Just out of curiosity, how many gallons of fuel can a Vision Jet hold? It’s pretty hard to estimate the volume of fuel spilled on the ground. Even the 50 gallons in a typical 172 looks like a lot when spread out on the tarmac.
No question about that. Pilot error is often the result of ‘risk homeostasis’. Kinda like drivers on city streets or on highways. Gotta wonder how many accidents occur because of anti-lock brakes or anti-ice materials on the road during the winter when patches of black ice is a reality many drivers ignore.
296 gallons, usable.
Almost certainly some, like any safety technology. But it’s better to have it available so one doesn’t have to die from their mistakes.
“how many accidents occur because of anti-lock brakes”
Almost certainly fewer than if most people did not have anti-lock brakes.
“Almost certainly fewer than if most people did not have anti-lock brakes.”
Accidents? Nope. Antilock are designed to maintain control under panick braking. The theory is that it’s safer to plow straight into the accident to better let aibags and belts and engineered crumple zones increase your chances of survival. Honestly, a full -lock sideways slide can avoid an accident if you have skills.
This is the exact scenario I set up to happen unexpectedly in approach in a simulator… the auto pilot wants to drive you into the ground and control movement will not release auto pilot control of the aircraft.
Know where your circuit breaker for the auto pilot is and be ready to pull it if it gets a mind of its own.
I don’t want to harsh everyone’s speculative righteous indignation, but the article clearly states, “Details of the flight are scant at the moment but there were severe thunderstorms in the area at the time.”
Florida pilots know that if your wx brief doesn’t say “thunderstorms in the area”, you entered the wrong airport identifier. During certain times of the year, “severe” is much preferred to “widespread”. At this point we have NOTHING that implicates that a TSTM encounter had anything to do with the accident. The guy survived an inflight failure; good for him. What say we all stop screeching and flinging our poop until we know more about what really happened?
Well said, Chip. Thanks.
I have to disagree Chip. I was there that day. Maybe it was pt3 ice, or another abnormal. It was no afternoon for any light aircraft to fly that route.
Some planes don’t disconnect in response to control column movement, and some do. But they all have a button on the yoke.
Anyway, there’s nothing in the article that says there was an autopilot problem. Jump to conclusions much?
No airplane, of any size or type, has any business flying in convective activity, ever. The smaller the plane, the greater distance is required from that stuff. I’m a “run and hide” kind of guy when the thunderheads are building.
In some cases, it appears to be the opposite, and some pilots pulled too late. Cirrus training says that if you aren’t guaranteed of making a runway due to engine failure, pull it. But a few have tried otherwise, and some have pulled just in time to ensure being out of control when they hit the ground.
Uh, no. Antilock brakes let you steer while braking so you can avoid the accident. Hope you’re keeping your “skills” away from me on the road.
Every aviation mishap is avoidable to some extent. This scenario definitely contains the ingredients for overtaxing of the crew and airframe. Maintenance errors, poor planning, lack of proficiency or training, inaccurate forecasts, misreading of instruments…Only the NTSB and manufacturers are capable of discerning the causal factors with any certainty. I just wish they would move those investigations along quicker so pilots and other aviation personnel can learn from those mistakes.
“Uh, no. Antilock brakes let you steer while braking so you can avoid the accident”
I’ve avoided a collision by locking the rear brakes and swinging the car sideways to a stop. That alone shortened the overall length of the stop by 3 feet and thus avoided t-boning right into his drivers door. If you learn how to actually drive a car at the limits, some “technologies” actually hinder ultimate performance.