Hey pilots, what about this latest plane crash?

I'm thinking some X-Files stuff went down on the plane. The special agent jumped out and left the unresponsive crew behind. Seriously any ideas though? The fighter escorts said the windows were frosted over and there was no response while it was in the air. Bizarre.

http://www.mynews13.com/content/new...n9/2014/9/5/jets_investigating_u.html?cid=rss

 

The pilot is an acquaintance of mine. Prayers for his family.

 

It's not bizarre, it's what happens with decompression. Same thing was reported in the Payne Stewart crash a few years ago.

Oh shit

 

Hypoxia set in and out went everyone onboard.

 

I having trouble with the explanation, as I did with Payne Stewarts crash. Payne was a friend of a friend, met him at a party once in Springfield, MO.

In the scenario of sudden depressurization, isn't standard procedure to descend to an altitude with breathable air ASAP? It seems to me there is time to descend or at the very least turn off auto pilot. For that matter, the auto-pilot should be smart enough to recognize sudden depressurization.

I'm asking, not judging, with only a few hours of real flight time and a private pilot written under my belt.

 

Not if its a slow leak. They won't even know until it was too late and went to sleep.

 

THIS! Most often it's a slow leak that the ECS can't keep up with not a rapid decompression. The pilots should have been paying attention to the cabin pressure altimeter as well.

 

No cabin pressure or O2 sensor?

 

Well, yes, but the pilot has to recognize something is wrong. These aren't super sophisticated all-electronic aircraft with automatic controls.

The ATC audio is available, pilot requests lower altitude because of an "incorrect cockpit indication." He'd been cruising at 28k, was cleared down to 25k, and trying to get lower. Center cleared them to 20k, but it seems that's about the time they lost radio contact

 

I would think if he was worried about loss of cabin pressure he would have descended clearance be damned.

 

Very easy to sit here in our chairs and say that. Low oxygen does very strange things to the mind.

 

It's an interesting question, though.

When I "flew" the decompression chamber at an AFB 30 years ago, they took us to 30k ft or so and we removed our oxygen masks to experience the effect.

We each had something to do (simple math, etc.) and the idea was to recognize when you needed to put the mask back on. Some never did and had to have it put on for them.

My task was to stare at a color wheel. As I recall, the colors almost immediately went to black and white. It was a crazy experience. You get goofy, like being high, then you just keep fading towards unconsciousness.

Point being, you would think there would be warning signs to the crew. But then again, flying can be a boring thing and I could see where you could suckered in.

 

True, very sad. Prayers to all involved.

 

It's very much a strange and enlightening experience. I was able to accomplish the basic tasks we were given, I just felt good doing it. Didn't notice any color changes, wasn't stupid giddy, or anything like that. Wasn't until near the end of the page of activities that I realized how much slower my thinking was and how much time it was taking.

 

bingo.

 

95% of the aircraft in flight have my company's parts on them. Despite all the gauges we manufacture, there is still a great deal left to the pilot.

Aerospace is a small world despite what everyone may think. Prayers to all of those that lost someone.

 

Skip to 4:00, that's the first transmission from 900KN in the recording. Pay particular attention to his speech within a few minutes

http://archive-server.liveatc.net/kgso/ZTL-GSO-Sep-05-2014-1400Z.mp3

 

Assuming all warning systems were operating correctly, one of the first things they should have done was deploy their masks if they got a pressurization warning. Need to then get below 12K ft. If they fail to use the supplemental oxygen prior to getting below 12K while in decent, it will knock them out. When you start depriving the brain of oxygen, you don't think clearly.
For the front seats, it's a lot more than just putting on the mask that drops from the ceiling.
http://www.smartcockpit.com/download.php?path=docs/&file=TBM_700-Emergency_Procedures.pdf go to page 3.13.5

edit: disclaimer...I'm not a pilot. Having survived a small plane crash and having friends that fly these things, I get intrigued and read up on this stuff when it happens. Not trying to sound like an expert...just relaying what I have read.

 

I honestly had NO IDEA a prop-plane could fly that high.......I guess this is the type they were flying, a Daher-Socata TBM-900?



Sucks to hear this......

 

Yup, that's it. And they can fly even higher. The Piaggio P.180 can cruise at 39,000 feet.