Official: Plane that crashed in N.Y. was on autopilot, a violation of airline policy on ice

[cal04]

Source: Associated Press

Official: Plane in N.Y. crash was on autopilot
15 of 50 victims of Buffalo crash recovered
The plane that crashed into a house near Buffalo, killing 50 people, was on autopilot when it went down, a violation of airline policy, a federal aviation official said Sunday.

Steve Chealander of the National Transportation Safety Board said Colgan Air recommends pilots fly manually in icy conditions. Pilots are required to do so in severe ice.

The pilot of the doomed plane reported "significant" ice on his wings and windshield just before crashing Thursday night.

Colgan Air operates a fleet of 51 regional turboprops including Continental Connection, United Express and US Airways Express.

Read more: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/29194109/

[maseman]

1. Wow that is really bad for the pilots

Autopilot in icing conditions is a HUGE no-no.

The reason being is that the flight controls start getting a little strange feeling...so called "heavy" or "sloppy" when icing is occuring.

If the plane is on auto pilot the computer will try to correct the situation of the sloppy flight controls. As the situation gets worse the pilots could be mostly oblivious because the computer is flying the plane...not the pilot. Once the icing is so bad the computer controls cease working. Once the pilot takes the control back it can be way too late.

They should never have been using the auto-pilot especially since they knew there was icing.

[Renew Deal]

5. Wouldn't they notice the loss of altitude?

Or is the issue that the controls will freeze, and then it's too late?

[remedy1]

7. The issue is...

...that the autopilot can be subtly compensating for the effects of icing, and the crew may not realize it until they disconnect the autopilot, then they may be faced with a sudden situation where the aircraft may be seriously (and unexpectedly) mistrimmed. That could lead to a rapid upset and/or loss of control in extreme situations. If this situation happens at a relatively low altitude (like on approach), there may not be adequate altitude to regain control of the airplane.

[Trajan]

8. I understand that the the plane was approved ...

... for a lower cruising altitude some minutes before the crash occurred ...

So yes, a recovery from a strongly biased control system would have been more problematic, if this is the case ....

[Poll_Blind]

2. I'm not reading too much into that- they might have switched it over...

...for a number of reasons. Obviously, it seemed as though they knew they were in danger. After the problems they were having with their normal control systems they might have tried switching to autopilot as a last-ditch effort to determine if anything could bring the aircraft under control.

  Analysis of the black box recordings is going to be key in a situation like this because it should give a clear idea exactly what was being tried and when.

PB

[MADem]

4. I'm with you--I refuse to play "gotcha" until the data recorder has been fully analyzed. NT

[remedy1]

3. "Recommends..."

I wouldn't read too much into this. There is a BIG difference between "severe" and "significant". In fact, no one knows (at this point) what the crew meant by "significant". The crew didn't "report" significant icing, either...that was apparently discussed in the cockpit, but NOT reported to ATC.

There is also a difference between "recommends" and "requires".

No other aircraft operating in the area reported "severe" icing, it was light to moderate at best.

This is a bit premature for the NTSB to be reporting this.

(BTW...I am an airline pilot, so I know what I am talking about.)

[stray cat]

6. Important point - huge difference between recommend and required and it is recommend

By the way Welcome!

[acmavm]

9. ?? See this

Crashed Plane was NOT on Autopilot
Source: CNN

No Link - Just announced on CNN-

NTSB spokesperson denying AP report that plane was on autopilot. 'Incorrect Information' as per CNN's Whitfield.

No

[elocs]

10. Details, details. The important thing is to be the first to post Latest Breaking News.

Accuracy may be dealt with later.