Fri Apr 23, 2010 10:58 am
#855738
The shark has pretty teeth
Nick Lambert takes Pilot X and his friend to Florida where
sun, fun and fishing shouldn’t have involved airframe icing, cross-runway winds and an unfamiliar aircraft
Even the Weather Channel reporting the first ever occurrence of snow on Daytona Beach failed to dampen Pilot X’s spirits. While their fellow students were attempting to hour-build in the gloom of a British winter, he and George were going to do the same, while touring the Bahamas and enjoying a spot of fishing! If his calculations proved correct, they would also be spending less cash than the suckers back home.
This feeling of self-satisfaction continued as they arrived at Orlando Executive to be checked out on a Cessna 182. The aircraft had fewer hours on the Hobbs meter than the Piper Warriors he was used to would rack up in a month.
Even though he looked younger, Pilot X judged Mike, their instructor, to be about their age. He certainly seemed to know what he was doing and the speed with which his fingers flashed around the Cessna’s glass cockpit left both Pilot X and George in awe. Mike gave them a thorough checkout; they were both current and he didn’t have to ask them to do anything twice.
Being only seven miles from Orlando International, Pilot X was keen for the instructor to check his meticulously planned route, and to confirm to whom he should be talking, and when. Pilot X was particularly keen to avoid practising interception procedures when crossing the Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ).
Mike, on the other hand, was far more interested in taking his new buddies out to
Hooters for a few beers. Despite this, he carefully checked their plan, pronounced it fit for purpose and had a quiet chuckle to himself at the Brits’ meticulous preparations.
Entombed in ice
Next day, there was an icy wind as Pilot X and George carefully checked out the Cessna, discovering that there were no life-jackets. Their friend Mike was nowhere to be seen, so they couldn’t seek his assistance. Pilot X and George were annoyed when they were told they’d have to buy life-jackets – and there was no prospect of a refund once the jackets had been removed from their packaging, which they obviously had to be if they were going to wear them. All of this contrived to make them rush in order to make the departure time on the flight plan. The weather received only a cursory glance, although as Walker’s Cay was only 40 minutes away, Pilot X wasn’t too concerned.
The first few minutes of the flight were really hard work. Initially, they were kept below 1,600ft to keep clear of Orlando’s Terminal Control Area (TCA). The Cessna’s big moving maps really came into their own, helping them maintain some semblance of situational awareness. George, the non-handling pilot, was having some finger trouble, due to the pace of the frequency changes and the unfamiliar equipment. By the time they had opened their flight plan and got the all-important squawk for the ADIZ crossing, they were both completely frazzled. A few minutes later they reached their cruising altitude of 9,500ft. Perhaps sensing an overloaded crew, Miami Center offered them a direct routing to Walker’s. However, after a brief discussion they elected to stick with the planned route.
Abeam Freeport, Pilot X could see that they were heading for a bank of cloud. This wasn’t part of the plan. Although both he and George had some time ‘under the hood’, neither had their Instrument Rating yet. They exchanged worried glances as pilot reports of icing at 7,000ft started coming over the radio. Pilot X asked for a descent to 5,000ft, which he estimated to be below cloudbase. Miami was only able to clear them down to 7,000ft due to traffic. So that’s where they found themselves, enveloped by cloud, with Pilot X concentrating hard on the instruments. He didn’t dare look up but George informed him they were picking up ice at an alarming rate. When he did finally glance up, Pilot X, who had never seen anything other than light icing before, was shocked at how quickly they had become entombed in ice.
As soon as common sense prevailed, they informed Miami of their problem and were immediately cleared down to cloudbase. Due to the high ambient temperature, the ice soon began to disappear and after a couple of minutes they were relieved to be visual with the 69-acre Walker’s Cay island. From 5,000ft the island looked tiny but at least the 2,500ft runway looked substantial.
Pilot X thanked Miami for their help and closed the flight plan while George selected the Unicom frequency. They were unable to raise anyone on the radio as they descended overhead. Now at 1,000ft the windsock was clearly visible, a strong northerly keeping it horizontal and at right-angles to the runway.
Predictably, they were blown straight through the centreline as they made the turn from base to final. The foaming sea crashed menacingly against the rocks below. Pilot X wrestled with the controls. He’d had just about enough of this flight and was determined to get the aircraft on the ground. He had been taught the wing-down technique, but as they descended it was apparent that even with the rudder on the floor, the controls did not have sufficient authority to keep the Cessna lined up with the runway.
The aircraft lurched, barely climbing, as he initiated the go-around and made the transition from crossed controls to balanced flight. This had never happened before and Pilot X was scared witless. He begged George to take over and have a go. George declined but offered that a flapless, higher speed approach might be a better idea. Pilot X’s leg was now shaking as he pushed the rudder to the stops. Initially things looked better but as they neared the runway, and began to slow, it became obvious that things weren’t going to work out. Reluctantly he made the decision to go around.
The National Transportation Safety Board
(NTSB) investigators never found the bodies, but Walker’s is famous for its shark encounters, and the severed 300ft mast on the south-east corner of the island meant it wasn’t too difficult to work out what had happened. ■
Questions
1. What went wrong?
2. What could Pilot X have done to avoid the accident?
Nick Lambert takes Pilot X and his friend to Florida where
sun, fun and fishing shouldn’t have involved airframe icing, cross-runway winds and an unfamiliar aircraft
Even the Weather Channel reporting the first ever occurrence of snow on Daytona Beach failed to dampen Pilot X’s spirits. While their fellow students were attempting to hour-build in the gloom of a British winter, he and George were going to do the same, while touring the Bahamas and enjoying a spot of fishing! If his calculations proved correct, they would also be spending less cash than the suckers back home.
This feeling of self-satisfaction continued as they arrived at Orlando Executive to be checked out on a Cessna 182. The aircraft had fewer hours on the Hobbs meter than the Piper Warriors he was used to would rack up in a month.
Even though he looked younger, Pilot X judged Mike, their instructor, to be about their age. He certainly seemed to know what he was doing and the speed with which his fingers flashed around the Cessna’s glass cockpit left both Pilot X and George in awe. Mike gave them a thorough checkout; they were both current and he didn’t have to ask them to do anything twice.
Being only seven miles from Orlando International, Pilot X was keen for the instructor to check his meticulously planned route, and to confirm to whom he should be talking, and when. Pilot X was particularly keen to avoid practising interception procedures when crossing the Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ).
Mike, on the other hand, was far more interested in taking his new buddies out to
Hooters for a few beers. Despite this, he carefully checked their plan, pronounced it fit for purpose and had a quiet chuckle to himself at the Brits’ meticulous preparations.
Entombed in ice
Next day, there was an icy wind as Pilot X and George carefully checked out the Cessna, discovering that there were no life-jackets. Their friend Mike was nowhere to be seen, so they couldn’t seek his assistance. Pilot X and George were annoyed when they were told they’d have to buy life-jackets – and there was no prospect of a refund once the jackets had been removed from their packaging, which they obviously had to be if they were going to wear them. All of this contrived to make them rush in order to make the departure time on the flight plan. The weather received only a cursory glance, although as Walker’s Cay was only 40 minutes away, Pilot X wasn’t too concerned.
The first few minutes of the flight were really hard work. Initially, they were kept below 1,600ft to keep clear of Orlando’s Terminal Control Area (TCA). The Cessna’s big moving maps really came into their own, helping them maintain some semblance of situational awareness. George, the non-handling pilot, was having some finger trouble, due to the pace of the frequency changes and the unfamiliar equipment. By the time they had opened their flight plan and got the all-important squawk for the ADIZ crossing, they were both completely frazzled. A few minutes later they reached their cruising altitude of 9,500ft. Perhaps sensing an overloaded crew, Miami Center offered them a direct routing to Walker’s. However, after a brief discussion they elected to stick with the planned route.
Abeam Freeport, Pilot X could see that they were heading for a bank of cloud. This wasn’t part of the plan. Although both he and George had some time ‘under the hood’, neither had their Instrument Rating yet. They exchanged worried glances as pilot reports of icing at 7,000ft started coming over the radio. Pilot X asked for a descent to 5,000ft, which he estimated to be below cloudbase. Miami was only able to clear them down to 7,000ft due to traffic. So that’s where they found themselves, enveloped by cloud, with Pilot X concentrating hard on the instruments. He didn’t dare look up but George informed him they were picking up ice at an alarming rate. When he did finally glance up, Pilot X, who had never seen anything other than light icing before, was shocked at how quickly they had become entombed in ice.
As soon as common sense prevailed, they informed Miami of their problem and were immediately cleared down to cloudbase. Due to the high ambient temperature, the ice soon began to disappear and after a couple of minutes they were relieved to be visual with the 69-acre Walker’s Cay island. From 5,000ft the island looked tiny but at least the 2,500ft runway looked substantial.
Pilot X thanked Miami for their help and closed the flight plan while George selected the Unicom frequency. They were unable to raise anyone on the radio as they descended overhead. Now at 1,000ft the windsock was clearly visible, a strong northerly keeping it horizontal and at right-angles to the runway.
Predictably, they were blown straight through the centreline as they made the turn from base to final. The foaming sea crashed menacingly against the rocks below. Pilot X wrestled with the controls. He’d had just about enough of this flight and was determined to get the aircraft on the ground. He had been taught the wing-down technique, but as they descended it was apparent that even with the rudder on the floor, the controls did not have sufficient authority to keep the Cessna lined up with the runway.
The aircraft lurched, barely climbing, as he initiated the go-around and made the transition from crossed controls to balanced flight. This had never happened before and Pilot X was scared witless. He begged George to take over and have a go. George declined but offered that a flapless, higher speed approach might be a better idea. Pilot X’s leg was now shaking as he pushed the rudder to the stops. Initially things looked better but as they neared the runway, and began to slow, it became obvious that things weren’t going to work out. Reluctantly he made the decision to go around.
The National Transportation Safety Board
(NTSB) investigators never found the bodies, but Walker’s is famous for its shark encounters, and the severed 300ft mast on the south-east corner of the island meant it wasn’t too difficult to work out what had happened. ■
Questions
1. What went wrong?
2. What could Pilot X have done to avoid the accident?