@ORIF I did my time in the Air Force as an Aircrew Egress Systems Tech Initially B52, then the Martin Baker system on the F4 Phantom And finally the ACES II (acey deucy) in F15, F16, and A10 aircraft. The ACES II was a huge advancement, however, it still always came down to the pilot. Slap him on the back and raise a toast, that was great work!
Sorry hear about your friend Gino. Any idea what Venezuelan maintenance is like? I doubt I would want to fly in a a Cessna 150 from down there, much less a Citation V...unless it had done a phase 5 or whatever they call heavy maintenance on that model.
Sorry about your friend, Gino. I don't know if it does anything for you but in these situations, I take a little comfort in knowing that there probably wasn't much time being scared or suffering. I have been wondering why the aircraft flew back towards its starting point after it got to its destination. Wouldn't it enter a holding pattern if there was no input? Or keep going straight? Or possibly fly to its alternate? Returning to the starting point would have been my last guess.
Thanks to guys like you, they have a chance at survival. Big Thumbs Up! And to clarify, it was his squadron mate. The investigation is ongoing and usually takes a few months.
He probably had the arrival programmed but maybe not the approach- If I recall, the arrival into ISP hooks around to the southeast and then towards the airport. Eventually the arrival ends and it defaults to heading mode. I haven't gotten out the maps yet, but it probably flew down the runway heading (240) and just continued on at 39,000. It was dumb luck that it took them right over DC. I don't really know, but alot of the other guys who have retired are moonlighting flying Citations- for some reason the airplane is popular with business owners, probably because you can fly it single pilot, so it's cheaper. Anyway, one of the guys told me that the plane had a checkered past- I don't know what he meant by that, but I imagine we'll find out. It's difficult knowing you can do everything in your power to keep your passengers safe, and sometimes it's not enough no matter what you do, or how good or experienced you are. That's life, I guess, you just do your best every day and let fate take care of the rest.
With the price of used business jets increasing significantly in the past couple of years, a lot of these older Citations have been "brought back to life" so to speak.
That's a design sure to piss off the passengers so I'm sure the industry will embrace the concept. Keeping passengers uncomfortable and irritated seems to be their main objective these days.
That is absolutely crazy that the pilot wasn't ready to punch out yet and the back seat thought it time to go. Very glad that no one was hurt, that plane came to rest just feet from an apartment building. Lack of acceleration during a low banked turn when you should be in afterburner is def cause for concern!
