http://www.theage.com.au/news/world/crash-pilot-taped-scalp-on/2007/08/29/1188067162216.html



Pretty good article, and quite relevant to the site. The flight instructor had a survival kit, including both tape to reattach his scalp ( eew!), and a PLB!

You would think that it would be easy to avoid running into a mountain. They are big, tall, and don't move. But having a good survival kit saved their bacon...

I am curious why he decided to hike out after he set off the PLB. The article states that his reasoning was “he was concerned the signals from the beacons might bounce around the mountains, making it difficult for would-be rescuers to find the wreck”. How much of an issue is this in reality with the new 406 MHz GPS PLBs? Could this be more of an issue because he had an older 121.5 MHz PLB (the kind that satellites will stop listening for in February 2009)?

"You would think that it would be easy to avoid running into a mountain."

From what I've heard and read, downdrafts can be serious hazards for pilots. When caught in one, it can be like a giant hand on top of the plane shoving it downward, even thought the pilot has decent altitude and is maintaining the normal speed he uses to stay straight and level.

Some people have said that downdrafts don't go right down to the ground, but I am thinking there may be (at least) two exceptions:

One is when the downdraft shoves a plane so close to the ground that the pilot is left with no room to maneuver, and/or there are other weather conditions interferring with the situation.

The second could be if you're going over a mountain ridge and get hit by the downdraft; the vertical-downward air movement may go right down one side of the mountain, taking the plane with it. Even if the downdraft doesn't go right down to the relative flatland, what happens if there's a canyon that parallels the ridge?

IIRC, there was an airliner crash somewhere in the midwest (I think) fifteen or so years ago that was blamed on a severe, localized downdraft, and I believe it was near an airport, as the plane was landing. No mountains around.

Bad luck and bad weather happen. Sometimes you just can't get out of the way fast enough.

OTOH, updrafts are a glider pilot's dream. Ever seen one catch an updraft and go shooting up almost vertically?

Sue

The word is "microshear".

Localized downdraft, no warning. Think: hammer on anvil.

Microbursts are a very rare but significant problem for aircraft. They typically occur during thunderstorm activity -- but not out of "thin air".

A nice write-up on Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microburst

Mountain flying requires training. Understanding aircraft performance and mountain winds/weather is the subject of entire books and training programs.

The crash investigation will tell us what happened -- we can only armchair guess. I will say a large number of mountain accidents occur because the pilot is flying UP a box canyon. The terrain rises faster than the aircraft is able to climb. And then the aircraft does not have enough room to turn around because of the close proximity of the canyon walls.