www.flightaware.com
Hopefully it's not a "accidentally disengaged AP and didn't notice it" event.Nearest reporting station, Gillette:
KGCC 262253Z AUTO 07006KT 10SM CLR 26/08 A2998 RMK AO2 SLP094 T02610078
KGCC 262153Z AUTO 06009KT 10SM CLR 24/08 A3001 RMK AO2 SLP106 T02440078
But, Flightaware track shows some radar returns in the vicinity.
Other reports mention pilot's distress call about losing control and autopilot malfunction.
N357HE Flight Tracking and History - FlightAware
Track N357HE flight from Nebraska City Muni to Billings Logan Intl
The PC-12 gives you and aural alert and a warning message even when you intentional turn it off, so not likely.
Here’s where it went down. There was mild convective activity to the north northeast, and an AIRMET for moderate turbulence from FL280 to 410. The precip did intensify to the south a bit immediately following passage, so it wasn’t entirely stable. Visible satellite showed mostly cirrus and debris associated with some of the buildups.
DavidWhite, I agree. I think that's it's only a benign non-event if you're diligent enough to kick off the autopilot (or not even
Yep, I'm familiar with all Pilatus accidents, and in all cases, the pilot assisted the outcome.
the next question would be how a Florida prison official bought a $9 million airplane, but hey.
Swing and a miss. He is into construction. And he sat on the Board for the Georgia Department of Corrections where he currently serves as Chairman (not Florida) which isn't exactly a government job but more of a volunteer position.
He was actually a very religious guy and I’m 100% sure it was all above board. The pilot/owner and his wife were friends with the singing group and they were all going on an Alaskan cruise. Larry was a local guy, his youngest sister and I went all through school together. He had several businesses, and had been flying for quite some time, I don’t know his complete history, but he did have a King Air 90 in 2013 when I bought a Conquest. This accident has really shook up a lot of people in the area.
I honestly don’t think that would make a lot of difference. It mostly just means you learn to do checkrides.
It’s got electric trim, so it is possible, but far more of these things are Pilot-induced than mechanically-induced.
Hence why I deleted it…I realized it failed to say what I intended. My point was that folks tend to equate religion with someone automatically being trustworthy, and I disagree with that automatic correlation. My intent wasn’t to say that religious folks are automatically UN-trustworthy, either, hence the deletion. I also realize this will still not be a popular opinion, but so be it.
And you have to have at least a minimum set of skills to pass a checkride, at least in theory. It's a valid idea.
This. Far too many "autopilot pilots" out there. To me it's a point of pride to be able to fly as well as the autopilot does. I even once hand flew a whole leg up into the flight levels and back down, just because. (Maybe I was bored.)
True, but those skills don’t stick around after the checkride in far too many cases.
The difference between training to proficiency and training to pass a test.
Sometimes, however, you must be proficient in order to pass the test.
Exactly. And mandating passing tests doesn’t do anything for proficiency.
Not sure there is enough data out there to make such a statement. The PC12 is a complex aircraft with a lot of potential failure modes, and this could have been out of the realm of the pilots ability to fix the problem. The way that big moveable horizontal stab works, if it went full deflection uncommanded, would be quite a handful. Much less the possibility of other fight control surface failures. Maybe this guy did screw up, but I would give the guy the benefit of the doubt until the final is out. Apparently he came out of a King Air, so not a NewB pilot.
I think we can pretty much rule that out based on the flight parameters posted in the OP.
