Happened in 2016 in Houston Texas. The pilot, her husband, and her brother died. They were visiting a relative who was undergoing cancer treatment. It's a busy airport with regional jets and small civil aviation planes. ATC had her go-around multiple times because of various reasons, and there was a handoff between controllers. Some of the ATC instructions were confusing, such as changing the runway, and possibly giving the wrong heading for a turn, or a higher than necessary altitude for one of the go-arounds.
The pilot's critical mistake was that she raised the flaps too early before gaining enough speed during the last go-around, making the plane stall. Flaps create more lift, allowing planes to use a lower speed during landing or take off. They create a lot of drag, so they get retracted when not needed. They also get damaged if the speed is too high, like if a pilot wants to accelerate to finish the go-around faster without holding up traffic. When the flaps get retracted, lift will suddenly decrease, and planes will need a higher speed to avoid stalling. Pilot was probably frustrated or distracted by the multiple go-arounds, and then didn't follow the exact order of actions needed to avoid stalling during the final go-around.
Disclaimer: I am a super gud pilot in microsoft flight simulator.
Comments
(Old Spike)
"Crash lands". That's a stretch.
(Site Administrator)
"fucking plowed into"?
(Long Spike)
Happened in 2016 in Houston Texas. The pilot, her husband, and her brother died. They were visiting a relative who was undergoing cancer treatment. It's a busy airport with regional jets and small civil aviation planes. ATC had her go-around multiple times because of various reasons, and there was a handoff between controllers. Some of the ATC instructions were confusing, such as changing the runway, and possibly giving the wrong heading for a turn, or a higher than necessary altitude for one of the go-arounds.
The pilot's critical mistake was that she raised the flaps too early before gaining enough speed during the last go-around, making the plane stall. Flaps create more lift, allowing planes to use a lower speed during landing or take off. They create a lot of drag, so they get retracted when not needed. They also get damaged if the speed is too high, like if a pilot wants to accelerate to finish the go-around faster without holding up traffic. When the flaps get retracted, lift will suddenly decrease, and planes will need a higher speed to avoid stalling. Pilot was probably frustrated or distracted by the multiple go-arounds, and then didn't follow the exact order of actions needed to avoid stalling during the final go-around.
Disclaimer: I am a super gud pilot in microsoft flight simulator.