Posted on 01/07/2019 5:25:36 PM PST by lowbridge
“The Last Days of JFK Jr.,” a two-hour special promising new details and new interviews under the ABC News banner, aired Thursday night. Not only did the program soft-pedal Kennedy’s complete and utter fault for the crash but it got crucial details wrong — claiming that the FAA said flying conditions that night were “excellent” (according to the National Transportation Safety Board review of the crash, they were extremely poor, and JFK Jr. would have known it), and that his flight instructor was unavailable that night to fly with him. In fact, the NTSB report said one of Kennedy’s instructors did offer to fly with him, but Kennedy said no, that “he wanted to do it alone.”
-snip
Here’s what ABC didn’t report: The NTSB blamed JFK Jr. for the crash. He had less than an hour logged flying at night alone. Out of 310 hours logged, Kennedy had only 72 with a flight instructor, which, as The New York Times reported in July 2000, was considered “an unusually low number” by experts. The Times also reported that one pilot said that as he flew over Martha’s Vineyard that night, he thought the whole island had suffered a power outage, and that haze and visibility that night was as low as four miles. The Guardian reported that Kennedy’s certificate “forbade him to fly with visibility less than five miles.”
In the dark, with no horizon, Kennedy was unable to tell the sea from the land from the sky. He became confused: What the pilot may feel the plane is doing is actually different than what the instruments say, and he likely wound up in what’s called the graveyard spiral, plummeting 79 feet per second toward the ocean.
(Excerpt) Read more at nypost.com ...
Robin Olds.
“The Kennedy’s should stay away from driving boats, airplanes and automobiles”
Don’t forget skis
Kennedys:
Can’t Fly
Can’t Ski
Can’t Drive
Can’t skipper a boat
....but they know what’s best for us.
Why didn’t J.F.K. Jr. take a shower before he took off in his airplane?...... Because he knew he was going to wash-up on the Beach.
Wag the Dog...
The article was about a trial on a simulator where highly experienced NON instrument rated pilots were placed in a situation where visibility was suddenly lost. In all of the simulations, the airplane crashed. 168 seconds was the average time to lose control of the flight.
My friend was convinced that Kennedy was flying by autopilot until he had to land. When he turned off the autopilot, the conditions were such that he could not properly see the horizon, and he crashed. It was Kennedy's hubris that killed him.
The closest I ever came to getting kilt (so far) was the day I learned what “Macon reporting thunderstorms in all four quadrants” actually meant.
In retrospect, it should have been obvious.
Kennedys. Can’t drive, can’t ski, can’t fly.
[Didn’t believe his lying instruments.]
That’s what I don’t get.
Is there not an artificial horizon indicator in all small aircraft? Assuming there is, how complicated is it too look at that and not believe it.
The only crash (with regards to this instrument) that scares me is the 737 where it failed (but apparently the back-up was working just fine - nobody looked at it, apparently). South America IIRC. Of course a 737 isn’t a small aircraft, I’m just talking about the artificial horizon instrument.
yep
I gotta admit that’s a new one on me.
Pinging Nully.
I have a book.
Sounds interesting. Wouldn’t surprise me.
With all those things going on, the additional stress could hinder his coping mechanisms, too.
I’ve watched the “Why Planes Crash” on JFK, Jr. a couple of times, too. They’re usually not too bad. Though I no longer have respect for Lester Holt (narrator).
As some have mentioned JFK, Jr. bought a plane with higher performance than his Cessna 172 and had only had it a short time.
And, the “spatial disorientation” doesn’t fit. I asked several flight trainers and they said it only happens when a pilot falls asleep, when an emergency occurs or in really serious weather.
And, why did he take a new flight plan where he did not have to communicate and even in borderline ifr conditions not one time key up his radio?
I may try to clean up a chapter of my story and post it up. I was aiming to publish it for free for the 20 year anniversary.
The plane had everything needed but I don’t think he was instrument rated. Even at that pretty much from novice pilots on up they should have at least rudimentary instrument knowledge. He may have frozen or panicked.
Yeah, when I played my cheap flight simulators (gaming not actual flight simulators) you just follow the artificial horizon and the altimeter. If you got disoriented during a dogfight at night, look at the instruments.
Just hope there isn’t a mountain nearby.....
That being said, then there was a whiteout condition one time.....clouds and snow:
Big ol’ DC-10 - at least a couple of DC-10 incidents in 1979. Chicago was because of maintenance not following proper procedure and damaging the No. 1 pylon IIRC.
Air New Zealand:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ApIq0Z6bxDw
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