Problem is rich people on charters have an annoying habit of ignoring seat belt signs just like regular airline passengers do. And since there is no flight attendant required on planes of that size it is very difficult for the flight crew to enforce once the briefing is done and flight is airborne. Anyway RIP.
On Friday afternoon, my co-pilot and I were scheduled to fly a King Air 200 plus 4 passengers from Memphis to Lexington, KY (about 1 hr 15 min) that would land at LEX around 4:45 pm EST. Friday morning we cancelled because winds were forecast up to 50 knots at LEX. Forecast turbulence also looked bad.
The actual surface winds at LEX around 4:30 pm EST were up to 60 knots.
I am happy to report that the crew and passengers are at their homes in the Memphis area and did not receive any injuries by staying on the ground.
2 replies
Exactly the thought I had.
ADSBExchange shows the flight climbing at 2000 ft/min and a ground speed of 320 kts, then over Hatfield, MA at 23450 ft the vertical speed jumps to 3648, 4880 and 5880 over a period of 5 seconds. The FMS was set for 225 and the ground track was 200.
Aeronautical Decision Making at its finest. Discretion is the better part of valor.
I live just east of Lexington and can confirm that conditions were truly awful.
Unfortunately, that’s the world we live in. Or maybe the nation.
Monday AvWeb seems to have an extra amount of bad news, as this example. I guess it is the accumulation over the weekend. Lets hope that all the charter crews redouble their efforts to inform passengers no matter how wealthy.
Now it’s a possible trim issue? Per NTSB report
I saw something about the trim earlier today—that one escapes me completely. I’ve been in severe turbulence, although not “extreme”, in 50 years of flying, but it never occurred to me that adjusting trim would be a significant factor.
Seat belts/harnesses, on the other hand, make a big difference in severe turbulence.
? Buckle up for safety buckle up!
Buckle up for safety, always buckle up.
Put your seatbelt snug, give an extra tug,
buckle up for safety, buckle up!
If you remember that ditty you’re probably as old as me. All joking aside, only a person of low intelligence would set their carcass in an aircraft seat and remain unbuckled for the duration of the flight. But they exist and the proof is the number of people injured every after an encounter with severe turbulence.