216 Learjet Crash update, PIREPS made simple with Virga App + GA News

216 Learjet Crash update, PIREPS made simple with Virga App + GA News

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Summary
216 Max discusses the San Diego Learjet crash and how Garmin and ForeFlight Visual Approaches could have been used by the pilots for better situation awareness. He also talks with Matt Lane about using the Virga App to enter PIREPS with the Aviation Weather Center. A listener talks about his experience with flash evaporation, which prevented anti-icing fluid from covering his wings.

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Mentioned in the Show
ForeFlight Video: Visual Approaches And Traffic Pattern Altitude
Fly Virga App on iPhone App Store

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Max Trescott’s G3000 and G5000 Glass Cockpit Handbook
Max Trescott’s G1000 & Perspective Glass Cockpit Handbook
Max Trescott’s GPS and WAAS Instrument Flying Handbook

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214 San Diego Learjet Crash – Interview with Rob Mark

214 San Diego Learjet Crash – Interview with Rob Mark

Your Cirrus Specialist. Call me if you’re thinking of buying a new Cirrus SR20 or SR22. Call 1-650-967-2500 for Cirrus purchase and training assistance, or to take my online seminar: So You Want to Fly or Buy a Cirrus.

Please help support the show with a donation via PayPal or Patreon.

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Summary
214 Max talks with Rob Mark about the San Diego Learjet Crash in El Cajon, and early clues that this landing wouldn’t succeed. The air ambulance flight crashed in poor weather, after canceling IFR, as required at night to land on a longer runway. A poorly flown traffic pattern at low altitude sealed their fate. Max and Rob asked pilots to think about when they would have diverted, if they were flying.

N880Z, a Learjet 35A, crashed while landing at night at Gillespie Field in El Cajon, north of San Diego. The crash was where the base intersects the final, which is a classic location for stall/spin accidents. The aircraft flew a traffic pattern that was lower and farther east than usual, and they were headed straight for Rattlesnake Mountain, which was a couple hundred feet higher than the aircraft. The aircraft crashed about 0.1 miles from the base of the mountain on Pepper Drive. There were no survivors.

The air ambulance flight originated from John Wayne Airport, which was a short, 18-minute flight to Gillespie. The weather at the time was at VFR minimums and IFR minimums for circling. The weather was 3 mile visibility with mist and a broken layer of clouds at 2,000 feet and an overcast layer at 2,600 feet.

The two-pilot crew flew the RNAV (GPS) 17 approach, which has LP minimums of 1,360 feet, for a straight in landing to runway 17. However runway 17 is more than a 1,000 feet shorter than runway 27R, and when the aircraft was approximately 3 miles north of the airport, they cancelled IFR and requested to land on runway 27R. Circling to runway 27R is not permitted at night when flying IFR, which is why the crew cancelled IFR, so that there were legally permitted to land on 27R.

The aircraft crossed overhead the airport very low at 725 feet, less than 350 feet above the field elevation of 388 feet. The aircraft then climbed to 950 feet in a left traffic pattern to 27R. The aircraft flew a traffic pattern that was farther north and east than their prior circles to runway 27R. This resulted in them flying directly toward Rattlesnake Mountain.

Mentioned in the Show
Rob Mark’s JetWhine.com blog
Ep. 199 – IFR Circling Approach Hazards & Tips for Flying Them
ICAO: Circling 25 times more risky that straight-in with glideslope
Ep. 114 – Get-There-itis Accidents, Red Flags, and Tips for Avoiding Them
PAVE Personal minimums checklist
FAA’s Personal and Weather Risk Assessment Guide

Max’s Books – Order online or call 800-247-6553 to order.
Max Trescott’s G3000 and G5000 Glass Cockpit Handbook
Max Trescott’s G1000 & Perspective Glass Cockpit Handbook
Max Trescott’s GPS and WAAS Instrument Flying Handbook

If you love the show and want more, visit my Patreon page to see fun videos, breaking news, and other posts in the Posts section. And if you decide to make a small donation each month,  you can get some goodies!

So You Want To Learn to Fly or Buy a Cirrus seminars
Online Version of the Seminar Coming Soon – Register for Notification

Check out our recommended ADS-B receivers, and order one for yourself. Yes, we’ll make a couple of dollars if you do.

Check out our recommended Aviation Headsets, and order one for yourself!

Get the Free Aviation News Talk app for iOS or Android.

Check out Max’s Online Courses: G1000 VFR, G1000 IFR, and Flying WAAS & GPS Approaches. Find them all at: https://www.pilotlearning.com/

Social Media
Like Aviation News Talk podcast on Facebook
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Max Trescott is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com.