an instructive graphic: <blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>Last communication between <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/QZ8501?src=hash">#QZ8501</a>'s pilot and air traffic control <a href="http://t.co/oPS4ok8LP7">http://t.co/oPS4ok8LP7</a> <a href="http://t.co/VkcH0iZCRz">pic.twitter.com/VkcH0iZCRz</a></p>— Daily Mail Online (@MailOnline) <a href="https://twitter.com/MailOnline/status/549217955897425920">December 28, 2014</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
I would bet on pilot error. My guess is they were flying manually to avoid the weather. Probably went into a stall situation trying to increase altitude and became confused by the chaos in the cockpit ignoring the warnings. Didn't realize until too late and no mayday call was made. Pilots try to rationalize what is happening while ignoring the obvious warnings as somehow being wrong...similar to Air France where they ignored stall warnings. They want to pull back on the stick and increase power instead of just pushing forward to correct the stall. But, just pure speculation on my part. 38,000 feet would be nearing the ceiling limits for this plane correct? At some point, it's going to stall as it can't go any higher just like Air France.
I think the weather conditions were bad forcing the pilot to lose control. Pilot decides to dump all the fuel out and land that bad boy upside down safely. Pilots blood tested positive for cocaine but that's none of my business.
As soon as I saw the headline I said "not again...." Next time I travel to SE Asia I might just stick to Singapore Air instead of these budget carriers like Air Asia. [edit]Actually Air Asia's safety record has been pretty good. Just overreacting.[/edit]
That's not that unusual as it is pretty common for flights try to get over bad weather. I've been on flights in SE Asia and the US that have done that very thing.
I've had family fly with Air Asia a few years ago on a promo... $5. Though this was like once in a lifetime thing, they do have very cheap prices.
I don't have a link, but heard a radio report that the plane was trying to get over the weather but that the storm clouds apparently topped out at 50,000 ft, so there was no way to get over it. I wish they had just turned back. So sad.
Why would they allow a flight under bad weather? I know a lot of people hate flight delays, but being delayed hours in return for safety is the best and only option.
Yeah that was what I thought because it seemed as if the whole flight path was under a storm. Imagine the pain the the families must be going through.
Planes are supposed to avoid storms by a radius of like what... 15-20 miles? Looks like they weren't prepared at all for it...
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>No sign of missing AirAsia <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/QZ8501?src=hash">#QZ8501</a> with 162 aboard <a href="http://t.co/X5mwAdswD6">http://t.co/X5mwAdswD6</a> <a href="http://t.co/c6knaECE2O">pic.twitter.com/c6knaECE2O</a></p>— NBC Nightly News (@NBCNightlyNews) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBCNightlyNews/status/549213035110617088">December 28, 2014</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
This the tropics and storms are a fairly common occurrence in that part of the world. I've flown several times in SE Asia in torrential weather so this case is probably a freak accident or pilot error rather than just being bad weather.
I was at lunch with my father in law, who was both a fighter pilot and is now a commercial 747 pilot, flying long hours internationally. He told me the type of plane they were in, if hit by an extremely severe storm, could lose part of its tail, and in that case, its going down no matter what. He said it'd have to be a huge, very severe storm, though. He also said in this part of the world, the refusal to climb would not mean much to the pilot. Even if Asia, which he flies fairly regularly, if he got a refusal to climb, the pilot could still use his discretion and climb. It's just a matter of paperwork, after the fact. Doesn't happen often though.
