Plane from local flying club crashes in Alaska

:sad:

I hope we find out what went wrong.
 
From the article sounds like weather wasn't to good. At least when search and rescue went looking. RIP.
 
The story mentioned he was asking for a "popup" clearance. IF he was trapped under a lowering ceiling and rising terrain it was a recipe for disaster. In a situation like that you can either reverse course, or orbit while waiting for clearance, (the smartest choice if there is clear air around you), or if it is closing rapidly reverse course, knowing you had ground clearance behind you and climb, begging forgiveness later. Continuing on into unknown terrain with zero visibility is the wrong choice.
 
My trip to Alaska will be on motorcycle. I have neither the aircraft nor the skills for those conditions.
 
steingar said:
My trip to Alaska will be on motorcycle. I have neither the aircraft nor the skills for those conditions.
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Most of the flights by GA in alaska are VFR.

weather is weather it doesn't matter where it is. Mountains in the lower 48 will kill ya just as quick.
 
Tom-D said:
Most of the flights by GA in alaska are VFR.

weather is weather it doesn't matter where it is. Mountains in the lower 48 will kill ya just as quick.
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:yeahthat:

I logged quite a few hours in Alaska in both rotors and C-130s. What Tom said is true. I would go a little farther and simply say a vast majority of the time it is a string of bad decisions when faced with the unexpected that kills ya.
 
Threefingeredjack said:
:yeahthat:

I logged quite a few hours in Alaska in both rotors and C-130s. What Tom said is true. I would go a little farther and simply say a vast majority of the time it is a string of bad decisions when faced with the unexpected that kills ya.
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The big difference between Alaska and the lower 48 is the amount of radar coverage.
 
I'm no expert on Alaska, but I would imagine if IFR is an issue there, so is ice. Which is why I don't fly IFR over the Sierras.
 
Sac Arrow said:
I'm no expert on Alaska, but I would imagine if IFR is an issue there, so is ice. Which is why I don't fly IFR over the Sierras.
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Ice is only a problem in the spring and fall, when you can find the right conditions, much of the time it is simply too cold to have icing conditions.

South east...... different story.
 
Threefingeredjack said:
The story mentioned he was asking for a "popup" clearance. IF he was trapped under a lowering ceiling and rising terrain it was a recipe for disaster. In a situation like that you can either reverse course, or orbit while waiting for clearance, (the smartest choice if there is clear air around you), or if it is closing rapidly reverse course, knowing you had ground clearance behind you and climb, begging forgiveness later. Continuing on into unknown terrain with zero visibility is the wrong choice.
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Of course, if it was I, who somehow got trapped in those conditions......I would know exactly where the rising terrain is, as well as my exact location. These are no longer the days, of the "unknown", thanks to GPS technology (in which excellent portables are rather cheap). And that especially applies to Alaska.

L.Adamson
 
Meh, ice even in the summer around Cordova, AK.

Tom-D said:
Ice is only a problem in the spring and fall, when you can find the right conditions, much of the time it is simply too cold to have icing conditions.

South east...... different story.
Click to expand...
 
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