tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-44414456891620445.post4833959913083437352..comments2023-10-28T14:12:29.827-05:00Comments on Assorted Mitchellany: The Day The Music DiedMitchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10045777958037885998noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-44414456891620445.post-52631613024626289762021-02-03T20:00:43.621-06:002021-02-03T20:00:43.621-06:00It actually gets worse than that. The pilot was on...It actually gets worse than that. The pilot was only a PPL certified pilot which means he was not qualified to fly for pay. He was legally restricted to only fly friends and to split the cost evenly among everyone, himself included. Furthermore he was taking off under VFR (visual flight rules) into IMC (instrument meteorological conditions) which means he should have been under IFR (instrument flight rules) which he was not rated for. However even if he had been IR (instrument rated) and had a CPL (commercial pilot license: needed to fly for hire) the crash would have happened. You can speculate and say that a CPL IR rated pilot would not have taken off in those conditions in that plane but we can't be sure. They weather that day was almost guaranteed FIKI (flight into know icing) and therefore the plane would have needed to be FIKI certified (which it wasn't). As such ice buildup on the wings drastically changed (reduced) the flight characteristics of the plane which is why it crashed. A fine layer of ice on wings completely destroys airflow across the wing and all but completely removes lift which as you can imagine is not ideal in flight. So the reason they died is 100% the pilot's fault or moreover the charter company that hired him to complete the flight knowing he was woefully underqualified. Even experienced pilots who are properly rated in aircraft certified for FIKI still do everything they can to avoid flying in known icing conditions... it's that dangerous. Even with FIKI certified aircraft there is no guarantee you won't build ice on the flight surfaces and lose control of the aircraft at which the only result is death. Jacquehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09475839164869663833noreply@blogger.com