crowded neighborhood was mind boggling. And two of the three people in the house, now only a basement pit, got out without major injury. With the fuel load they had, they could have incinerated a dozen houses if they had gone in at an angle.
Another aviation aphorism: Don't drop the airplane while trying to fly the microphone.
LRod
ZJX, ORD, ZAU retired.
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