April 10, 2010: POLISH PRESIDENT DIES IN PLANE CRASH (AND 88 OTHERS)- CONFIRMED

Al Jazeera ^ | April 10, 2010

[lizol]

Polish president dies in air crash

A plane carrying Lech Kaczynski, the Polish president, has crashed near Smolensk airport in western Russia, killing all on board, Russian officials have reported.

Polish officials confirmed on Saturday that Kaczynski was on board the flight with his wife, as well as Slawomir Skrzypek, the president of Poland's central bank, Andrzej Kremer, the deputy foreign minister and the army chief of staff.

The crash occurred about 1.5km from Smolensk airport in foggy conditions.

[John W]

On the Putin in charge of investigation thread a poster says its too brazen an act for Putin to have “done this in his own back yard.”

Of course thats the BEST place to do it.

See Dallas, Texas.

[onedoug]

Al Jazeera?

RIP all.

[kempster]

Does anyone else feel like we are all extras in a real life episode of 24?

[John W]

Yes. Stopped reading Clancy and similar fiction I liked on 9/11. No sense in reading it, just watch it on FR.

[Elle Bee]

What if the Russian Tower gave them false altimeter setting info?

In the fog you might think you were approaching the airfield at a greater altitude than you actually were ... then .........

The reporting of altimeter setting information by an airport traffic control tower and/or by ATC Regional Centers is a routine requirement for safe en route (altitude separation) and terminal area (approach) navigation and has been a standard procedure for many years. Presently, each control tower has one or more precision aneroid or bourdon tube type barometric pressure sensing altimeter setting indicators (ASI) having accuracies on the order of ± 0.020 to ± .040 inches of mercury. Each sensor has to be calibrated periodically in accordance with its own calibration characteristic and this calibration "number" must be "greasepencilled" periodically on the face of the instrument and taken into account in the computation of the reported altimeter setting number. This task is difficult, time consuming and subject to human error. The altimeter setting indicator reading from such instruments is not readily converted into digital format for transmission throughout an airport for remote indication. It is often the situation that different calibration numbers must be added or subtracted from the instrument reading with respect to the various instruments at the airport, often resulting in discrepancies between altimeter settings communicated to aircraft from different sources at the same airport.

Schiphol airliner crash blamed on altimeter failure, pilot error

Investigators in The Netherlands have announced that last month's crash of a Boeing 737-800 was caused by a combination of an instrument failure and pilot error. Turkish Airlines Flight 1951 crashed upon approach to Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport, killing nine and injuring eighty of the 135 passengers and crew on board.

Pieter van Vollenhoven, head of the Dutch Safety Board, said yesterday that as the aircraft was at 1,950 feet the faulty altimeter indicated that the airliner's height was at minus eight feet. Because the autopilot and autothrottle were running from this flawed data the plane automatically reduced engine power as it would in the final seconds before landing.

The sensitive altimeter

The sensitive altimeter is the cockpit instrument that indicates the aircraft's altitude. The instrument is a refined aneroid barometer with a dial indicating height above a pre-set level rather than atmospheric pressure. The main component of such an instrument is a small, flexible, corrugated metal capsule from which the air has been partially evacuated — fitted with a metal closure or diaphragm. There is a spring within the capsule that applies a constant force to the bottom of the diaphragm, while atmospheric static pressure applies a counter force to the top, so that the diaphragm moves as atmospheric pressure changes. The movement of the pressure-sensing capsule is transferred and magnified — via a mechanical linkage or piezo-quartz component — to a dial pointer or pointers, or a digital display, which indicate the altitude reading. The static pressure is drawn from the aircraft's static vent, which may induce slight position errors due to aerodynamic effects around the vent.

The level in the atmosphere at which any particular pressure occurs is also dependent on temperature — as we saw in the 'Airspeed and the properties of air' module — but the altimeter does not sense the air temperature. Consequently, all altimeters are calibrated in accordance with the International Standard Atmosphere [ISA] model, which utilises a standard temperature lapse rate with height of 6.5 °C per km. The atmosphere in any region rarely corresponds to the ISA, so aneroid altimeters do not indicate totally accurate height. This is not that important, as true altitude can be calculated, in the rare circumstance that it is needed for terrain clearance purposes. There is no problem with air traffic management, in that all aircraft in the same region, with properly set (and functioning) altimeters, will be out by the same amount.

It is, of course, desirable to set the current local surface pressure into the altimeter by setting that reference pressure into a pressure-setting scale (known since the 1930s as the 'Kollsman Window'), which in turn resets the position of the height-indicating pointers against the dial. Or, if the aircraft is on the ground, the same result is achieved by turning the pressure-setting scale until the altimeter indicates the known airfield elevation. The altimeter in the image indicates an altitude of 1400 feet with the baro-scale set at 29.9 inches of mercury [in/Hg] — equivalent to 1013 hPa. If the altitude was 11 400 feet, the pointer with the inverted triangle on the end would be past the figure 1 on the image, indicating +10 000 feet.

In Australia, all barometric pressures are reported in hectopascals [equivalent to millibars]; and in the USA in units of inches of mercury [in/Hg =33.86 hPa]. The sub-scale setting range provided in modern altimeters is from 850 to 1050 hPa.

Altitude encoding

In some flight conditions, an aircraft must operate a transponder for traffic separation purposes. The transponder obtains altitude data from a special altitude encoding altimeter or from a blind encoder; the latter being an electronic device that obtains current atmospheric pressure from the static pressure line and the reference pressure used is preset at 1013.2 hPa. That same reference pressure is used for the altitude encoding function of the altimeter, thus the transponder broadcasts pressure altitude only.

[Cboldt]

This so sucks.

Many companies avoid putting too much of their brain trust in one vehicle. Sounds like too much of Poland's brain trust was on this ill-fated flight.

[nuconvert]

Now that they’re starting to report it more, they’re still missing the huge impact of it. Yes, they’re reporting the Polish president and his wife died and they may include the head of the army, but it’s MUCH more than that. It’s the leading commanders of all branches of their military - their most experienced and the hardest to replace. The government diplomats or mayors or governors on board the plane or other politicians are more easily replaceable.
But the news outlets aren’t making the distinction or understanding the gravity or importance at all.

[John W]

Incompetence or a “nothing to see here, move along” moment?

[Gritty]

What a devastrating loss to such a wonderful country!

[Thunder90]

Prayers for their families, and to a strong ally of the US.

[spectre]

Where is the President's twin brother? Is he safe?

sw

[GonzoGOP]

Seem strange that Al Jeezera is the first to report this? From Russia?

It is easy to be first to press when you don't doble check your stories. So when it turns out the story is true they look good.

[ohioWfan]

This is a tragic loss for Poland, and for freedom fighters all over the world.

Praying for all affected by this.

[etabeta]

Terrible, terrible news. My condolences and prayers for Poland and its people. I have several friends there.

[Monkey Face]

I am so sorry for Poland and the people who are such wonderful champions of Freedom. My prayers will be with all the families and all the patriots.

God bless Poland.

[STARWISE]

Greatest country in Europe these days. Long live Poland. What a loss! What an unimaginable tragedy!

~ ~ ~

Amen. This is devastating.
God rest their souls and help Poland.

[Bridesheadfan]

Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord;
And let perpetual light shine upon them;
May they, and all of the souls of the
faithful departed, Rest in Peace Amen.

[STARWISE]

God be with you all. So so sad for you all.

[ohioWfan]

I share your cynicism.

[NordP]

That was my first thought. Grinning and paying someone.

God Bless the people of Poland....so terribly awful. Oh man....so terribly, terribly awful.

Sons and Daughters of Liberty be ready to survive. It's getting ugly out there.