February 04, 2008
Friday night's crash and the 'attitude indicator'
Journalism is the kind of profession where you have to respond to surprises at any time on any day. That's what happened Friday night, as we were wrapping up our weekend newspapers and planning.
The scanners started crackling in the Kennebec Journal newsroom that an airplane apparently crashed in West Gardiner around 6 p.m.
We had major coverage on Saturday and Sunday, on the death of technology entrepreneur Jeanette Symons and her son, Balan. We expect to report much more on this throughout the week.
One thing readers noted in both days' newspapers was that we called the gyroscope that pilots use to see how their planes are flying an "attitude indicator." Some folks thought that should have been "altitude indicator," which is what a competing newspaper printed.
In fact, it is the attitude indicator. An airplane's position in the air and its pitch is called its "attitude." Altitude and altimeters refer to how far off the ground they are. That is not what Symons told air-traffic controllers in Portland she had problems with, shortly before her accident. She reported problems with her "attitude indicator."
If you have information, questions or concerns about this accident, please let us know.
On an airplane, an attitude indicator displays to the pilot what the attitude of the airplane is (e.g. is the nose pitched up or down, or are the wings level) relative to the horizon. In an airplane, just as in life, attitude determines altitude.
Posted by
SteveFebruary 4, 2008 04:32 PM
I'm a pilot. We would never use the term "altitude indicator"...the proper word is "altimeter".
Attitude indicator at one time was called "artificial horizon". Many of us old guys still think of it that way.
I've read one quote from a friend of the pilot who said she used her plane as others would have used their cars.
An airplane is not a car. It takes a different mindset to pilot a plane than drive a car.
My heart goes out to those who lost dear ones that tragic night.
Freezing rain, depending on the intensity, would prohibit airliners from taking off. I wasn't there and can't comment on the weather at the time.
A jet usually has 3 attitude indicators (artificial horizons). One can also gain a sense of the plane's attitude by air speed.
There have been a number of crashes with jet aircraft in which the attitude was incorrectly defined by conflicting instrument readings.
I hope the NTSB releases data on the position of the PITOT HEATER SWITCH. This would give me quite an insight into the crash.
I used to teach people to fly in silicon valley during the early 80's. MANY TIMES I met tech savy people who wanted to learn to fly, yet were not willing to invest in the mindset of being a pilot. Just because you can create a high tech empire does not mean you understand the concepts of aviation.
Flying a plane is easy if nothing goes wrong, if the weather is never bad, if you are never tired, or not paying attention.
There is enough in early reports to indicate a case of "get their- itis"...as a consideration.
I do hope that all pilots of high performance planes will learn from this crash.
In life, we are lucky to do one thing very very well. and if you are going to be a pilot, hope that is what you do well. To think one person can do many things well...might just be a false reality.
Posted by
jon regasFebruary 5, 2008 12:03 AM
Post a comment
Blog Index
Subscribe
Questions/Comments
