NOTICE THE DIFFERENCE:
VERSUS:
There's
a huge difference between flying VFR with a 3,500 ft ceiling,
and flying IFR, but on a "Visual Approach" with a ceiling of SEVEN HUNDRED FEET Broken cloud base.
That is definately a RED FLAG, and someone needs to explain the difference between the statement given by Jennifer Surane, Alan Levin & Thomas Black of Bloomberg.
"It was northeast of the Birmingham airport at 4:47 a.m. local time when industry data tracker FlightAware.com received its last report."
...
"FlightAware said visibility was about 6 miles amid mist and a layer of broken clouds at 700 feet above the ground."
The
National Weather Service site for KBHM reported:
14 03:53 Calm 10.00 Overcast BKN010 OVC075 74 71 91% NA NA 29.97 1013.8
So at 03:53 AM Birmingham has 1,000 ft Broken Clouds with Overcast Ceiling at 7,500 Feet with 10.00 miles Visibility.
This is a lot different than Broken Ceiling at 3,500 feet and 10 miles visibility.
Then, the nest report after the crash reports:
14 04:53 N 5 10.00 Overcast FEW011 BKN035 OVC075 74 72 94% NA NA 29.97 1014.1
That's a Few Clouds at 1,100 feet, Broken Ceiling at 3,500 feet, and Overcast at 7,300 feet with visibility at 10 miles.
I don't see what they reported as:
"FlightAware said visibility was about 6 miles amid mist and a layer of broken clouds at 700 feet above the ground."
This is a huge difference in the situation.
Was it a pilot report from their own pilot before the crash ?