Originally posted by: rudder
Originally posted by: Robsasman
Yea was thinking the same, but must not have been a factor if they made it from Cali to Montana before they had trouble.
It is still to early to tell. But depending on where the center of gravity was, they could have had no problem taking off, but have a problem raising the nose when landing. Also as the plane flies along and burns fuel, the C.G. changes throughout the flight. I am not familiar with the Pilatus so I cannot say how far it moved.
Originally posted by: Unheard
If the kids were 6-10 years old, they could have set on their parents laps. Sad story. 🙁
That is still a violation. Every person on board needs their own seatbelt. I think airlines allow children under 2 to fly in a parents lap... but why someone would do that is beyond me.
Originally posted by: Xylitol
wtf is up with all these plane crashes lately. is the recession making planes
do the bare minimum in mechanical checks?
Hudson River - bird strike
Tokyo - likely pilot error (30-50mph gusts, no emergency declaration from cockpit)
Buffalo - commuter crash (still undetermined, but icing is suspected)
Montana - reports are that a 9 person plane was carrying 14 people, possibly overloaded
Airlines will always do the minimum in mechanical checks which are pretty extensive anyway. It is only when they find something wrong will they expand on it or if there is a directive from the FAA. I think we had a good 2 year run without any fatal accidents, and now we are just having some unfortunate accidents that could have been prevented.