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To: machogirl
I think you're way off target.
When you're upo to you @ss in electrical problems (think lightening strike and both engines flamed out)
and you're trying to restart the engines before you smack the ground,
a radio call is the least of your concerns.

I didn't see anything abnormal about the altitude data for the Airbus 300, except that it stops at 1,500 feet MSL and the Birmingham Airport is at 650 feet MSL.
There's 850 feet of data missing.
Now, the question might lead to "Did the pilot RESET the aircraft Altimeter to Birmingham's LOCAL ALTIMETER SETTING when he was handed off from Atlanta Center to Birmingham Approach Control ?
Did the pilot report the current Birmingham ATIS Code and fail to RESET his Altimeter ?
But the Birmingham METAR reports the Altimeter at 29.99 at the time of the crash.
Since Center runs all traffic on a standard day Altimeter of 29.92, that's a difference of 700 feet, and a pilot can have an Altimeter difference of 250 feet without correction.
Normally a noticed difference of 75 feet from the field elevation when the aircraft is parked on the airport would be reported by the pilot.
But there could have been an uncorrected altimeter that needed replacing, or failure to change the altimeter setting to the Birmingham airport setting.
121 posted on 08/14/2013 11:41:38 AM PDT by Yosemitest
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To: Yosemitest

there is a reason i don’t work for the ntsb.
thanks for the analysis so my brain doesn’t go way off track.

so sad.

i have a kid working on boeing stuff. since i’m not an electrical engineer, but i was trained in another engineering discipline, i asked him last year about the redundancy in the systems (hoping it’s redunant by a factor of 2 or 3, i was thinking of the souix city crash). he says it is, but darn, if it’s all controlled by computers and the electronics fry, and there is no safety net of altitude?


122 posted on 08/14/2013 11:52:42 AM PDT by machogirl (First they came for my tagline)
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To: Yosemitest
But the Birmingham METAR reports the Altimeter at 29.99 at the time of the crash. Since Center runs all traffic on a standard day Altimeter of 29.92, that's a difference of 700 feet

29.99 minus 29.92 equals 70 feet, not 700 feet. Even if they neglected to reset the altimeter, it's not enough to have made a difference in this case.

That notam closing runway 18 was issued after the crash.

As for the cause, of course this is speculation, but it appears weather was not a factor. The glideslope was out but the visibility was good enough, and there is a PAPI on runway 18 that should have been visible at that range, so I don't think they were following a false ILS glideslope.

So far it seems there must have been a mechanical issue that at least contributed to the accident.

127 posted on 08/14/2013 12:25:14 PM PDT by zipper ("The Second Amendment IS my carry permit!" -- Ted Nugent)
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To: Yosemitest; machogirl

“Since Center runs all traffic on a standard day Altimeter of 29.92, that’s a difference of 700 feet, and a pilot can have an Altimeter difference of 250 feet without correction.”


Just what the hell is this kinda bilge are you spillin’? Who’s arse are ya pullin’ this from? You might start pulling for the conspiracy theory folk on this thread, b’cause you have NO IDEA ON HOW TO COMMIT AVIATION, LET ALONE SPEAK OF IT!

machogirl says she doesn’t have much of a clue, and you are trying to be machodud, and fill her in with all the “facts”. The gal don’t stand a chance in understanding a chart, NOTAM, or anything to do with aviation with your ignorance on display, though unappearent to he, and others on this thead.

Get yer arse out from in front of FSX, and earn your ASEL...


170 posted on 08/14/2013 7:04:16 PM PDT by SgtBob (Freedom is not for the faint of heart. Semper Fi!)
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