Guess the autopilot was distracted.

Hate the responsibility of flying through an ice storm? Just use auto-pilot!

Set it and forget it.

I blame Ben Kenobi, for not telling them to use the force.

Auto-crash? Funny, the article doesn't mention Airbus.

Uh oh!

Nobody is reporting that it was a woman pilot who crashed the plane. I guess its not politically correct to mention that. Also, You don't use the autopilot when your freakin' wings are frozen solid. Either the pilot was inept, or just lazy.

Buffalo plane? Is that what Buffalo soldiers use?

And this opens the floodgates for at least 49 (passengers + family on the ground) lawsuits.

jackbooty: Set it and forget it.

Oh no you did-int!

wookiemonster: Nobody is reporting that it was a woman pilot who crashed the plane. I guess its not politically correct to mention that. Also, You don't use the autopilot when your freakin' wings are frozen solid. Either the pilot was inept, or just lazy.

She was putting on her makeup

wookiemonster: Nobody is reporting that it was a woman pilot who crashed the plane.

The autopilot was a woman?
I didn't know they programmed those things with gender roles.

wookiemonster: Nobody is reporting that it was a woman pilot who crashed the plane. I guess its not politically correct to mention that.

There was a woman communicating to ATC on approach, doesn't mean she was actually flying it.

She very well could have been flying it, but does it really matter?

If you brought up her relative inexperience, having flown commercially a little over a year and 2500 flying hours experience, then it might be something to consider.

But just because a pilot wears a bra, doesn't mean she can't fly a plane.

Klivian: wookiemonster: Nobody is reporting that it was a woman pilot who crashed the plane. I guess its not politically correct to mention that. Also, You don't use the autopilot when your freakin' wings are frozen solid. Either the pilot was inept, or just lazy.

She was putting on her makeup

Oh snap!

wookiemonster: Either the pilot was inept, or just lazy.

You should call the NTSB and sort them out.

a pilot friend told me there is a special auto-land program and he uses that 99.9% of the time to land. He says he has to manually line the plane up with the runway, but from there, once he gets cleared to land, he flips it on and it works.

so, this isn't as bad as it seems.

LessO2: wookiemonster: Nobody is reporting that it was a woman pilot who crashed the plane. I guess its not politically correct to mention that.

There was a woman communicating to ATC on approach, doesn't mean she was actually flying it.

She very well could have been flying it, but does it really matter?

If you brought up her relative inexperience, having flown commercially a little over a year and 2500 flying hours experience, then it might be something to consider.

But just because a pilot wears a bra, doesn't mean she can't fly a plane.

No, the fact that she landed on a house means she can't fly a plane

wookiemonster: Nobody is reporting that it was a woman pilot who crashed the plane.

How is it relevant? When a man crashes a plane, do the news reports make a point of highlighting that it was a man at the controls?

pussy

SlothB77: a pilot friend told me there is a special auto-land program and he uses that 99.9% of the time to land. He says he has to manually line the plane up with the runway, but from there, once he gets cleared to land, he flips it on and it works.

so, this isn't as bad as it seems.

I can't imagine having to line up the aircraft manually if you have an auto-land. Set the auto pilot to "Approach" and it should fly the whole thing for you: arc in if necessary, grab the localizer, etc.

wookiemonster: Nobody is reporting that it was a woman pilot who crashed the plane. I guess its not politically correct to mention that. Also, You don't use the autopilot when your freakin' wings are frozen solid. Either the pilot was inept, or just lazy.

Not to mention a woman who just graduated from college in 2007.

SlothB77: a pilot friend told me there is a special auto-land program and he uses that 99.9% of the time to land. He says he has to manually line the plane up with the runway, but from there, once he gets cleared to land, he flips it on and it works.

so, this isn't as bad as it seems.

Only that those things operate best when you don't have a shaitload of ice built up on the aircraft, and the aerodynamics of the plane of the plane isn't that of a Slurpee.

It was running Windows Vista?

Did someone mention the fact it was a woman pilot?

Raging Thespian: It was running Windows Vista?

This is funny, because I just recovered from my first Vista crash after using it for 18 months. Seriously, about 20 minutes ago the damn thing bluescreened for no good reason.

Can't wait for Windows 7 x64.

Hey, has anyone mentioned that the pilot was a woman yet? I'd like to think I'm the first.

Klivian: No, the fact that she landed on a house means she can't fly a plane

Interesting, I didn't know the auto-pilot feature was gender-specific.

ZAZ: Auto-crash? Funny, the article doesn't mention Airbus.

Winnar

Okm I gotta do it -
Has anyone mentioned it was a woman pilot?

/grabs popcorn & sits back

eraser8: wookiemonster: Nobody is reporting that it was a woman pilot who crashed the plane.

How is it relevant? When a man crashes a plane, do the news reports make a point of highlighting that it was a man at the controls?

Actually they comment on the size of his balls, at least lately.

/not saying she couldn't fly, but she wasn't following protocol.
// if its enough ice to make you land on a house it IS severe.

Raging Thespian: It was running Windows Vista?

"severe pitching and rolling"

So, more like Windows 98 First Edition.

Hay u guys did you know the pilot wuz a womenz LOL?

I thought the autopilot automatically disengages when there is uncommanded roll/yaw/pitch.

xwhythehellnot: Actually they comment on the size of his balls, at least lately.

Only if he wins the fight.

Based on simulations that I have run on my computer and some physical experiments conducted in my back yard, I have concluded that there is more to this story than what the MSM are reporting. It is impossible for a plane to crash at that angle with that velocity and cause that damage. My experiments suggest that either the house must have been rigged with explosives beforehand, or that the plane never crashed and the house was actually destroyed with a ballistic missile disguised to look like a plane. You people need to wake up.

probably texting on a cell phone, and stirring a cup of Starbucks coffee...

SlothB77: a pilot friend told me there is a special auto-land program and he uses that 99.9% of the time to land. He says he has to manually line the plane up with the runway, but from there, once he gets cleared to land, he flips it on and it works.

so, this isn't as bad as it seems.

Everything is fly-by-wire and Autopilot nowadays. The pilots are basically just there to put passengers at ease because we still find the idea of a robot controlling our fates disconcerting.

They are expected to take the controls in bad weather or emergency situations, though. Like the article mentions. My guess is she put her faith in the machine because she was still a bit timid about the whole thing, and it didn't react properly to the stall when it happened.

If she was communicating with ATC just before the crash, then she was acting as co-pilot most likely, and not handling the flight controls.

So now you all will have to find something else to snark about.

LessO2: wookiemonster: Nobody is reporting that it was a woman pilot who crashed the plane. I guess its not politically correct to mention that.

There was a woman communicating to ATC on approach, doesn't mean she was actually flying it.

She very well could have been flying it, but does it really matter?

If you brought up her relative inexperience, having flown commercially a little over a year and 2500 flying hours experience, then it might be something to consider.

But just because a pilot wears a bra, doesn't mean she can't fly a plane.

How do you know she was wearing a bra?

thereadlines: Based on simulations that I have run on my computer and some physical experiments conducted in my back yard, I have concluded that there is more to this story than what the MSM are reporting. It is impossible for a plane to crash at that angle with that velocity and cause that damage. My experiments suggest that either the house must have been rigged with explosives beforehand, or that the plane never crashed and the house was actually destroyed with a ballistic missile disguised to look like a plane. You people need to wake up.

You need some sleep.

I am surprised that no one here with leet P-shop skills hasn't posted a pic of Capt. Sully doing a facepalm.

/got no skills

LessO2: Klivian: No, the fact that she landed on a house means she can't fly a plane

Interesting, I didn't know the auto-pilot feature was gender-specific.

Yup, it is - in French, Spanish, German and Russian at least - Autopilots are Masculine. Damn

This makes a lot of sense. One of the things that they teach us is that you don't fly in possible icing conditions with the autopilot. This is because if ice begins to build up, you won't be able to feel it in the controls and you won't know about it until it's too late to do anything about it. The autopilot will keep trimming up the airplane to keep it flying straight and level, until it runs out of trim. At that point, when the pressure on the controls gets too great, the autopilot will disengage, and the pilot won't be strong enough to keep the plane flying.

/Unless it's fly by wire
//Pretty sure the Dash 8 isn't

Magic Kingdom: LessO2: Klivian: No, the fact that she landed on a house means she can't fly a plane

Interesting, I didn't know the auto-pilot feature was gender-specific.

Yup, it is - in French, Spanish, German and Russian at least - Autopilots are Masculine. Damn

Magic Kingdom: LessO2: Klivian: No, the fact that she landed on a house means she can't fly a plane

Interesting, I didn't know the auto-pilot feature was gender-specific.

Yup, it is - in French, Spanish, German and Russian at least - Autopilots are Masculine. Damn

Like "biatching Betty" in the Hornet and "Nagging Nigel" in the BAE Hawk.

Interesting, I thought this may be a problem.

Basically autopilot is a feedback loop. As the wings ice up, the characteristics of the aircraft change and the autopilot gradually adjusts to compensate for these changes.

At some point, its conceivable that the icing got so bad, changing the aerodynamics of the aircraft so much, that the autopilot was outside its bounds of operation, its guidance no longer 'converged,' and unfortunately the result was a catastrophic and sudden loss of control.

wookiemonster: Nobody is reporting that it was a woman pilot who crashed the plane. I guess its not politically correct to mention that. Also, You don't use the autopilot when your freakin' wings are frozen solid. Either the pilot was inept, or just lazy.

Too bad the pilot was a guy. And the autopilot was a noob, apparently.

/The woman on the radio was the FO.

Failing_Junk: I thought the autopilot automatically disengages when there is uncommanded roll/yaw/pitch.

Generally YES. Which, if you are not ready for it, and there is only 10 seconds to the ground, is a problem.

Hey wilde_at_heart, I'm in their market too. I love how Celino was disbarred for 3 years and it became only The Barnes Firm... suspension over and back to Celino and Barnes. I bet those guys were sniffing around the scene before it cooled off.

The pilot was a man, the woman on the ATC tape was the co-pilot and neither was apparently flying or paying attention to the autopilot.

Inexperience + bad weather = bad things. We need to take a look at our apprenticeships (regionals) for ATPs. I'm not saying that they should be making 150k+ but 13,000/year or whereabouts is obscene. I would also like to see a minimum combined TT of at least 20,000 hours , so if the FO only has 2,500 at least the captain should have a clue.