Video Footage Captures Arizona Crash

There were three professional pilots, well two pilots and a mechanic...but in my estimation they were familiar with the area and should have known about the lowered altitude with the high terain in the area...shouldn't have happened. They were not IFR damn this hurts all of us in the flying biz.

Why wouldn't a professional pilot get a clearance on the ground first and continue his climb away from the mtns?

a very tragic accident.
the faa does some stupid and dangerous airspace arrangements, often to help the airlines have more room. At MIA, in order to keep GA through traffic out of the way, they will vector single engines out over the ocean. or if that is not acceptable, take you over the swamps at a low altitude, also not acceptable.
but if I were flying this trip at night I would be IFR (although one has to carefully watch what clearances the simple controllers give one, especially in terrain, and never just accept them without checking where and how high the clearance is.) If something is not acceptable it's not going to happen, and if they dont like it they can call my lawyer.
the Jeppeson and NOAA terminal procedures show minimum safe altitudes and I look at that carefully in mountain country and make sure that those numbers are at the top of my mind. I hope that this data was published correctly.
i agree with those who find it difficult to believe that local pilots would not be familiar with the terrain.

Grard Field

Im sure the pilot was IFR rated. I looked at the video full screen. almost looked like the plane was trying to climb but kept forward almost a stall before impact. Possible mechanical problem. Why else would he be at that altitude. Just a thought. I crashed my kitfox due to control cable problems. Please dont try to second guess the pilot. He cant speak for himself now. God bless all on board and their families. sad. Be Safe.

While airspace redesign must be considered a contributing factor; as with all aviation accidents this one was a culmination of a lot of seemingly minor gaffes. Three excited children peppering their pilot dad with questions... taking a little too much time between scans of the VSI... trim not just exactly right... etc. Aviation is unforgiving of even the most minor of transgressions. The most direct route to tragedy is via the most trivial of short cuts. Well said Mr. Stedjarati, the lesson that must be taken from the tragedy of this family is that there is never a moment of relief from the responsibilities of PIC; be you on the ground or in the air.

If I were the relatives of those killed in this crash I'd be mad as hell at FAA for permitting the floor of that airspace to be that close to terrain. I hope the relatives make the FAA pay restitution for their part in this horrible accident. Maybe that'll get their attention. Certainly it appears the 2006 AOPA did not. Or maybe it takes an accident with fatalities and multiple law suits for the regulators to correct an avoidable mistake.

Many disturbing questions arise from this regrettable accident. Was this trip flown under IFR rules? If so, why was there "literally nowhere for GA pilots to transition on the east side of PHX.” And why was there "a lack of GA services from Phoenix Tracon, making it impossible to transit within the Class B airspace area.” Why is ATC service denied to GA aircraft operating under instrument flight rules? Somebody tell me that isn't the case!

Clearly having TAWS onboard would have made it more difficult for these pilots to crash this perfectly running aircraft into terrain and kill everyone on board.

Douglas M
Surrey, British Columbia