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- Hacker News
- Well worth reading and I appreciated the PDF to print out.by sklargh
- 6 submissions, 4 comments, and a combined 24 upvotes so far:
https://news.ycombinator.com/from?site=admiralcloudberg.medi...
Keep trying, folks. This one is worth it.
EDIT:
> Note that this is a long article (~3 hour read). If you just want the executive summary of what happened, I might suggest skipping forward to chapter 7 first and then if you want more, go back and read the in-depth analysis of earlier chapters. [HN user kraussvonespy 2 days ago]
- Which doesn't mention that the first 6 para's of Chapter 7 are an excellent tl;dr; of the previous 6 chapters. And definitely understates both the detail and quality of the balance of Chapter 7 (the minute-by-minute details leading up to the crash).
by bell-cot - Pilot here (small / private airplanes, for about 15 years now, instrument rated but that's it).
1. "See and avoid" is BS, always has been, always will be. ADS-B was supposed to end the reliance on it, but the FAA almost immediately started poking holes in it once it was deemed successful by the companies in Alaska that tested it. Good controllers and TCAS stop this stuff from happening all the time despite the FAA's poor decisions.
2. The few near misses I've personally experienced have been due to inaction, as described in the article. In fairness there are a lot of buttons, knobs, dials, and screens to look after. A slowly developing unsafe situation isn't always at the front of one's mind. But if it doesn't feel right, you gotta say something. Especially if you are in a helicopter and you can just stop. There's no excuse for them continuing ahead without better awareness of their surroundings than they had, when they can just stop.
ex: a new'ish controller let me (in a low wing airplane, descending) get too close to another (high wing airplane, climbing) near Little Rock, AR some years ago. I was flying IFR so I was bound to follow their instructions, which were to fly direct to a waypoint and cross it at a lower altitude. The high wing airplane was not talking to the controller, they were flying visually (likely a student and instructor, they were climbing out of an airport with a lot of flight school activity).
The new guy controller gave me location and trajectory on the high wing airplane twice. After the second such call I told him that I cannot see this traffic below me through my wings, you need to give me a turn. The supervisor took over when I insisted, and gave me a turn and new heading. It didn't dawn on the new controller that the *types* of aircraft involved were what made it dangerous, neither of us can see through our wings so we weren't going to find each other visually. It did dawn on the supervisor when I spoke up to the new guy, who recognized the situation and handled it.
He apologized for the new guy and offered the phone number as he took my flight plan cancellation, I declined. "Not necessary, we're all okay, you handle it. I don't need to put any marks on anyone's chart." That's how it's all supposed to work. "Doing nothing" like the helicopter did in this crash did not allow for that possible safe outcome.
tl;dr: Someone has to take initiative. If the controller doesn't, the pilot should demand instructions from the controller. Flying dangerous machines isn't for tentative / indecisive people.
by RNCTX - I have just finished chapter 2.
About congress overriding safety concerns for their personal convenience
Air traffic controllers' concerns were shutdown by the FAA because of "politics"
I am gobsmacked. Where was the air traffic controllers' union? They could have used industrial action to address the unsafe conditions
I am yet to finish the document. I am expecting to see the ATCs and the pilots blamed by the authorities, I hope not.
by worik - I spent three and a half hours reading the report. It’s well worth a read. It’s scary; I was aware of the Swiss cheese analogy in aviation safety, so it was scary to read how so many people were raising red flags, but due to either ignorance or politics these red flags were ignored; like people were complaining about the size of holes in the Swiss cheese so much but no real action took place.
The chapter about the rot in the machine made me especially worried. I now have serious doubts about the readiness of our armed forces.
by kccqzy - My nephew's wife died in that crash. Only 26, and already a widower.
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/husband-pa...
by fmajid - It's strangely meditative to read the prose of someone who was so willing to absorb every single fact about something and to have a considered opinion on each of them. It is a strange type of mind to interact with. I feel slightly cleansed somehow.by ajkjk
- I’ve read NTSB reports before. Studied aviation accidents as a hobby to help me overcome a sudden and irrational fear of flying (thanks Final Destination!).
I’m on Chapter 4, and this is, by far the best report I’ve ever read. Each section addressed in depth, historical context included because it’s important rather than omitted as being technically irrelevant. Dirty laundry splayed out on a blank canvas for the viewer to observe, digest, and reflect upon.
Not since the DC-10 have I been so incensed at an institution for its pettiness, personal vanity, and bureaucracy as I am with Congress, the FAA, the NTSB, and the DoD right now.
by stego-tech