Fast descent after a slow speed climbing 180 turn. I hate to speculate, but I'm thinking like others here that he got disoriented in the dark clouds. According to the registry, the pilot was Commerical single/multi and CFI, so he was legally qualified, but who knows about anything else.Maybe here, not much to see, high speed on descent.
https://flightaware.com/live/flight/N262TA
Low weather conditions that time of night:
KDLH 020555Z 08011KT 9SM OVC002 09/08 A3037 RMK AO2 SLP293 T00940083 10100 20089 401440089 50000
KDLH 020455Z 08012KT 4SM BR OVC002 09/08 A3038 RMK AO2 SLP296 T00890078
KDLH 020355Z 08010G19KT 5SM BR OVC002 09/08 A3038 RMK AO2 SLP296 T00940083
RIP
Why? Many of us are not superstitious.This is creepy. a different Cessna with the same tail number, from 2004. I’d hope the FAA would retire tail numbers with fatalities.
https://planecrashmap.com/plane/ca/N262TA/
This is creepy. a different Cessna with the same tail number, from 2004. I’d hope the FAA would retire tail numbers with fatalities.
https://planecrashmap.com/plane/ca/N262TA/
This is creepy. a different Cessna with the same tail number, from 2004. I’d hope the FAA would retire tail numbers with fatalities.
https://planecrashmap.com/plane/ca/N262TA/
Here you go. IFR clearance chatter then lost contact after ATC reported pilot’s apparent descent.Can’t find anything on ATC recordings or flight tracks
what time does it startHere you go. IFR clearance chatter then lost contact after ATC reported pilot’s apparent descent.
https://archive.liveatc.net/kdlh/KDLH1-Oct-02-2022-0400Z.mp3
RIP
About 4 minutes in. The tape is fairly sync’ed with the 0400Z time, no more than about 10 seconds behind, if anything. You can play it back on adsbexchange with the audio and watch it develop.what time does it start
thxAbout 4 minutes in. The tape is fairly sync’ed with the 0400Z time, no more than about 10 seconds behind, if anything. You can play it back on adsbexchange with the audio and watch it develop.
Add that strobe light into the mix and it can be extremely disorienting.A night low IFR departure is far more difficult and unforgiving than the poor young CFII probably realized. So many potential illusions, and you cant believe anything your body is telling you. Have to believe the instruments, and if the instruments are lying for some reason, not much time to figure it out. Incredibly sad.
But he knew all about the illusions. As an instructor, he had counseled other pilots on precisely their insidious effects. In the present case, he had good forward visibility; he had a good airplane; his instrument experience was recent; terrain was flat Midwest back to the home airport; weather was overcast and the cloud layer would have him on instruments from the get go. But he knew that. Things were sure to be challenging, but nowhere near forbidding for a competent instrument pilot....So many potential illusions...
But he knew all about the illusions. As an instructor, he had counseled other pilots on precisely their insidious effects. In the present case, he had good forward visibility; he had a good airplane; his instrument experience was recent; terrain was flat Midwest back to the home airport; weather was overcast and the cloud layer would have him on instruments from the get go. But he knew that. Things were sure to be challenging, but nowhere near forbidding for a competent instrument pilot.
Another scenario: Illusions don't just affect the pilot; they affect passengers, too. Say, a tired, tipsy, guy in the right seat suddenly feels the disorienting, upsetting, somatogravic illusion, and grabs the yoke in panic--just as the professional pilot flying is pitching for a stable climb to altitude and calling departure. A few seconds later, a disastrous spiral is fully developed...no time to avoid a crash.
At this time, no one knows precisely the elements of the flight that led to the disaster. But I think it's way unfair to the pilot to presume that his failures were the immediate cause.