Yes the video I saw made it look like a trail, but it was probably the rain on the windshield of the dash cam that made that effect. I agree it was the landing lights. The lear 55 is a VERY high performance jet- they were climbing out at 180 knots and accelerating, entered the clouds at 400' and the climb rate went up to 3000 ft/min while accelerating through 200 for 250. Those kinds of forces (high deck angle, accelerating, pulling into a climb) is notorious for inducing vertigo. I think the altitude peaked at 1500' or so and they never made the right 90 degree turn that was their clearance. Instead it looks like they rolled over to the left and eventually inverted, exiting the cloud deck at 300 knots and 11'000 ft/min down. Once the bank angle goes past 90 degrees the nose down moment is very strong, and if you're still pulling you could roll yourself right into a nosedive like we saw. Pure speculation from the ADS B data- but it looks like a case of spatial disorientation. Climbing hard and accelerating can strangely make you feel like you're rolling right- perhaps he overcompensated and rolled left and dropped the nose. Would only take seconds at that altitude, speed, and thrust. Blancolirio channel on Youtube has a pretty good breakdown of the ADS B data. It will be interesting to see the experience level of the pilots. Mechanical failures that cause a total loss of control in just a few seconds are kind of rare.
I watched a Pilot Debrief episode just a few weeks ago that the pilot did exactly what you describe and crashed within a couple miles of the airport.
A similar sounding accident happened near here a few years ago. The plane left Charlie Brown and augered in to English Park a mile past the runway. According to the report the plane went from a 2500 fpm climb to 9500 fpm after entering low clouds. The cause was pilot error.
Juan needs to check the beeb for his info, because the plane clearly was on fire, lost the vertical stabilizer, was struck by a drone, had a bomb on board, and the pilot deliberately flew it into the ground to protest the tariffs. Seriously though, that dude always has the most clear, unbiased insight that I've seen for aviation stuff.
In most every case of the military overspending on stupid things that I’ve heard, the price actually made sense contextually and was just a sign of some other government dysfunction. Or the people complaining about the price are just plain ignorant. In the case of the government spending $30,000 (or something like that) for toilet seat covers, it was because they had to buy a mold for the urinal housing. The aircraft would be unsat to fly without it. So $100 worth of plastic and labor and $29,900 on the mold. Because we’re flying 50-60 year old aircraft and the manufacturer no longer has the tooling for everything. If Congress did its job and ran effective procurement programs for a more modern transport aircraft, we wouldn’t have the issue. Fly old shit, and you have to get custom parts made sometimes. Same as Jay Leno having to custom CNC parts for those old steamers he drives. In other cases I’ve seen people complain that the military is spending $40 for a bolt on an aircraft…. Not understanding that bolts for aircraft are under stringent QC and documentation requirements so we don’t have $100 million jets fall out of the sky because we cheaped out on a $2 screw.
In the video of the in-car cam, it looks like the plane curved harder toward impact as it broke through the clouds. I'm wondering, if inversion did happen, what are the chances the pilot tried to pull out of it once they broke through the cloud cover and saw the ground? Given the information we know, would there have even been time to process that?
Living in Northern Virginia, I know plenty of government employees. Every one of them that my wife and I have talked to including one in a security related agency got that email from the OPM. All of them were at least somewhat shaken up by it. I have no idea if it included the controllers or not, but I would lean towards it probably did even if that wasn't the intention. As to the helo/AA crash, as others have stated, they will find one or more ways to lower the risk of a recurrence once they have a chance to complete the investigation. Making recommendations before all the facts are in is a good way to make the wrong recommendation.
All this talk about it being the controllers or because of the Current Guy or the Previous Guy is dumb. It’s obviously a systemic problem created by multiple administrations and hundreds or thousands of people. There many ailing systems involving all types of infrastructure to include IT, physical structures, and personnel training and management. I’ve heard transportation experts say for over a decade that a midair collision was inevitable. There have been near misses for ages. Everyone here is familiar with motorcycles and other dangerous activities. We all know that all those near misses eventually become a not-missed at large enough scales and timeframes.
After 9/11 it was recommended to close Reagan. Too many people disagreed and it remains open. But the compromise was really wonky flight paths to and from the airport. From the pilots here, it seems like it's not a fun place to fly to or from.
Another possible contributing factor that I have not seen mentioned might be the impact of night vision goggles on spatial orientation and distance estimation. I had seen a report that the pilot was wearing these during the training mission. I cannot confirm it. Son is an F16 pilot and he has mentioned that things appear very different when they are flying with night vision equipment.With all of the ambient lighting in downtown DC, I can imagine that it could be very complex sorting eveything out.
You won’t get me to disagree. The same process for obtaining to tank is the same for obtaining a toilet seat in DoD. The cost factors in all the fluff involved in checks and balances allegedly in place to save taxpayers money. I totally get it man. Promise you.
Can't argue there really. Practices to attract and retain the best and brightest employees have not been in place in the government probably since our country was founded. That said, some wind up there because they want to make our country a better place. Unfortunately, the system also attracts some of the worst as well and it is almost impossible to get rid of them once they are in place. Most of the country has a low opinion of government employees because most of the ones they interface with and see on TV are not the best ones. The best government employees are the ones behind the scenes trying to overcome the bad employees, the politics, and the bureaucracy to actual get stuff done and make our country a better place.
https://www.airforcetimes.com/news/...force-puts-the-kibosh-on-the-1300-coffee-cup/ It contains an internal heating element powered by a proprietary interface in a then 37 year old aircraft, most likely using technology from the late 60s and early 70s. Given the low production rate and proprietary nature of the cup, the manufacturer only stocks whole units not pieces. It also has to work reliably through long and repetitive duty cycles. The cup also requires certification and quality control to meet safety standards. Again, it's a consequence of operating old and proprietary shit. This product also underwent rapid inflation in 2 years, in an inflationary environment. The government clearly isn't agile enough to respond to these changes, but they have made strides in enabling personnel to address it using novel technologies like 3d printing. My guess is equivalents on commercial aircraft (not withstanding the proprietary interface) probably cost on order of $300 - 500. $1300 coffee cups make for good headlines, but poor analysis when the conclusion being sought is 'government stupid'. I'm sure there are thousands of military products that suffer from the exact same array of issues. The good government employees I assume also mostly get tired of being martyrs. There's no reward for that. If your system relies on personnel being motivated exclusively by the mission and not your benefits package, you'll inevitably get a system that contains a lot of dead weight composed of people who can't do better, with a few highly motivated martyrs to move things along.