Recent content by Fitcja

The plane was on the market and pictures of the interior, avionics and amenities were published with the listing. Among the notable enhancements were winglets - which are not cheap. I also noticed that the plane has been painted since its last listing in 2013.

I'm not sure that that's a fair assessment. I did some research and there was a lot of money put into that plane.

Some new information today. The 414 hit the FAF about 400 feet low and yet started a decent. The plane then turned towards the east before reaching the MAP. At that point the plane oscillated between 800 and 1200 AGL before dropping below radar. The key question here is why did the plane...

Useful load for 414As is 1800-2000 lbs. Add another 120 lbs with RAM.

If you have full flaps (dropping the stall speed) and the gear down you'll Vmc roll. There was a 421 accident in Marengo County, Alabama a few years back where that exact thing happened - so it's very possible.

It's a reasonable one, though. Here is the evidence we have from photographs and about the plane: 1) The plane was right side up on impact. It did not Vmc roll. 2) The damage was "limited" to the front of the fuselage. 3) The plane was losing speed and altitude. 4) The weight on the wings...

True. For example, the 421 crash that killed the family from Florida a few years back basically said "...the plane was flying too slow..." However, the report on the 421B that crashed at Palwaukee (N920MC) was frighteningly specific and helpful.

Certainly many things are possible. I'm curious as to what is probable given the facts and what we can divine from the evidence. Things we know: A) The plane lost more speed in a three minute stretch than one would expect at that point in the flight. B) The plane attempted to regain...

She was responding to my question, to which I am grateful.

Very solid advice about hand flying the approach. Curious, how prone would you be to being five seconds late to react to something after an exciting and emotionally draining event and then flying night IFR with no concept of a horizon? When I get tired the biggest thing I have to watch out...

This crash still haunts me. I've shot that approach in a 421 at night. It's dark as hell out there even on a clear night. I would imagine that with the weather there would have been nothing to distinguish up from down by looking out the window for a prolonged stretch of time. Add into that...

Keep in mind that FlightAware likely posts ground speed. As such, it's likely that what we see in the stats is less than TAS - so our information is partial. That said, the plane seems to have lost half its speed in three minutes and then executed a climb before turning to the left. If I...