I just thought it was interesting because of the authors obvious knowledge of the airfield. Not that I agreed with everything it said.. I’ll wait until the NTSB report comes out.

As far as the avionics on the MA…you make mucho sense. Also agree with the rest.

I’m with Lex..Doesn’t anybody look at the wet compass anymore?

B2

On the issue of the motivation for Embry-Riddle (and the like-blieve the accident PIC was from Rutgers) grads to endure starvation wages at the regionals is largely due to the age 60 rule which forces “gummers” to leave revenue flying at 60 years old.
Guaranteed moveup-if a bit slow at times.

Also a simple axiom of airline life: Pay and quality of life are directly related to the number of seats on the equipment you work.

Indeed, if sophistication is an issue in this accident, its because too much of it caused the crew to forget the basics.

The abysmal pay is correct. So is the steep cost of entry into a “regional” cockpit(just ask the Embry-Riddle intern working on the Jepps behind me as we speak). However, the training once at the airline is not by any stretch minimal, and “Len” is at best being disingenuous.
Now the Part 141 pilot track wherein a person can hit all the numbers in minimum time and never even encounter icing conditions (for instance) until on the line is another matter….

Fatigue. Still not sure if this crew was a “highspeed” or not, but whatever rest period they had was union mandated. So the union would have bought into whatever rules they followed.

No boards on that runway. Been looking to see what the requirements are, but you won’t see them except on the larger civil runways.

Something interesting making the rounds re the mishap inside:

“Subject: lexington disaster –a pilot’s view

Aviation disaster –a pilot’s view

I live in Lexington and have thirty years of airline experience flying in and out of LEX. I was also the station liaison for Lexington for ten years .

Here is what I think happened:

The two runways in question share the same common run-up area. The extended taxiway to the correct runway, runway 28 was closed due to construction. It has always been difficult to tell between the two runways when you are taxiing out. The natural thing to do is to take the wrong one. It is just there and you are always tempted to take it. When I flew out of LEX we always checked each other at least three times to make sure we were taking the correct runway. We checked the chart, we checked to make sure the correct runway number was at the end and we always double checked the FMS generated moving map.

Most FMS systems will have a warning called “runway dissimilarity” pop up in magenta when your position at takeoff doesn’t match the runway you programmed into the computer. This would not happen at LEX since you are virtually in the same spot when you take either runway.

It was also raining at the time of takeoff and dark. The control tower opens at 6am (because we are, after all, it is all about saving money) and only has one controller on duty at that time. He or she has to: run ground control, clearance delivery, approach control and departure control. The one controller also has to program the ATIS and make the coffee. He or she probably cleared COMAIR to take off and then put their head back down to do a chore or work another airplane.

Taking the runway, the COMAIR guy would put the power up and wouldn’t realize they were on the wrong runway until they were about 70% down the pike. Too late to safely abort so he probably decided to try and continue the takeoff.

his is when the eye witnesses heard a series of explosions and though the plane blew up in the air. Didn’t happen — what they heard and saw were compressor stalls of probably both engines. The pilot no doubt pushed the throttles all the way up and that demand to the engines combined with the steep pitch attitude cut off enough air to the intakes to cause the compressor stalls — which, by the way, made them even more doomed. Less power.

They stalled or simply hit one of the large hills to the west of the airport and came to a stop. Everybody on board was probably injured but alive. Then, a second or two later the post-crash fire began. With the darkness and the fact that most of them had broken legs, pelvises and backs they literally burned alive. Not smoke inhalation. They really actually burned to death.

In my role as station liaison I wrote most of the post crash safety procedure for Delta at that field. Too bad there weren’t enough survivors to use them.

BTW, COMAIR and the press will tell you what a great plane the RJ is. This is a total lie. The Canadair RJ was designed to be an executive barge, not an airliner. They were designed to fly about ten times a month, not ten times a day. They have a long history of mechanical design shortfalls. I’ve flown on it and have piloted it. It is a steaming, underpowered piece of shit. It never had enough power to get out of its own way and this situation is exactly what everybody who flies it was afraid of.

The senior member of the crew had about five and a half years of total jet experience. The copilot less. They had minimum training (to save money — enjoy that discount ticket!) and were flying a minimally equipped p.o.s. on very short rest. The layover gets in about 10pm the night before. They report for pick-up at 4:30am.

I’m sorry if I sound bitter but this is exactly the direction the entire airline industry is going. Expect to see bigger more colorful crashes in the future. Email me if you need an off the record so-called expert. I have 20,000 of heavy jet flying time and am type rated in the 727, 757, 767, 777, DC-8, DC-9 and L-1011.

It is not for the faint hearted. I don’t know the author.
And, please don’t shoot me…I’m only the messenger.
Len
First an intro…

A pretty simple formula here:

* Extraordinarily poor pay, working conditions & benefits at Comair =
minimally qualified & inexperienced pilots are hired.

(who else is going to do the job anymore with crappy pay and no
pensions…certainly no more incentive for military pilots to leave early to
fly for an airline, when you can stay in the military and make similar
senior-pilot pay and still get a lifetime pension and medical benefits.
Likewise, what pilot students’ want to go to Embry-Riddle University and
spend $200,000+ getting a degree and learning to fly, only to go get a
shitty job after graduation? Pay at the commuters starts at $1,800/month
and tops out at $50K-60K/year after 12 years with no pension…you can
almost make that at a fast food restaurant. Pilots are quitting in droves
for better careers elsewhere…even the senior guys…as you know I quit
early because they terminated our pensions and medical benefits…and I
wasn’t the only one)

* Inadequate scheduled overnight rest = fatigue

* Inexperienced crew + fatigue = accidents”

B2

And if so… (or if not assuming they are on 22) wouldn’t this be a major indicator to the “Non-flying” captain who is responsible for RTO calls, V1 etc…?

“S” Friggin’ “A” !!!!!!