Regarding Going Direct, Flying July 2011 " To Push or to Pull'. I take issue with your asertation that the pilot pulled and finished the plane off. Based on what you wrote I don't think you reviewed the raw data of the accident. I have two points to make. First, the Q400 has a stick pusher for a reason. I have yet to read why the manufacture installed such a system at great cost. Second if you look at the data that the NTSB put out, you might notice that some point before the loss of directional control the gear and the Flaps were retracted. The voice recorder never recorded the commading or the movement of these items. I would bet that the Captain had one or both hands on the control wheel and the other hand if not on the wheel on the thrust levers. So how did the gear and flaps get retracted? Who retracted them? Bottom line, with the flaps being retracted in the aircrafts current state I don't think push or pull would have made any difference. The Aircraft lost lift when the flaps were retracted, now well below stall for configuration. All were along for the ride. It's funny to me that this issue is never brought up. An accident of this magnitude very rarely occur because of one error being made. The data I used and referenced was produced on the NTSB site. Something doesn't add up here.
Captain Mike Larkin
Key Biscayne, FL
All Comments
Actually the flaps were retracted by the co-pilot after the aircraft had already started to stall. See the NTSB annimation: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f0JjlKwvliM
Another key issue I saw in a documentary about this crash was the there was an ice switch which was engaged which caused the stick shaker to come on earlier than it normally would. So the shaker comes on early (before the actual stall danger), the pilot pulls rather than pushes, and then you have a full stall and roll. Then the co-pilot pulled the flaps which took any chance of recovery away at that speed. The gear was brought up just before impact but probably had no effect at that point.
The annimation shows when the gear was lowered, the airspeed started to bleed off, but no one in the front office caught it in time.
Robert Massey
Kimberly, WI
Well, you can't really read raw data, but I think you're saying I didn't review the accident report, which is false. I studied it exhaustively. And to suggest that becasue the first officer dumped flaps (and the lift they provided), a tragic move that sealed the flight's fate if it wasn't already sealed, the fact that the captain pulled instead of pushed is absolutely supported by both the raw data, which the NTSB turned into an animation, and the NTSB's report. Finally, I think you're implying that the stick pusher would have overpowered the pilot's inputs, which betrays a misunderstanding of stick pusher systems. The pilot indeed can override the stick pusher. If you're saying that the co-pilot was solely to blame because she dumped flaps as the pilot pulled through the stick shaker on the ragged edge of a stall or worse, well, I'd have to adamantly disagree with your premise. The NTSB, by the way, disagrees, too, as do dozens of expert commentators.
This is such a very sad to know ' The Aircraft lost lift when the flaps were retracted, now well below stall for configuration. All were along for the ride. It's funny to me that this issue is never brought up. An accident of this magnitude very rarely occur because of one error being made. The data I used and referenced was produced on the NTSB site. Something doesn't add up here."...I hope everything is okay..
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