Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

Sensory Data

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

  • Sensory Data

    I'm not an expert on any technical aspect of flying, but I know its incredibly safe. Yet these crashes with all aboard lost do tend to impress people more than the millions of miles flown safely. I've just watched a whole series of Air Emergency segments in which all sorts of scenarios are presented in which modern aircraft can become a pile of twisted metal (or in some case carbon fibers).

    I was reading the details of that Swiss crash where the Captain (think it was the captain) repeated back the heading erroneously. I'm not sure how ultimately important that was. Seems like a few of the instruments may have malfunctioned. I know how important instruments must be in limited-visibility situations. But I could help be impressed with the description of the crash itself with wings hitting trees and the entire plane being swung around.

    And that leads me to a layman's question. Can the pilots see anything out the window while trying to deal with instrument readings? I remember how in the aftermath of the Everglades crash, they said the entire cockpit crew was focused on one gauge, so much as not to see the earth rushing at them. In the Swiss crash, could it be the flight officer and captain didn't see the treetops till one of them caught the plane's wing? It is things like this that disturb me more than malfunctioning instruments.

    Something about this makes me think of the weather forecaster sitting by a window, with rain coming down outside in buckets, saying "We have a 50 percent chance of rain today". I always laugh and say "I'd say 100 percent considering the way its coming down right now".
Working...
X